Can Earth-sized planets survive their star’s expansion?
Two Earth-sized planets have been discovered circling a dying star that has passed the red giant stage. Because of their close orbits, the planets must have been engulfed by their star while it swelled up to many times its original size.
http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-12-earth-sized-planets-survive-star-expansion.html
New particle discovered by ATLAS
Researchers from the University of Birmingham and Lancaster University, analysing data taken by the ATLAS experiment, have been at the centre of what is believed to be the first clear observation of a new particle at the Large Hadron Collider. The research is published today on the online repository arXiv.
http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-12-cb3p-particle-large-hadron-collider.html
Self-cleaning cotton nanoparticle coating invented
Efforts to create self-cleaning cotton fabrics are bearing fruit in China.
Engineers have created a chemical coating that causes cotton materials to clean themselves of stains and remove odours when exposed to sunlight.