Honest Review

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Honest Review

"Super-Earth" Discovered Orbiting Distant Star

Scientists have discovered a new planet they call a "super-Earth" in a solar system 9,000 light-years away.

The icy, rocky planet, which weighs 13 times as much as Earth, orbits the outer region of its solar system, around a so-called red dwarf star that is about half as big as our sun.

The planet dominates a region similar to the one in our solar system that is populated by the gas giants Jupiter and Saturn. Scientists believe the planet likely didn't accumulate enough gas to grow to giant proportions. (See an interactive map of our solar system.)

"We've never been able to see these failed Jupiter cores before," said Andrew Gould, an astronomer at Ohio State University in Columbus who is leading the research.

"Super-Earth" Discovered Orbiting Distant Star

NASA Scientists Study Pollution's Origins And Air Quality Impact

In Mexico City, a team of researchers from NASA and other institutions have kicked off the first phase of one of the most complex field campaigns ever undertaken in atmospheric chemistry. Researchers will use data from research satellites, aircraft and ground-based instruments to investigate the transformation of air pollution as it flows downwind from Mexico City and learn more about impacts of air pollution on human health and climate.

From March 1 through May 15, NASA and its partners will carry out the Intercontinental Chemical Transport Experiment (INTEX-B). The experiment is the second of a broader two-phase NASA project to study the transport and evolution of gases and tiny particles, called aerosols, across continents and to assess their impact on regional air quality and climate. During INTEX-B, researchers will pursue the origins of pollution that ultimately finds its way to North America and affects air in the troposphere, the lower part of the atmosphere where we live and breathe.

NASA Scientists Study Pollution's Origins And Air Quality Impact

Future looks rosier for RFID

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) was invented more than 50 years ago but has so far failed to live up to its promise to connect everyday things through a wireless network and make it possible, in theory, to track every item ever produced.

Computer scientists dub RFID "The Internet of Things," in which anything from shampoo bottles to marathon runners can be tracked using radio tags. Criticism from some camps is that the technology can lead to an unacceptable invasion of privacy.

But the future looks rosier for RFID as costs to make the chips decline and governments take a keener interest.

"The time for action is now," said Viviane Reding, European Commissioner for Information Society and Media. She spoke at CeBIT, the world's biggest tech and telecoms fair.

Firms from around the world exhibiting at the fair in Hanover showed how they have been using RFID to make business more efficient.

Future looks rosier for RFID

Saturn moon 'may have an ocean'

Saturn's moon Enceladus could harbour a liquid water ocean beneath its icy crust, according to data sent back by the Cassini spacecraft.

Until Cassini reached Saturn, the tiny moon had received little attention.

But Enceladus is now the focus of intensive study following the discovery that it is geologically active.

Enceladus may possess reservoirs of near-surface liquid water that erupt to form geysers - and where there's water, there may be life, scientists argue.

These jets have been observed erupting from a "hot spot" in the moon's south polar region.

Scientists on the mission have likened them to the kinds of geysers found in Yellowstone National Park in the US.

Saturn moon 'may have an ocean'

Bird Flu Found in Stone Marten in Germany

A weasel-like animal called a stone marten was infected with the deadly bird flu virus, marking the disease's spread to another mammal species, a German laboratory said Thursday.

The sickly animal was found on the north German island of Ruegen, where three cats and dozens of wild birds have been infected with the disease, the agriculture ministry of the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania said.

A little less than two feet in length, stone martens have long bushy tails and prey on squirrels, birds and eggs. They have brown fur with a patch of white on their chest.

A veterinarian put down the sickly marten and sent its corpse for further testing.

The rapid spread of the virus in birds throughout Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia has been accompanied by fears it will mutate into a form easily transmissible between humans and cause a worldwide flu pandemic.

Scientists noted that cats and martens eat similar prey. Wild cats in Asia have tested positive for the disease, and cats in Austria have as well.

Bird Flu Found in Stone Marten in Germany