Making Science More Better For You on 02/14/08

Headlines of the day
DUI hearing postponed; defendant was drunk (Seattle Times)

Finding love getting easier in rural areas (CNN)
Don’t feel sheepish.

What gave it away? Was it the golden arches? Astronomers See Signs of Other Solar Systems Like Ours (KYW Newsradio)

Scientists have discovered smaller versions of Jupiter and Saturn in a distant solar system. This suggests that there may be a lot of solar systems out there similar to ours. And this brings us one step closer to answering the question, "Is there another planet like Earth in our galaxy?" A team of astronomers has discovered two planets about 80 percent of the size of our Jupiter and Saturn in a solar system 5,000 light years away. Astronomer Scott Gaudi at Ohio State University, using a new technique called gravitational microlensing, says the fact that two planets were discovered right off the bat indicates that our galaxy may host many planetary systems like ours: "It was still this completely open question: how common are solar systems like our own? Our results show that indeed there are other solar systems out there like our own -- and they might well be common." Gaudi reports the team's findings in the February 15th issue of the journal Science.