NASA has discovered the most Earth-like planets yet (io9.com)

"NASA's Kepler mission has discovered a trio of distant planets that look remarkably like our own. Belonging to solar systems located 1,200 and 2,700 light years from Earth, the three Earth-sized worlds have been spotted orbiting in the so-called Goldilocks Zone of their parent stars – the "just-right" range at which liquid water, and life, can exist on a planet's surface. 

NASA's Kepler mission has been hunting for worlds beyond our solar system for a little over four years now, and it's been enormously successful. In that time, it's spotted literally thousands of planetary candidates. Today, three distant worlds –dubbed Kepler-62f, Kepler-62e, and Kepler-69c –have achieved planetary confirmation, while joining an elite cadre of so-called habitable planets. 

Kepler-62f (an artist's depiction of which appears above) and 62e possess radii just 1.4- and 1.6-times that of Earth's, respectively, and orbit a star some 1,200 light years away, along with three other newly discovered planets. Kepler-69c, on the other hand, has a radius 1.7-times that of Earth, and orbits a star around 2,700 light years distant from our own. Together, the three newly discovered worlds have become the second,third, and fourth known bodies to wear the badge of "Earth-like, habitable zone planet."

more info - io9.com

'The Pompeii of the North' (Daily Mail)

London's most important ever archaeological dig unearths THOUSANDS of perfectly preserved Roman artefacts and underground structures.

- Coins, pottery, shoes, lucky charms and amber Gladiator amulet found

- Experts believe artefacts found near Thames date back 2,000 years

- Discoveries have been preserved in muddy waters of lost Walbrook River

- It provides largest quantity of Roman leather ever unearthed in the capital

- Site lies alongside huge building project for new offices in central London

- Three-acre site is also home to the Temple of Mithras, discovered in 1950s

Thousands of Roman artefacts have been unearthed in an archaeological dig hailed as 'the most important excavation ever held in London'.

Archaeologists have found coins, pottery, shoes, lucky charms and an amber Gladiator amulet which date back almost 2,000 years.

Experts leading the excavation have also uncovered wooden structures from the 40s AD around 40ft beneath the ground.

The site is just yards from the River Thames and alongside a huge building project for new offices on Queen Victoria Street in the heart of London's financial district.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2306443/The-Bloomberg-Place-Construction-Site-Archaeological-dig-London-heralded-capitals-important-excavation.html#ixzz2Q3gkwNje
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Wright Brothers: Second in Flight? (Discovery)

"Were we wrong about the Wright Brothers?

That's the shocking claim by Australian aviation historian John Brown, who told FoxNews.com he has photographic proof that German immigrant Gustav Whitehead flew over Connecticut in 1901 -- Orville and Wilbur were second.

“Two years, four months, and three days before the Wright brothers, somebody else flew first,” Brown said via phone from Germany. "It’s really a radical revision of the history of aviation."

full story here - discovery.com