Great week for science! Thanks in part to your determined efforts, Senate bill 3729, also known as the NASA Re-authorization Act of 2010, was passed Wednesday night in the House. Fittingly enough, the first potentially habitable earth-like exoplanet was announced the same day by researchers funded by NASA and the NSF:
That would mean Gliese 581g might be habitable, as in a number of species of bacteria from earth could survive and flourish on it ... One scientist has even gone so far as to speculate the odds of life existing on 581g are "one-hundred percent".
- We have put together a science email list and it's not about soliciting contributions or political fundraising. The Daily Kos science alert list was created solely to keep you informed of related news, crazy GOP antics, proposed policy changes, and pending legislation. Join here.
- You think 2010 is going to be a record hot year? James Hansen predicts 2012 could be worse, and the senior NASA climatologist makes a good case for why that may be.
- How the penguin evolved its specialized acrobatic wings, 36 million years ago.
- I've collected some names, chosen semi-arbitrarily, for the new planet below. Vote for your fave.