Venus, Earth's Evil Twin
	Though Mars is most of the times considered Earth's sister planet, the truth might be completely different. As promised last week, the European Space Agency released yesterday in a press conference new information collected by the Venus Express mission, regarding Venus' atmosphere and surface. Surprisingly, though the conditions are inhospitable, Venus might be more Earth-like than previously thought, but in certain limits. Ve ... [read more >>]
	29 November 2007, 04:53GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Acidification Stops Star Formation
	By observing nearby galaxies, using the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope situated in Hawaii, astronomer Floris van der Tak observed in the dust clouds outside our galaxy, the first acidic cloud. The stellar and planetary formation might be explained through acidification inhibition, but astronomers cannot know for certain until the completion of the SRON Heterodyne Instrument for the Far-Infrared space telescope, which is scheduled to launch ... [read more >>]
	22 November 2007, 06:23GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Mars Will Move Backwards Starting November 15
	Viewed from Earth, in the last past weeks, Mars appears to have slowed down its movement across the sky, and it seems that on the night of November 15th it will look like it were standing still. That is not the case, though, since it’s just an optical illusion, such as that which made the ancient people believe that the Sun and the rest of the universe were actually rotating around the Earth. The 'wandering star', as ... [read more >>]
	10 November 2007, 07:02GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Stars with High Metalicity Have Less Companions
	New studies in astrophysics bring an unexpected result. Stars with high metalicity have fewer stellar companions. The research was conducted at the Australian National University and the University of New South Wales and could help in the search for stars that have Earth-like planets. The metalicity is a scientific term that describes the proportion of chemical elements of which a cosmic body is made of, other than hydrogen an ... [read more >>]
	09 November 2007, 08:55GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

We Found the Planets, but Are There Any Aliens?
	After 18 years of careful observation conducted on the 55 Cancri planetary system, scientists announced yesterday the confirmation of the discovery of the fifth planet, making 55 Cancri the biggest planetary system known today. 55 Cancri is a binary system composed of two components: a yellow dwarf star similar to the Sun named 55 Cancri A and a red dwarf star named 55 Cancri B separated by more than 1000 astronomical units. C ... [read more >>]
	07 November 2007, 02:52GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

ESA Prepares a New X-ray Telescope
	A new X-ray telescope is prepared by the European Space Agency, to further study the origins of the Universe. XEUS or X-ray Evolving Universe Spectroscopy aims to study the fundamental laws of the Universe, the formation and evolution of supermassive black holes and the galaxies. XEUS will be 30-50 times more sensitive that the XMM-Newton (X-ray Multi-Mirror Mission), previously launched by the European Space Agency in 1999, and will be pl ... [read more >>]
	06 November 2007, 03:23GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Unusual Blue Halo Around Distant Star Could Point at Hidden Planets
	Astronomers have just found an unusual blue halo around a distant star that looks like a glowing cosmic needle. This enlarged debris disk could point at hidden planets, since it is a well-known fact that they are leftovers from planet formation processes. The young star is called HD 15115, observed using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and the W.M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii may not necessarily have planets around itself but most li ... [read more >>]
	20 July 2007, 02:47GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Distant Planets Found to Pollute Their Suns
	Astronomers have recently analyzed the chemical composition of distant stars and discovered intriguing evidence of pollution on their surface, caused by the planets orbiting them. It seems that dwarf stars display iron enrichment on their surface, most likely caused by planetary debris thrown in space and falling onto them. "It is a little bit like a Tiramisu or a Capuccino," says Luca Pasquini from ESO, lead-autho ... [read more >>]
	10 July 2007, 04:47GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Did You Know How Insignificant the Earth Really Is in the Universe?
	We like to think highly of ourselves, in particular but also in general. The human race did this, the human race did that, we could someday go, become, explore... But most people never really realize how insignificant the Earth really is in the grand scheme of the Universe. If we compare Earth's size with that of some of the most important celestial bodies we have discovered so far, it makes most of us think that we're nothin ... [read more >>]
	07 July 2007, 08:03GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

High Atmospheric Pressure on Sandy Planets Could Make Lander Modules Sink Like a Rock
	Landing at high enough speeds on sandy planets could sink the landing module deep in the sand layer, just like a rock diving into a pool. This is the conclusion of a new study that considered the problem of sand on other planets and how that could affect future manned missions to the Moon and Mars. Both Mars and the Moon are covered in a layer of fine particles of dust, and while previous studies have been made to see how the dust [ADMA ... [read more >>]
	04 July 2007, 10:59GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

What Mysterious Force Is Making the Pioneer Spacecraft Change Its Course?
	It’s been years since NASA last heard from either of its two Pioneer probes hurtling out of the solar system, but scientists are still debating the source of an odd force pushing against the outbound spacecraft. A new study of the "Pioneer anomaly" suggests that there is an unknown but conventional force acting on the space probe and making it drift from the established flight path. Some physicists say the law of gr ... [read more >>]
	22 June 2007, 15:31GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

How to Find Extrasolar Planets and Hidden Stars
	Finding planets orbiting stars at great distances from our solar system is not an easy job, but there seems to be many of them out there, according to recent observations. And that's a great thing, since it's actually harder than finding a needle in a hay stack. It's more like looking for a firefly flying in front of a lighthouse. Stars often have planets and maybe other, fainter, companions around them, but because these ... [read more >>]
	20 June 2007, 11:07GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Arvoch Conflict
	The week is about to end and let another game take its place in the review section. This time it's something pretty different. If you're bored already with puzzles or "zuma"-like games, here's something that will keep you busy. At least in the training area. "Arvoch Conflict" is something that looks really good. I usually don't like that much space shooters, because they are poorly made and won ... [read more >>]
	08 June 2007, 18:00GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

NASA Could Install a Grappling Hook on the James Webb Space Telescope
	NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a planned space infrared observatory, intended to be a significant improvement on the aging Hubble Space Telescope, which is about to be decommissioned, after successfully serving its purpose since 1990. The agency is considering equipping the telescope with a grappler, similar to the iron shaft with claws at one end, used by pirates for drawing and holding an enemy ship alongsi ... [read more >>]
	01 June 2007, 16:11GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia