Astronomers say they have for the first time spotted a planet beyond our own in what is sometimes called the Goldilocks zone for life: Not too hot, not too cold. Juuuust right. Not too far from its star, not too close. So it could contain liquid water. The planet itself is neither too big nor too small for the proper surface, gravity and atmosphere. It’s just right. Just like Earth. “This... 

There may be sizeable differences in circulating levels of the inflammatory marker C-reactive protein (CRP) among different ethnic groups, a finding that has implications for statin use, researchers suggested. In a systematic review and meta-analysis encompassing more than 200,000 people, the geometric mean CRP level was the highest in African Americans, at 2.6 mg/L (95% credible interval 2.27 to... 

The first peek at the next-generation AMD graphics offerings. AMD will be back on the GPU offensive this fall with new offerings. According to DigiTimes, Radeon HD 6000-series will launch first with the HD 6700, which will replace the market currently occupied by the Radeon HD 5770 and 5750. They will probably hit the stores starting with November 2010. While AMD’s exact launch plans are still... 

Silicon Valley leans Democratic. Based on comments made by one of the Valley’s biggest hitters, that may be changing. Intel CEO Paul Otellini got a lot off his chest at the Aspen Forum last night–with most of his frustration directed at the business-stifling policies of the Obama administration and the decline and fall of American competitiveness. Here are some key quotes reported by CNET’s... 

An amazing discovery of 2000-4000 year old Caucasian descent mummies in the Tarim basin of Western China occurred in the early 90s. But more amazing than the discovery itself was the astonishing fact that the mummies were blond haired and long nosed. In 1993, Victor Mayer a college professor collected DNA from the mummies and his tests verified that the bodies were all of European genetic stock. Ancient... 

Iran's first nuclear power plant in the southern city of Bushehr Iran has begun loading its first nuclear power plant in the southern city of Bushehr with fuel in an effort to provide the country with nuclear-generated electricity. Nuclear fuel is being transferred to the Bushehr reactor under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency and senior officials from Iran and Russia. The... 

Bosnian pyramids have been finally confirmed. Pyramid experts from all over the world have confirmed the existence of the Bosnian pyramids. In addition, 90% of all these experts said that the the Bosnian pyramids are by far the world’s largest and oldest pyramids. There are five (5) pyramids in Bosnia and it is said that they are 12000-26000 years old. In 2010 UNESCO added the Bosnian pyramids... 

Click to enlarge This photo shows the Antenna galaxies, which started colliding 100 million years ago, creating millions of stars in the process which later exploded as supernovas. I really find it hard and sad to know that I’ll never see this live. But at least we have the telescopes to see it from here. The image of the galaxy—which is located 62 million light-years away from Earth—was... 

Alan Boyle writes: A leader of the Kepler planet-hunting team has created a slow-moving scientific stir by telling an audience at a high-tech conference that our galaxy could harbor 100 million Earths, based on the space mission’s raw data. The resulting buzz focuses not only on the findings, but also on the means by which they came to light. The conclusions drawn by Harvard astronomer Dimitar... 

The European Union’s antitrust regulators said Monday they have launched two formal investigations into IBM for alleged antitrust abuses in the mainframe computer market. In a news release, the European Commission said it is investigating allegations by software competitors T3 and Turbo Hercules that IBM tied its mainframe operating system to sales of its mainframe hardware. By doing so, the companies... 

Emirati officials have declared BlackBerry smartphones a potential threat to national security because users’ data is stored overseas, where local laws don’t apply and where analysts say it could be harder for authorities to monitor. The move renews concerns about efforts by the United Arab Emirates to control the flow of information in the Gulf nation, which includes the business hub... 

The way nerve cells communicate is being studied by the research teams. The way neurons communicate could inspire the next generation of computers. Researchers are developing novel computers by mimicking the way that neurons are built and how they talk to each other. Basing computers around neurons could lead to improvements in visual and audio processing on computers. It might mean that computers... 

Parents Ben & Angela Ihegboro with baby Nmachi A bizarre report appeared in The Sun few days ago claiming that a couple of black Nigerians from England gave birth to miraculous white baby which should be genetically impossible. In the story it is claimed that the baby is not an albino but of course she is an albino baby and she is not the first African albino, there have been thousands of albinos... 

Watch the Navy shooting down an airplane over the Pacific ocean using the new LaWS (Laser Weapon System) guided by Raytheon’s Phalanx Close-In Weapon sensors. Welcome to the future, where we all die in the hands of angry laser-firing bots. The LaWS is a six-laser cannon guided by the Phalanx Block 1B, the white structure that you can see here, mounted next to LaWS. Phalanx identifies and tracks... 

With July in full force, it already feels like the Sun’s rays are slobbering down our necks. But what if it were closer to us? Say, 90 million miles closer? Popular Science investigates how near we could go and survive. Even though the life-giving fireball burns at an unfathomable 9,940°F, PopSci notes that its heat fades quickly with distance in space’s vacuum, so that even at relatively...