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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: universe

universe stories: 12 news summaries

 Farthest-Ever Star Blast 
 From Ancient Cosmos 

Gamma ray burst took 13 billion years to reach Earth

Oct 29, 09 8:09 AM CDT
(Newser) - Astronomers have detected a cosmic object more distant than any ever seen: a gamma ray burst about 13 billion light-years from Earth. The massive, luminous burst occurred about 600 million years after the Big Bang—that is, when the universe was 4% of its current age—and only lasted for... More »

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NASA • astronomy • star • Big Bang • universe • gamma rays

(Newser) - A monstrous black hole near the center of a distant galaxy is sucking up stars, gas and dust, and spitting out baby stars, NASA scientists have discovered. The black hole is 100 million times the mass of the sun, reports the Telegraph. It lies at the center of a galaxy... More »

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NASA • space • star • sun • black hole • universe • galaxy • space telescope

 Space Blob Stumps Scientists

Cosmic blob from the dawn of time confounds theories on early universe

Apr 23, 09 7:53 AM CDT
(Newser) - A gigantic blob at the edge of the universe is forcing scientists to rethink their ideas on how galaxies form, reports the BBC. The radiation-emitting object 12.9 billion light years away is one of the most distant—and consequently oldest—things ever seen by astronomers, and is much bigger... More »

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astronomy • space • Big Bang • black hole • universe • galaxy • Himiko

 Alien Life 
 'Inevitable': 
 Astronomer 

Countless Earth-like planets likely in universe

Feb 15, 09 12:21 PM CST
(Newser) - Scientists now believe there could be as many habitable planets in the cosmos as there are stars, and that makes life’s existence elsewhere “inevitable” over billions of years, says one. “It is sort of like running an experiment in your refrigerator—turn it off and something will... More »

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NASA • planet • Earth • extraterrestrial life • aliens • universe • Kepler spacecraft

 Secret to Dark Matter 
 May Be Underground 

Scientists mine earth for substance that makes up 95% of universe

Nov 11, 08 2:43 PM CST
(Newser) - Minerals aren’t the only prize in a mine—scientists travel underground to search for elusive dark matter, the invisible substance that may make up 95% of the universe’s mass, the Wall Street Journal reports. Delicate equipment seeks to detect the stuff in the form of particles known as... More »

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physics • universe • dark matter • mine

 Glitch Stalls Atom Smasher 


Sep 19, 08 12:40 PM CDT
(Newser) - The Large Hadron Collider, the $5-billion, 17-mile experiment seeking answers to the universe’s deepest mysteries, hit a snag within hours of its Sept. 10 launch, but its overseer did not report the malfunction for a week, the Daily Telegraph reports. A 30-ton transformer in the cooling system broke, causing... More »

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particle accelerator • Big Bang • universe • CERN • Large Hadron Collider • particle physics • God particle

 Exploding Star
 Brightest Object Ever Seen

Brightest object ever observed by humans

Mar 22, 08 9:26 AM CDT
(Newser) - Light from a star that exploded billions of years before the Earth was formed have been spotted by terrestrial astronomers, Space.com reports. The gamma-ray burst from halfway across the universe was the most distant object ever seen by the naked eye, and the brightest object ever observed by humans.... More »

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NASA • astronomy • star • universe • Arthur C. Clarke • gamma rays

 Top 10 Planet Earth Puzzlers 

Even basic questions still have scientists scratching their heads

Mar 16, 08 3:12 PM CDT
(Newser) - Forget deep-space exploration; even basic questions about Earth still have scientists scratching their heads, LiveScience reports. A panel of geologists and planetary scientists lists its top lingering mysteries.
  1. How did Earth form into such a distinct body?
  2. What happened during Earth's first 500 million years?
  3. How did life start
... More »

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aerospace • Earth • geology • universe • scientists • biology • volcanoes • Earth's interior • earthquake

Gates Sees Stars, Donates $10M to 'Scope

Joins 2nd Microsoft mogul in backing plan to photograph heavens

Jan 5, 08 4:05 PM CST
(Newser) - Bill Gates and Bill Simonyi—space geeks and Microsoft billionaires both—are donating $30 million to the Chilean-based Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, the Guardian reports. The $400 million endeavor, scheduled to be working in 2015, will snap pics of the sky with a 3,200 megapixel digital camera every 15... More »

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astronomy • Bill Gates • telescope • Chile • universe • International Space Station • galaxy • Cerro Pachon • Andes Mountains • Large Synoptic Survey Telescope • Charles Simonyi • Tucson, Arizona

Black Hole Smashes Record

Astronomers puzzled by all-time heaviest 'small' black hole

Oct 31, 07 6:38 AM CDT
(Newser) - A newly discovered stellar-mass black hole shatters the weight record for holes formed from dying stars—and defies explanation by current theories. Faced with its mysterious heft,  astrophysicists can only conclude that stellar-mass black holes "can be much larger than we had realized," Space.com reports. More »

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NASA • star • physics • black hole • universe • astrophysics

Enormous Hole Found in Cosmos

Scientists spot unexpected void a billion light years wide

Aug 24, 07 3:32 AM CDT
(Newser) - Astronomers have discovered a mysterious gigantic hole in the universe, reports Space.com. Unlike black holes, created by super dense material, this hole is devoid of matter. It measures nearly a billion light years wide and is 10 billion light years from earth. The hole was discovered by examining input... More »

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astronomy • space • black hole • universe • dark matter • void • Very Large Array

Crop of New Planets Means Better Chance of Life

Rapid discovery of planets outside our solar system ups odds one has liquid water

May 29, 07 7:07 AM CDT
(Newser) - Astronomers who've spotted 28 new planets in the past year are gaining confidence that other solar systems may be able to support life like ours. One researcher estimated that there are probably "tens of billions" of planets with habitable conditions, most important of which is hospitality to water. More »

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astronomy • planet • space • solar system • universe • exoplanet

12 Stories


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