Artist illustration of an alien ocean. Image credit: CfA
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Telescope technology is advancing quickly, as larger and larger instruments are getting built. Eventually, an observatory will be built capable of resolving Earth-sized worlds orbiting other stars. If there’s life there, will we recognize it? Researchers from Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and NASA have developed a list of epochs in Earth’s atmosphere’s history that could be visible through this instrument; from the earliest times that life emerged to our current, oxygen/nitrogen-abundant atmosphere.

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Ethane clouds on Titan. Image credit: NASA/JPL/SSI
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When preparing for Cassini’s visit to Saturn’s moon Titan, researchers expected to see the place awash in ethane - a byproduct of the breakdown of methane. They didn’t find the lakes and oceans of ethane they were expecting, but now they have found a large cloud of ethane above Titan’s southern pole. It’s possible that this cloud rains down ethane in the summer, and then condenses around the pole in the winter, accumulating as ice.

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Federal health officials worked Friday to find the source of a multistate E. coli outbreak and warned consumers that even washing the suspect spinach won’t kill the sometimes deadly bacteria.

One person died and dozens of others were sickened in the 10-state outbreak, linked by Food and Drug Administration officials to bagged spinach.

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While we have all experienced the trauma associated with any visit to the emergency room in the last 10 years - it’s a long and drawn out process. As an asthmatic, I found the only way past triage is via an ambulance. So, I wait until I can barely breathe, then call and get straight to a bed. I know the pattern, 40 years gives you time to do so.

But why has a visit with costs $700 or more for less than half an hour - turned into homicide? A women with classic heart-attack symptoms was categorized as “semi-urgent,” as she had no prior history. 2 hours later when found in the waiting room, she had passed already.

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