http://www.pocatelloshops.com/blogs/Journal_Science.php en http://backend.userland.com/rss092 http://www.pocatelloshops.com/blogs/Journal_Science.php?id=4099 http://www.pocatelloshops.com/blogs/Journal_Science.php?id=3524 http://www.pocatelloshops.com/blogs/Journal_Science.php?id=3519 http://www.pocatelloshops.com/blogs/Journal_Science.php?id=2761 is reporting the discovery of an extrasolar Earth-like planet. The planet, with a radius only 50% larger than that of Earth and roughly five times its mass, orbits the red dwarf star Gliese 581, located 20.5 light years away in the constellation Libra. Most intriguing about the find, besides the size of the planet, is that despite the star it orbits being much colder than our own sun, the planet, dubbed Gliese 581 c, lies within a distance known as the "habitable zone" where liquid water is a real possibility and there is a potential for the formation of life.

Researchers, through computer modeling, predict that the planet is either rocky like our own or perhaps totally covered with water. The models also suggest, given the relatively short distance between the planet and the star it orbits (fourteen times closer than the Earth is to our sun), that surface temperatures may average anywhere between zero and forty degrees Celsius. According to Xavier Delfosse, one of the researchers involved in the discovery, the new planet will likely be a target of future space missions dedicated to the search for extraterrestrial life.

Additionally, it seems that no fewer than three planets orbit this same star. The first, discovered in November of 2005, is approximately fifteen times the mass of Earth and probably similar to our own Neptune. The other is likely about eight earth masses. As it turns out, all three are quite speedy travelers as well, with the eight Earth-mass planet being the slowest of the three and completing an orbit in only 84 Earth days (four days faster than our own Mercury). The fastest orbit award goes to the largest planet at 5.4 days, with the newcomer placing second at thirteen days. For any potential life-forms inhabiting 581 c, that means one birthday for every two of our weeks (which I'd imagine could get expe ..]]> http://www.pocatelloshops.com/blogs/Journal_Science.php?id=2758 http://www.pocatelloshops.com/blogs/Journal_Science.php?id=2742 http://www.pocatelloshops.com/blogs/Journal_Science.php?id=2476 Nature (vol. 446), a team of scientists working in a fossil-rich deposit in China's Hebei province has unearthed fossils of a previously unknown mammal. Named Yanoconodon allini, in honor of the Yan mountains of the same province, the fossil was unearthed in Mesozoic strata dating to around 125 million years old. Finding any preserved examples of early mammals is exciting, but Yanoconodon stands apart from the rest in that the remarkable preservation includes structures not typically reflected in fossils: the tiny bones that form the working parts of the mammalian ear. ]]> http://www.pocatelloshops.com/blogs/Journal_Science.php?id=2427 http://www.pocatelloshops.com/blogs/Journal_Science.php?id=2371 http://www.pocatelloshops.com/blogs/Journal_Science.php?id=2257