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Science In Action: 7 Exoplanetary System Found

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23/02/2017 GMT

7 Exoplanetary System Found

BBC World Service - Science In Action, 7 Exoplanetary System Found

A system of 7 Earth-sized planets orbiting a nearby star have been discovered.

A system of 7 Earth-sized planets have been discovered. Also 50,000 year old microbes found in crystal cave in Mexico, Project Premonition analysing mosquitoes and their diseases.

A planetary system containing 7 planets orbiting a nearby dwarf star, 39 light years away has been discovered. It’s suspected that a number of these exoplanets are Earth-sized, rocky and exist at a temperature range of 0-100 degrees.

Ancient Microbes in Crystal Cave
Penny Boston was one of a group of scientists granted access to some scientifically special crystal caves. The researchers have extracted long-dormant microbes from inside the famous giant crystals of the Naica mountain caves in Mexico - and revived them. The organisms were likely to have been encased in the striking shafts of gypsum at least 10,000 years ago, and possibly up to 50,000 years ago.

Project Premonition
Microsoft’s Project Premonition has devised a way of trapping mosquitoes and quickly analysing the DNA to find out the species, the diseases they may be carrying and the host animals they may have bitten. 

Neanderthal DNA
The last Neanderthal died 40,000 years ago, but much of their genome lives on, in bits and pieces, through modern humans. The impact of Neanderthals' genetic contribution has been uncertain: Do these snippets affect our genome's function, or are they just silent passengers along for the ride? New work shows that Neanderthal DNA sequences still influence how genes are turned on or off in modern humans. Neanderthal genes' effects on gene expression likely contribute to traits such as height and susceptibility to schizophrenia or lupus.

Picture:  This artist's concept is one interpretation of what it could look like.  Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Presenter:	Professor Adam Hart
Producer: 	Fiona Roberts

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