First Earth-like Planet to Be Announced Next May 2011

If the current rate of progress in the field of hunting exoplanets is any indication, then the world will be presented the first Earth-like extrasolar planet by no later than May 2011, a new analysis shows

First Earth-like exoplanet to be discovered by May 2011 | The Cavalier Daily

Scientists have discovered 450 extrasolar planets to date and recently identified potentially 750 new ones. Samuel Arbesman, a computational biologist at Harvard Medical School, and Gregory Laughlin, astronomer at the University of California, Santa Cruz, have plotted data from previously discovered

Star clusters are destroying gigantic exoplanets with their fierce gravity

The logic is simple. Extrasolar planets orbit faraway stars. Star clusters are home to lots and lots of stars. So where better to look for new exoplanets? Unfortunately, astronomers think the extreme gravity of these clusters is ripping exoplanets apart.

How Excited Should We Be About the New “Goldilocks” Exoplanet? | 80beats | Discover Magazine

Astronomers have announced the discovery of a planet with about three times the Earth’s mass orbiting the nearby red dwarf star Gliese 581. That in itself is cool news; a planet like that is very hard to detect.But the amazing thing is that the planet’s distance from the star puts it in the Goldilocks Zone: the region where liquid water could exist on its surface!Gliese 581 is about 20 light years away, and astronomers think the planet in the habitable zone is one of at least six in that star system. The new exoplanet orbits much closer ...

REUTERS - Ireland faces horrendous bank bill, Sep 30, 2010

By Carmel Crimmins

DUBLIN | Thu Sep 30, 2010 5:35pm BST

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland disclosed a "horrendous" worst case price tag of over 50 billion euros (43 billion pounds) on Thursday for bailing out its distressed banks and said it would have to make more drastic budget savings.  

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Tony Curtis: Great moments on screen

What better way to remember Tony Curtis (who died last night at the age of 85) than by looking back on some of his best moments on screen? His career spanned six decades and yielded some classic American films — none the least of which is the great Billy Wilder comedy Some Like It Hot. Curtis played a musician who runs from the mob by disguising himself as woman in a traveling all-female band. In the clip below, Curtis and costar Jack Lemmon wobble on high heels and drool over Marilyn Monroe.

Irish bank bailout cost may top 50 billion euros | Reuters

By Padraic Halpin and Andras Gergely
DUBLIN | Thu Sep 30, 2010 2:52pm BST
DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland, warning its recession-weary people to prepare for more austerity, revealed on Thursday a mammoth worst-case price tag of over 50 billion euros (43 billion pounds) to clean up its banks.

Contador suspended as doping charges rock cycling | Reuters

Tour de France champion Alberto Contador speaks during a press conference at his hometown of Pinto, near Madrid September 30, 2010.
Credit: Reuters/Sergio Perez
By Ian Ransom
GEELONG, Australia | Thu Sep 30, 2010 3:07pm BST
GEELONG, Australia (Reuters) - Tour de France winner Alberto Contador and the Tour of Spain runner-up were suspended for suspected doping on Thursday in a devastating new double blow to cycling's battered image.

India court splits mosque site between religions | Reuters

A Hindu priest shouts slogans as he celebrates after hearing the first reports of a court ruling in the northern Indian town of Ayodhya September 30, 2010.
Credit: Reuters/Mukesh Gupta
By Alka Pande
LUCKNOW, India | Thu Sep 30, 2010 2:47pm BST
LUCKNOW, India (Reuters) - An Indian court ruled on Thursday that the site of a demolished mosque would be split between Hindus and Muslims, dousing ...