What’s a planet? Debate over Pluto rages on

For one of the farthest, coldest places in the solar system, Pluto sure stirs a lot of hot emotions right here on Earth. It was three years ago Monday that the International Astronomical Union demoted Pluto from a planet to a dwarf planet, a decision that made jaws drop around the world. An outcry followed, textbooks had to be rewritten, long-held beliefs were shattered, and many people felt our cosmic neighborhood just didn’t seem the same with eight — instead of nine –planets in the solar system

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Getting Real About the High Price of Cheap Food

Correction Appended: Aug. 20, 2009 Somewhere in Iowa, a pig is being raised in a confined pen, packed in so tightly with other swine that their curly tails have been chopped off so they won’t bite one another. To prevent him from getting sick in such close quarters, he is dosed with antibiotics.

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Telescopes to show universe soon after Big Bang

It may not be possible to travel back in time, but seeing stars and galaxies as they looked millions or even billions of years ago is no problem thanks to telescopes, the closest thing we have to time machines. (CNN) — It may not be possible to travel back in time, but seeing stars and galaxies as they looked millions or even billions of years ago is no problem thanks to telescopes, the closest thing we have to time machines.

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Tsunami watch issued after Indian Ocean quake

A tsunami watch has been issued after a 7.6-magnitude earthquake in the Indian Ocean near India’s Andaman Islands, authorities said. The watch covers India, Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia and Bangladesh, according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The quake struck at 1:55 a.m

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Kepler telescope makes quick discovery

NASA’s Kepler space telescope has already made a discovery, and its science operations aren’t even officially under way yet. NASA scientists who put the telescope through a 10-day test after its March 6 launch said this week that Kepler is working well. Its ability to detect minute changes in light has enabled scientists to determine that a planet orbiting a distant star has an atmosphere, shows only one side to its sun and is so hot it glows

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