Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Diamond planets and hobbits

Spectral analysis of the so-called diamond planet, 55 Cancri e, backs up the fact that there may be a lot of carbon on the planet. It isn't habitable, though - the atmosphere contains toxic levels of hydrogen cyanide.

Unless, of course, that's a required trace element for whatever lives there...

And continuing analysis of the "hobbit" humans - Homo floresiensis indicates that they are not a diseased or dwarfed race of Homo sapiens, but should be considered either a new species or a dwarf form of H. erectus. We don't know which yet.

(Incidentally, people, please stop. We do not say wolves are not canines - stop saying other species of genus Homo are not humans...)

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