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As we learn more about far distant solar systems, it becomes clear just how weird the universe really is. And, more disconcertingly, how unusual our own solar system is. And that starts with our curious lack of so-called "hot Neptunes." More »
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This is nebula NGC 2174, located about 6400 light-years away. This amazing photograph makes the nebula look like the peak of a giant dust mountain, with strange pink stars dominating its summit. In fact, the stars are locked in cosmic battle with the gas mountain, and it's only a matter of time before the stars emerge victorious and destroy this ghostly peak. More »
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The Whirlpool Galaxy looks beautiful and swirling in a visible light image (at left.) But the infrared view, at right, shows a maelstrom of chaos, revealing the dense lanes of dust around normally invisible clusters of stars. More »
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Earth actually shares its orbit with a huge ring of dust particles. Alien astronomers would likely notice the dust ring long before seeing Earth itself, which could mean the best way to find alien planets is to look for dust. More »
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A giant star recently went supernova in a distant galaxy. Except you'd never know it, because the star emitted giant dust clouds that trapped and squelched the explosion. I don't believe stars can feel embarrassment...but yeah, that's pretty embarrassing. More »
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While vampire rockers make their way to Toronto, two movies from the future warn us that if the world population gets depleted by a plague, it's best to turn that virus on yourself before you end up dating your brother. More »
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It's 1941, and you're sending a battalion of giant combat mechs to attack Russia. Your air support fighters were built using technology you recovered from a crashed alien ship in the Antarctic, and no one has bothered trying to develop atomic weapons because you're all too busy trying to gather a weird alien energy source known as "VK." This isn't World War II. It isn't even World War III. This is Dust, an 800-piece strategy board game by Fantasy Flight Games. More »
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