A distant Earth-like exoplanet 'could have life'

By Katia MoskvitchScience reporter, BBC News

An artist's impression of Gliese 581g and its parent star

Astronomers have detected an Earth-like exoplanet that may have just the right kind of conditions to support life.

Gliese 581g lies some 20 light-years away in its star's "Goldilocks zone" - a region surface temperatures would allow the presence of liquid water.

Scientists say that the newly found world could also potentially have an atmosphere.

Their findings, made with the Keck telescope in Hawaii, appear in the Astrophysical Journal.

The researchers, from the University of California at Santa Cruz (UCSC) and the Carnegie Institution of Washington, have been studying the movement of the planet's parent star, a red dwarf called Gliese 581, for 11 years.

Their observations have revealed a number of exoplanets spinning around the star.

Possibility of life

Recently they discovered two new alien worlds, so together with the previous findings, this brings the number of planets orbiting Gliese 581 to six.

But the most important new revelation is that one of those worlds might be the most Earth-like planet yet identified.

"Our findings offer a very compelling case for a potentially habitable planet," said Steven Vogt, an astronomer at UCSC.

"The fact that we were able to detect this planet so quickly and so nearby tells us that planets like this must be really common."

Gliese 581g has a mass about three to four times that of Earth. It orbits its sun in 37 days and is thought to be a rocky world. It has enough gravity to possibly have an atmosphere.

Another Earth-like planet, Gliese 581c, was discovered a few years ago

Gliese 581g is located in its star's "Goldilocks zone" - a zone in space where temperatures are neither too hot nor to cold for liquid water.

Such a zone defines the region in a star-centered orbit where an Earth-like planet could sustain that water on its surface - and therefore life.

"We had planets on both sides of the habitable zone - one too hot and one too cold - and now we have one in the middle that's just right," said Dr Vogt.

The planet's average surface temperature is estimated to be between -12C and -31C.

But unlike Earth, this alien world has one side always facing its sun and the other side constantly in the dark. So in-between the two sides, between shadow and light, there could be an area where life could potentially thrive.

"Any emerging life forms would have a wide range of stable climates to choose from and to evolve around, depending on their longitude," said Dr Vogt.

Alien worlds

The first exoplanet orbiting a star was detected more than a decade ago.

Since then, nearly 500 other worlds have been found beyond our Solar System, many of them Jupiter-like gas giants.

Now, astronomers are hoping to spot more exoplanets where life could be possible.

"We're at exactly that threshold now with finding habitable planets," said Paul Butler of the Carnegie Institution, a co-author of the study.

Dr Vogt agreed: "The number of systems with potentially habitable planets is probably on the order of 10 or 20%, and when you multiply that by the hundreds of billions of stars in the Milky Way, that's a large number," he said.

"There could be tens of billions of these systems in our galaxy."

Any emerging life forms would have a wide range of stable climates to choose from and to evolve around, depending on their longitude”

Steven VogtUniversity of California, Santa Cruz

Michael Dell shows off new 7-inch Android tablet

Posted in Dell by Conner Flynn on September 22nd, 2010

Michael Dell loves to tease. Word is that Dell’s big cheese has just pulled out yet another Android tablet from his very large and mysterious pocket. This time it’s a 7-incher. Mr. Dell didn’t let loose any dates and specs, but this could be the long-rumored Looking Glass.
Dell also announced that the smaller Streak is heading to Best Buy next month. We hope that this bigger tablet won’t disappoint us with an outdated OS this time.

Doctors to use Dell Streak Tablets when treating patients

Posted in Dell by Conner Flynn on September 15th, 2010

The Streak is a lot more portable than the iPad, but you still can’t call it as pocket-friendly as the iPhone. Nevertheless, Dell wants to fill up their Streak with a healthcare software app.
Dell has a good reputation in the medical world already, but with the Streak Dell aims to get in even deeper, giving the tablet to doctors to test later this year. The dual cameras will be useful for recording the patient’s progress, and using the app they can update their electronic medical records.

Don’t be alarmed when you see a Dell in your doctor’s labcoat.

Dell’s Inspiron Duo is a 10″ Netbook/Tablet that swivels

Posted in Dell by Conner Flynn on September 14th, 2010

The folks at Dell are crazy, throwing all kinds of ideas out there and seeing what sticks. Dell’s new Inspiron Duo is a 10″ tablet that opens up and swivels its screen to transform itself into a netbook. But what’s the point? Why swivel when it can just detach? This is just tablet madness.
They’re saying it will be available before the end of the year. Again crazy talk. Dell may actually be innovating something here. Dell showed off this Windows 7 Premium running and dual-core Atom N550 processor packing thing at the second day keynote of Intel’s IDF conference.

Dell takes second place back from Acer in PC shipments for Q2

Posted in Acer,Dell,HP by Shane McGlaun on September 7th, 2010

A few companies track PC shipments around the globe including iSuppli. In July, iSuppli offered up the numbers for Q1 2010 and Acer overtook Dell for the second place in the global PC shipment list.
The numbers for Q2 are out and Dell has recaptured that second spot. Dell shipped 10.5 million PCs for 12.8% of the market. Acer shipped 10.1 million PCs for 12.4% of the market. Acer had negative 6.2% growth for the quarter while Dell had negative 1.2% growth thanks to its desktop and server shipments.

Dell Studio XPS 9100 with Intel i7-980X Processor

Posted in Dell by Conner Flynn on August 3rd, 2010

If you’ve got money, Dell’s got the computer. Dell’s new Studio XPS 9100 features Intel’s 3.33GHz Core i7-980X processor, which should give you enough processing power to do whatever you want. You can get it in various configurations, and prices start at $945.
Some configurations include: Intel Core i7 processor, Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional and Ultimate, Up to 24GB RAM, Up to 4TB storage space, Blu-ray and DVD burner options, Gigabit Ethernet, Wireless b/g/n, Built-in card reader and Radeon HD 5970 graphics card.