Red crabs migrate in one of the most spectacular ways on Earth

September 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.

August 30th, 2009 LONDON - The Royal Society in London seems to be convinced that man-made volcanoes can help stave off climate change, as it is backing research into simulated volcanic eruptions that will spray millions of tons of dust into the air to cool the Earth. This week, the society will call for a global programme of studies into geo-engineering, which can help devise new ways to manipulate the planet's climate to counteract global warming.

August 27th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Astronomers have confirmed that an email promising a "Mars spectacular" event on August 27, when the Red Planet will look as large as the full moon, is nothing but a hoax. According to a report in National Geographic News, the anonymous message from an unknown part of the globe says that the red planet "will look as large as the full moon" in the night sky, and that "no one alive today will ever see this again." The claim has been bombarding people's inboxes worldwide every summer for five years.

August 13th, 2009 WASHINGTON - US space agency NASA does not have enough cash to track the large nearby asteroids that could pose a hazard to Earth, a study by the National Academy of Science found Wednesday. In 2005, Congress ordered NASA to track up to 90 percent of near-Earth asteroids that are 140 metres in diameter or larger by 2020.

August 12th, 2009 According to Patric Wiggins NASA Solar System Ambassador page, Meteors and Meteorite falls are often spellbinding, producing spectacular visual and audible effects when they occur. Good news for the residents of Utah , the best show of the  Perseid Meteor Shower will be in Utah right above your head tonight.

July 31st, 2009 WASHINGTON - NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory is introducing a new Web site that will provide a centralized resource for information on near-Earth objects - those asteroids and comets that can approach Earth. The "Asteroid Watch" site also contains links for the interested public to sign up for NASA's new asteroid widget and Twitter account.

July 28th, 2009 LONDON - A new survey has indicated that two thirds of all species of freshwater crab maybe at risk of going extinct, with one in six species particularly vulnerable. According to a report by BBC News, the study, which is the first global assessment of the extinction risk for any group of freshwater invertebrates, makes freshwater crabs among the most threatened of all groups of animals assessed so far.

July 27th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists have found that petroleum can be formed under the very high pressure and temperature conditions found deep within the earth. The finding potentially multiplies underground oil deposits manifold.

July 20th, 2009 LONDON - Higher temperatures near the ocean's surface propel king crabs to deeper waters, with the result that they are found near the surface only off the coasts of Japan, Alaska, and western Canada, scientists have found. Around 100 species live in the deep.

July 18th, 2009 WASHINGTON - In a study, scientists have found new evidence of invasive species threatening native ones, in the form of oyster reefs in a once-pristine California coastal estuary devastated by invasive Atlantic Coast crabs and snails. Led by marine biologist David L.

July 9th, 2009 LONDON - In a new study, scientists have said that as global warming removes the Arctic's icy lid, the region is expected to teem with life by the year 2030. According to a report in New Scientist, the study of what the Arctic looked like just before dinosaurs were wiped off the planet has provided a glimpse of what could be to come within decades.

July 1st, 2009 WASHINGTON - The skies of the Unites States of America are all set to lit up on the fourth of July with a spectacular view of the International Space Station (ISS) as it orbits 220 miles above Earth. Many locations will have unusually long sighting opportunities of as much as five minutes, weather permitting, as the station flies almost directly overhead.

June 2nd, 2009 LONDON - A new study has determined that life on Earth is unlikely to have come from space viruses. Panspermia is the idea that life was seeded by extraterrestrial microbes in the form of hardy bacterial spores that hitched a ride on a space rock and landed on Earth.

April 29th, 2009 LONDON - Two new studies have suggested that exoplanets which venture near their host stars are doomed to premature deaths - even before they get close enough to be ripped apart by the stars' gravity. According to a report in New Scientist, the studies say that a star's gravity can put a nearby planet on a 'fast track' to spiralling into the star and may also cause the planet to lose much of its atmosphere.

April 18th, 2009 LONDON - Scientists are working on ways to build a gossamer-thin space sail or "aerobrake" that would help bring back a used rocket back to Earth safely. According to a report in New Scientist, space-flight engineers Max Cerf and Brice Santerre at the European aerospace firm EADS Astrium have put the idea forward.