Dirty stars make good solar system hostsOctober 8th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Using new computer simulations, scientists have suggested that dirty stars that are full of dust and gas make good solar system hosts. When a star forms, collapsing from a dense cloud into a luminous ball, it and the disk of dust and gas orbiting it reflect the composition of that original cloud and the elements within it.
Astronomers find first rocky planet outside solar systemSeptember 16th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A group of European astronomers said Wednesday that they had found the first known rocky planet outside the solar system. The find by European Southern Observatory scientists in Garching, Germany, is an important step forward in answering the question of whether humans are alone in the universe, because it is the first of the more than 300 known exoplanets - as planets outside the solar system are known - that is not large and gaseous.
Archaeological dig unearths 4,000-year-old royal tomb in ScotlandAugust 14th, 2009 LONDON - Archaeologists in Scotland have discovered a potentially high-status royal tomb, dating back 4,000 years, hidden beneath a four-ton slab of rock and surrounded by ancient carved symbols of prehistoric power. According to a report in The Independent, the excavations at Forteviot, near Perth, have yielded the remains of an early Bronze Age ruler buried on a bed of white quartz pebbles and birch bark with at least a dozen personal possessions - including a bronze and gold dagger, a bronze knife, a wooden bowl and a leather bag.
'Super Earth' has rocky surface, say astronomersAugust 7th, 2009 SYDNEY - European astronomers have said that the smallest planet yet detected outside our Solar System, dubbed 'Super Earth', appears to have a solid surface. According to a report by ABC News, the European team describe the exoplanet CoRoT-7b, a so-called Super-Earth, which has a diameter approximately twice that of Earth.
Site of a Five Dynasties palace discovered in ChinaJuly 20th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Archaeologists have recently discovered the site of a Five Dynasties palace in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province. As the seat of the Western Han Nanyue Kingdom and the Five Dynasties South Han Kingdom, the site has been the center of Guangzhou for some 2000 years.
'Noisy' stars mask planet's true sizeJuly 10th, 2009 SYDNEY - A German study has suggested that astronomers observing exoplanets around other stars may be underestimating their size because of active stars that add 'noise' to the observation of exoplanets using the transit method. The transit method detects exoplanets as they pass in front of their parent star, reducing the amount of light reaching telescopes on, and orbiting, Earth.
Rarest rock discovered from IndiaJune 25th, 2009 MUENSTER - German geologists Thursday said they have discovered in India one of the world's rarest rocks, dating back to the birth of the planet when the Earth was covered with a hot ocean of melted stone. The fragment from the primeval crust is only the second ever discovered, said scientists at the University of Muenster.
First extragalactic exoplanet may have been found by gravitational microlensingJune 11th, 2009 London, June 11 (ANI: A team of scientists has used gravitational microlensing to come up with a tentative detection of the first extragalactic exoplanet in Andromeda, our nearest large galactic neighbour. In gravitational microlensing, a distant source star is briefly magnified by the gravity of an object passing in front of it.
Astronomers discover Jupiter-like planet orbiting one of the smallest stars knownMay 29th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A long-proposed tool for hunting planets has finally discovered a Jupiter-like planet orbiting one of the smallest stars known. The technique, called astrometry, was first attempted 50 years ago to search for planets outside our solar system, called exoplanets.
New technique will detect water on earth-like planetsMay 26th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Since the early 1990s, astronomers have discovered more than 300 planets orbiting far away stars, nearly all of them being gas giants like Jupiter. Now, powerful telescopes, similar to NASA's recently launched Kepler Mission, will help spot much smaller rocky extrasolar planets, or exoplanets with water, more similar to earth.
Rare statue of white marble discovered in AlexandriaMay 12th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Zahi Hawwas, the Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), Egypt, has said that a Greek archeological mission under Calliope Papacosta discovered a rare statue made of white marble in Alexandria. "The 80 cm long, 23 cm wide statue has been discovered eight meters deep under the earth surface," Hawwas said.
Most Earthlike planet yet found may have water and lifeApril 22nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - In a new research, an astronomer has suggested that the most Earthlike planet yet found has conditions right for liquid water, and life as we know it. According to a report in National Geographic News, the planet, known as Gliese 581d, has a lot more in common with Earth than astronomers first thought.
Scientists unveil "extraordinary" discovery: Earth-sized planet outside our solar systemApril 21st, 2009 Scientists discover a nearly Earth-sized planetHATFIELD, England — In the search for Earth-like planets, astronomers zeroed in on two places that look awfully familiar to home. One is close to the right size.
Hidden exoplanet seen by scientist in Hubble's archivesApril 2nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - A scientist has identified an exoplanet that went undetected in Hubble images taken in 1998. The scientist, David Lafreniere of the University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, detected the planet that was hidden in Hubble images taken with the telescope's Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) in 1998.
Lily Allen's 'Employee Of The Week' awardMarch 12th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Pop star Lily Allen has found a new way to reward her staff if they're good - by letting one lucky employee join her in first class when they're flying. The 23-year-old recently discovered that she could choose which member of her entourage sits next to her on the airplane as she travels the world to promote her new album 'It's Not Me, It's You'.
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