Seeing microbugs from space
Today's NASA image of the day is spectacular.  It is an image of the waters off the coast of New Zealand.  During this time of year, microscopic organisms that live in the ocean waters (phytoplankton) bloom due to the mixing of ocean currents.  When they grow in such large numbers, they reflect enough sunlight to be visible from space.  Different kinds of these organisms use different minerals to create their tiny solid shells; these end up reflecting the light as slightly different colors of blue & green.

a planet where it rains rocks
Scientists at Washington Univ. in St. Louis have found a extra-solar planet so hot that it likely rains rocks down onto a bubbling lava surface.

Cost of solar power dropping
Article on Green Inc. blog from the NY Times today discusses the fact that solar power has been dropping significantly over the past decade, down ~30% in 2008 from 1998.

new fossil find
This new beast is another pterosaur, a flying reptile that lived in the Mesozoic Era during the time of the dinosaurs (but not technically a dinosaur).  article in BBC News 

new NASA probe lands on Moon
The AP reports today that NASAs recent probe to the moon has landed successfully.  The goal of the probe is to determine whether ice is present at the moon's southern pole.