Sometimes we have those weeks where choosing just five science stories is an unusually difficult task, and this was one of those weeks. Nonetheless, we got it together and came up with five startling space, science and "living planet" stories that are sure to rock your socks off. Take a look below.
1. Atacama Large Millimeter Array: Ancient Galaxies Revealed
The Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) telescope isn't even completely set up yet and it's already producing amazing results. Scientists used the Atacama Large Millimeter Array to boost the resolution of images taken by another European Southern Observatory telescope, the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX). As a result, they were able to spot over 100 ancient galaxies with greater clarity than ever before. "Astronomers have waited for data like this for over a decade," scientist Jacqueline Hodge of the Max-Planck Institute in Germany said.
2. Oldest Port In Ancient Egypt Discovered By Archaeologists
Ancient Egypt just got even more fascinating with the discovery of the country's most ancient harbor and oldest known papyrus documents. Found by a team of French and Egyptian researchers, the harbor is about 4,500 years old and dates to the time of Pharaoh Khufu (Cheops) in the Fourth Dynasty. As for the papyri, they describe days in the lives of ancient Egyptians at the time. One speaks of the goings about of an official called Merrer, who helped build the Great Pyramid.
3. Alien Planets Discovered: Two Habitable Planets Are 'Super Earths'
The question of whether or not we are alone in the universe appears to keep getting clearer, as was the case this week with the discovery of two more planets that have the potential to host life. Part of a five-planet system in the constellation Lyra, the planets are about 1,200 light-years away and about 1.5 times Earth's radius. "These planets are unlike anything in our solar system," astronomer at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Lis Kaltenegger said. "There may be life there, but could it be technology-based like ours?"
4. Supergiant Stars Found To Die In Massive, Long-Lasting Explosions
The universe has been more or less determined to be a very chaotic, violent place and that was reiterated this week with an investigation into supergiant star deaths. Scientists found that unusually long-lasting gamma ray emissions were being caused by explosions of supergiant stars. "These events are amongst the biggest explosions in nature, yet we're only just beginning to find them," team lead Dr. Andrew Levan of the University of Warwick said. "It really shows us that the universe is a much more violent and varied place than we'd imagined."
5. Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo Completes Test Flight
We've been hearing so much in the news about SpaceX, but don't forget about Virgin Galactic, the private space flight company launched by English entrepreneur Richard Branson. The company's SpaceShipTwo rocket plane successfully completed a test run, with observers watching from the Mojave desert. Oxidizer emissions indicate that the plane could undergo its first powered flight not too long from now.
