NASA has announced the discovery of two planets, slightly smaller than Saturn, orbiting the same star in the Milky Way, which have been discovered by the Kepler Space Telescope.

William Borucki, the Kepler Mission Science Principal Investigator, at the NASA Ames Research Center, announced on a teleconference "the first discovery of multiple planets orbiting the same star."

The two planets, known as Kepler 9B and 9C, have a clear gravitational interaction, according to NASA.

A third celestial body, has also been discovered. It's about 1.5 times the size of Earth, but it has not yet, been confirmed as a planet.

One of the highest sections of the atmosphere is shrinking as a result of low sun activity, researchers reported Thursday.

That may sound scary, but they say it actually can be good news for satellites. It means they can stay in orbit longer because they have less drag from the gasses they encounter.

On the other hand, of course, space junk orbiting the Earth also can remain up there longer.

Full-body scanners are no longer limited to airport terminals or other buildings. Van-mounted body scanners are available for sale to US law enforcement agencies thanks to companies like American Science & Engineering of Billerica, MA.
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Jay Stanley of the ACLU said the Z Backscatter vans would represent "a major violation of the Constitution" if they were used on public streets. "In fact," he opined, "it's hard to believe any counsel at any government agency would sign off on allowing these vans to be used in that way."

Stanley suspects that Customs and Border Protection are one of the unnamed customers. Van-mounted body scanners would come in very handy to check cars for contraband or illegal immigrants. That application of the technology would clearly be legal.

The Gulf of Mexico oil spill has revealed a previously unknown type of oil-eating bacteria, which is suddenly flourishing.

Scientists discovered the new microbe while studying the underwater dispersion of millions of gallons of oil spilled into the Gulf following the explosion of BP's Deepwater Horizon drilling rig.

And the microbe works without significantly depleting oxygen in the water, researchers led by Terry Hazen at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory reported Tuesday in the online journal Science Express.