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Asteroid killed off the dinosaurs, says international scientific panel By News Releases (Imperial College London) The Cretaceous-Tertiary mass extinction, which wiped out the dinosaurs and more than half of species on Earth, was caused by an asteroid colliding with Earth and not massive volcanic activity, according to a comprehensive review of all the available evidence, published today in the journal Science.

How to hunt for exoplanets By News Releases (Institute of Physics) A new report launched by the Institute of Physics "Exoplanets -- The search for planets beyond our solar system" explains how new technological advances have seen the discovery of more than 400 exoplanets to date, a number expected to rise to thousands in the next few years.

Torn apart by its own tides, massive planet is on a 'death march' By News Releases (The Kavli Foundation) An international group of astrophysicists has determined that a massive planet outside our Solar System is being distorted and destroyed by its host star -- a finding that helps explain the unexpectedly large size of the planet, WASP-12b. It's a discovery that not only explains what's happening to WASP-12b; it also means scientists have a one-of-a-kind opportunity to observe how a planet enters this final stage of its life.

Will coral reefs disappear? By News Releases (Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council) NSERC-funded researcher Dr. Simon Donner, an assistant professor in the department of geography at the University of British Columbia, will be talking about the vulnerability of coral reefs to climate change due to higher ocean temperatures.

Images of extrasolar planets win award for most outstanding papers in Science By News Releases (University of California - Berkeley) Two papers will share the 2009 Newcomb Cleveland Prize for outstanding papers in Science. One of these papers, whose lead author was UC Berkeley astronomer Paul Kalas, was accompanied by the first visible light image of a planet outside our solar system.

Upside-down answer for deep Earth mystery By News Releases (Rice University) When Earth was young, it exhaled the atmosphere. During a period of intense volcanic activity, lava carried light elements from the planet's molten interior and released them into the sky. However, some light elements got trapped inside the planet. In this week's issue of Nature, a Rice University-based team of scientists is offering a new answer to a longstanding mystery: what caused Earth to hold its last breath?

First-ever images of planets orbiting distant stars win the 2009 AAAS Newcomb Cleveland Prize By News Releases (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Two breathtaking discoveries -- the first-ever image of multiple planets orbiting a star other than our own, plus separate research that directly detected a planet orbiting the star Fomalhaut -- won the 2009 Newcomb Cleveland Prize of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Saturn's aurorae offer stunning double show By News Releases (ESA/Hubble Information Centre) Researchers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope recently took advantage of a rare opportunity to record Saturn when its rings are edge on, resulting in a unique movie featuring both of the giant planet's poles. Saturn is only in this position every 15 years and this favorable orientation has allowed a sustained study of Saturn's almost symmetric northern and southern lights.

Saturn's aurorae images 'unique to science' By News Releases (University of Leicester) University of Leicester team leads international programs using Hubble Space Telescope.

NASA's new building awarded the US Green Building Council LEED Gold Rating By News Releases (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) What does it take to turn silver into gold? For NASA scientists, the answer is "two protons." For Manhattan Construction Company in Washington, it is creative green building solutions which have resulted in the Exploration Sciences Building project becoming the first at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center to receive LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold certification from the US Green Building Council.