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...planet, called HD 189733b, revolves around a bright star 64 light years from Earth. Scientists refer to the planet as a "hot Jupiter" (it's similar to but slightly larger than Jupiter - and keeps a much tighter orbit around its sun, ensuring a scorching climate). And they have examined it for water before. But earlier tests of the planet's atmosphere yielded uncertain results, so this time, astrophysicists tried something slightly different. When HD 189733b was passing in front of its sun, they observed the way electromagnetic radiation was absorbed by the planet's atmosphere. The authors of the current...
...most of us back on Earth, the real significance will come when the technique is applied to other planets. "I agree we all have in the back of our brains that water is equivalent to life," says Tinetti. She doesn't believe HD 189733b itself will harbor life. That planet's surface temperature is an estimated 1,000 degrees K (more than 700 degrees C and 1,300 degrees F) on its sunny side, and scientists suspect it has very high winds - a hostile environment indeed. But if the technique to find water works on HD 189733b, then researchers...
...MOVING EARTH 10 Number of centimeters a year, on average, that Mexico City sinks 14 Depth, in meters, of a sinkhole last week in a Mexico City neighborhood, forcing the evacuation of 30 families...
...WORLD CONCERT $42 Amount that thirsty audience members forked over for a beer at the Live Earth concert in Sydney on July 7, where enterprising scalpers capitalized on record lines 10 million Estimated number of people around the world who watched the Live Earth concert online. TV trackers are still crunching numbers, but the total won't come close to the 2-billion mark that organizers were shooting...
...over to give you remedial lessons. It's rural Indonesia, which emits 3.3 billion tons of carbon dioxide annually--almost entirely from deforestation. Living trees absorb CO2, and as they are cut down or burned, they release their stored carbon into the air. Trees also absorb sunlight, warming the earth, but in the tropics their ability to absorb CO2 and promote cloud formation has a net cooling effect. In addition, thinning forests mean fewer trees to soak up the carbon emitted by industry and transport. Deforestation is responsible for about 20% of global carbon emissions, more than from...