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Archive: Cells, Io, Cave Art, Solar System, Sex, More

Here are some of the stories we were reporting in October 2001.

Fat Star Child Too Big for Mom

Could a mother give birth to a 170-pound baby? That's what a new exoplanet is like.

Forcing Planets into Line

You can't make a planet do what your model says it must do to exist, unless it cooperates in your imagination.

Energized Dust Bunnies Make Planets?

Get a charge out of this new theory: planets were built by statically-charged dust bunnies. Is that all it takes?

Miracles in Solar System Origin Theories

Skipping over a difficulty because it can't be solved scientifically: that's one giant backward leap for theory kind.

Rearranging Deck Chairs on Sinking Planet Theories

Supernovas come in handy as theory rescue devices.

Hot Jupiters: Astronomers Blew It

The experts were (and are) wrong about how planets form, new data from a weird exoplanet show.

Solar System Reversals

The planets keep going around, but theories about them often stop and go backward or sideways. When nothing else works, send in the impactors!

Planet-Makers Ask Miracles to Evade Death Spiral

Remember the old artwork of planets gently forming out of dust orbiting a young star? That’s all gone. Reality has set it. Clumps of material a meter across need help – almost miraculous help – to avoid getting sucked into the star in a giant death spiral. If you don’t believe it, ask John Chambers […]
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