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Russian Meteor Strike Was Biggest in 100 Years

Sonic shockwave believed to have caused most of the damage

(Newser) - The meteor that struck Russia today was the largest to hit Earth since 1908, releasing hundreds of kilotons of energy, scientists tell Nature . The blast put out so much energy that it was detected by networks designed to pick up infrasound data on nuclear explosions—and indeed, the blast was...

Huge Meteor Rocks Russia
 Huge Meteor Rocks Russia 

Huge Meteor Rocks Russia

950 hurt, 110 hospitalized amid bomb-like damage

(Newser) - A meteor that shattered over Chelyabinsk, Russia, today injured some 950 people, with more than 110 hospitalized, RT reports. Several victims are said to be in "grave" condition, RIA Novosti reports. The 10-ton meteor was traveling at least 33,000mph when it entered the atmosphere, experts say, according to...

Ahmadinejad: Send Me to Outer Space

Now that a monkey's done it, he wants to be next

(Newser) - Iran's space-bound monkey may have died during flight, but that hasn't spooked Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who today declared that he would very much like to be the first person Iran launches into orbit. But his statement, as reported by state media via the AP , indicates he's not totally...

Iran: We Launched a Monkey Into Space

News may fuel US rocket concerns

(Newser) - Somewhere Mahmoud Ahmadinejad might be trying on his spacesuit, because Iran is inching closer to sending a person into space—and perhaps to developing long-range missiles, if US concerns prove accurate. Iranian state TV today said that the country launched a monkey into space and it came home safe and...

Mars Crater Points to Water ... and Life?

Scientists find evidence of long-dry lake

(Newser) - Photos of an enormous crater on Mars indicate possible underground water—water that could have supported life, and could still be doing so. Images taken by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter show the 57-mile-wide McLaughlin Crater, which is now dry. It's one of the planet's deepest spots at...

Earth-Like Planet Spotted
 Earth-Like Planet Spotted 

Earth-Like Planet Spotted

KOI 172.02 orbits star like our sun

(Newser) - Less than two weeks after astronomers predicted they would find an Earth-like planet some time in 2013, the feat may have already been accomplished. Scientists this week announced at the 221st meeting of American Astronomical Society that the Kepler telescope has found a "super-Earth" whose radius is 1.5...

'Doomsday Asteroid' Even Bigger Than Thought

And there's still a chance it could hit us in 2036

(Newser) - The asteroid Apophis , whose reported threat to our planet has attracted widespread attention, is even larger than scientists believed, according to new images. Europe's Herschel Space Observatory says the asteroid is some 1,066 feet feet wide, some 20% wider than previously thought. That "translates into a 75%...

Milky Way Has 17B Planets the Size of Ours

And that's a conservative estimate

(Newser) - Before we start feeling too special about our home planet, scientists have a message: There are at least 17 billion planets the size of Earth in the Milky Way alone, Space.com reports. About 17% of our galaxy's stars have Earth-size exoplanets closely orbiting them—so 100 billion stars...

Martian Rock Found in Sahara Thrills Experts

2B-year-old stone holds more water than others

(Newser) - After a rock from Mars was discovered in the Sahara desert, scientists investigated it for a year—and they're fascinated by what they've learned. At an estimated two billion years old, the rock is older than most Martian meteorites and holds more water, the AP reports. And it...

Milky Way: Home to 100B+ Planets
 Milky Way: Home to 
 100B+ Planets 



new study

Milky Way: Home to 100B+ Planets

New study comes up with conservative estimate

(Newser) - Scientists have done a sort of "cosmic census," completing a new study that finds the Milky Way galaxy is home to 100 billion alien planets—and maybe even many more than that. "It's a staggering number, if you think about it," says the lead author....

Prediction: We'll Discover 1st 'Earth Twin' in 2013

With 50B planets in Milky Way, astronomers think big discovery looms

(Newser) - With more than 800 exoplanets identified since 1995, many astronomers are predicting that 2013 will be the year that the first truly Earth-like planet is spotted, reports Space . Scientists have gotten ever closer to finding an alien Earth in recent years, identifying several in the right temperature range and others...

Massive Black Hole Stumps Scientists

Its mass equals 17B suns, turning previous theory on its head

(Newser) - An enormous, newly discovered black hole has scientists questioning what they thought they knew about black holes to begin with. Usually, supermassive black holes make up about 0.1% of the mass of the stars at a galaxy's center, known as a stellar bulge. But in this case, the...

Astronomers Spot Oldest Galaxy Yet

It's 13.3 billion years old, nearly as old as the universe

(Newser) - Our universe is a mind-boggling 13.7 billion years old, and now astronomers say they have found a galaxy that has been around since the universe was a spry 420 million years old, reports LiveScience . Called MACS0647-JD, the 13.3-billion-year-old galaxy is tiny, cosmically speaking, just 600 light years wide...

Rover's Latest Find: Rock Type Not Seen Before on Mars

Although it's not that unusual on Earth

(Newser) - Curiosity has identified a type of rock that no rover had previously spotted on Mars. It has the same chemical composition as rocks relatively common on Earth, found in rift zones like Hawaii's volcanoes, Wired reports. They develop in high-pressure conditions, often near water, though it's unclear if...

Mars Rover Finds 'Bright Object'

Curiosity makes first scoop of planet's surface

(Newser) - The Curiosity rover has conducted its first scoop of Mars' surface—and found an unidentified "bright object," the AP reports. The rover won't make another scoop until NASA officials can deduce what the thing is. It could just be a piece of the rover itself. Curiosity has...

SpaceX Rockets Into History—Again

1st cargo delivery set to arrive at ISS Wednesday

(Newser) - It was quite the night for privately owned SpaceX: For the first time, a US-built, robotic spacecraft is on its way to the International Space Station to deliver cargo. The launch follows a successful May test flight to the ISS. SpaceX's Dragon capsule took off from Cape Canaveral at...

Comet Far Brighter Than Moon on Its Way

ISON should be easy to spot in daylight

(Newser) - Peer at the night sky just over a year from now, and you may spot a comet that's 15 times brighter than the moon. Comet ISON, due to be at its brightest on Nov. 28, 2013, will be so luminous that you should be able to see it in...

Hubble 'Travels' Back 13.2B Years

'Time-tunnel' composite bares space 'just' after Big Bang

(Newser) - An out-of-this-world composite photo of Hubble Space Telescope shots peers back to a time a "mere" 450 million years after the Big Bang. Dubbed the eXtreme Deep Field, or XDF, the photograph—made up of 2,000 snaps taken by the Hubble over 10 years—reveals nearly 5,500...

India: We'll Launch a Mars Mission Next Year

$82M plan will send spacecraft to orbit planet

(Newser) - Look out, Curiosity : India is right behind you. The country is planning to send an unmanned spacecraft to orbit Mars next year, its prime minister announced today. "This spaceship to Mars will be a huge step for us in the area of science and technology," Manmohan Singh said...

NASA's 2-Year Hunt for Black Holes Starts Today

NASA's NuStar scheduled to launch from South Pacific

(Newser) - Barring any mishaps, a refrigerator-size telescope will begin its two-year quest to track down black holes today. The Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuStar) is set to rocket into space from an island located between Hawaii and Australia, reports the AP . Once it gets some 350 miles above Earth, it will...

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