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In fifteen years, astronomers have detected just over 500 planets orbiting other stars. Now, after less than two years in orbit, the Kepler telescope has more than tripled that figure, discovering more than 1,200 possible new worlds. Even better, at least 54 of them are in their star's habitable zone, and five of these are Earth-sized planets. But here's the best part - Kepler only looked at one tiny corner of our galaxy. We really might be surrounded by millions of Earth-like planets after all. More »
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The newly-discovered Kepler-10b is, in terms of size, the most Earth-like exoplanet yet discovered, and the first completely confirmed discovery of a rocky planet around another star. This is very good news for the hunt for Earth's twin. More »
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Friday's Smallville, "Luthor," featured that old superheroic stalwart: the evil alternate dimension doppelganger. Clark's pandimensional twin, Clark "Ultraman" Luthor, was so evil that he had carnal relations with his adopted sister, Tess. Oh Smallville, you deviant program! More »
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Orbiting a nearby red dwarf star called Gliese 581 are 6 planets. One of them is a rocky ball, bigger than Earth, in the "habitable zone" where water is liquid and temperatures are human-friendly. It's possible we could live there. More »
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As the fall TV season starts up, shows are resolving their agonizing summer cliffhangers — but for some unlucky shows, that resolution never arrived. Here are the most frustrating "cancel-hangers," cliffhanger endings for shows that got cancelled too soon. More »
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Scientists have discovered what may be the first exoplanet to mirror Earth's climate, which may be a major breakthrough in the study of planets in other solar systems. More »
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Before Fringe introduced millions to the idea of Parallel Earths, DC's superheroes were hopping to Earth-2 and beyond on an annual basis. Justice League: Crisis On Two Earths returns us to those heady days. Click through for the new trailer. More »
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Rings of debris from shattered asteroids and Earth-like planets orbit many white dwarf stars - their remains testimony to how common Earth-like bodies really are in space. More »
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Even though the entire industry spent the last week sunning themselves (and by "sunning themselves," I mean, "slowly roasting themselves in large windowless rooms talking to nerds like me"), your local comic book store will still find itself with a full selection of brand new books tomorrow as regular as clockwork. But, considering that one of those comics is about a bunch of bloggers saving the world, maybe quality control slipped a little bit... More »
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Click to viewCan't be bothered to read our Top 10 Batman Books but still fancy pretending to be a Batman expert? Want to know the secret behind Batman RIP? Wonder what the difference is between the original murder of Bruce Wayne's parents and the current version? What is the origin of the Joker? All you need to answer all of those questions and far too many more is Bob Greenberger's new Essential Batman Encyclopedia. More »
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Okay, so it's not G889 that humans colonized in the TV series, but it's the closest astronomers have found yet. Weighing in at around 5 Earth masses and 1.5 times Earthly diameter, GJ 436c (which orbits the star GJ 436) is the smallest rocky exoplanet ever discovered. It still has many of the wonky traits of other exos like a 3-week long day and a 5.2 day-long year, but preliminary calculations suggest the toasty planet could be nice and balmy at the poles — perfect for an extended beach vacation in the Leo constellation. More »
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