As special as our solar system is for its ability to support life here on Earth, scientists don't think it's unique. A computer simulation which was run hundreds of times revealed that it's rather unlikely for other similar star systems to exist. All we have to do is find them with a better understanding of how planets come to be. More in the full article.

Scientists have found the soil in Mars to be similar to our own planet's. Examining it more closely, scientists discovered that it's rich in the compound perchlorate which could inhibit life. Some scientists now doubt if life could exist in the red planet, but NASA remains optimistic despite the odds. More in the full article.

 How do you get bacteria to solve math problems for you? Placing them in a life and death situation is one way. In order for them to be able to withstand the drugs, researchers injected these tiny life forms with proteins that will act like variables in an equation. Learn more in the full article up next.

While the talk on global warming is all the rage these days, one scientist says the phenomenon isn't to blame for everything. Tom Knutsen put together a study that leads him to believe that the rise in hurricane frequency is due to multi-decade weather patterns, not warmer seawater. More in the full article.

 We've known for a long time that smaller bodies of water like ponds and lakes absorb carbon. What we didn't know until recently was that they do the feat in dramatically faster ways than oceans and trees do. This discovery can have some good applications when you consider the kind of problems that the global community is facing today. Learn more about it in the full article up next.

 You may think seawater and brackish groundwater is too salty to be of much use, and in its raw form you'd be right, but scientists at Clarkson University say we need to study this type of water more than ever. With water shortages looming across the world, making water desalination cheaper and friendlier to nature could be a great way to start facing the future's challenges. See the full article for all the details.

In a recent study involving 740 pregnant women in the UK, it was concluded that there's a real correlation between what mothers eat and what the gender of their kids are. Carbohydrates, sugars, and other high-energy compounds yields boys, experts say.

Stars and clouds of gas often form breathtaking patterns in space. Scientists at NASA have grown fond over the years of giving creative names to these celestial bodies. In a new photo that the agency is showing off, the Running Chicken Nebula is displayed in crimson glory. You can check it out by clicking on the "read more" link below.

In just about every galaxy known to man, the most common feature in them is that they all have a monstrous centerpiece: a massive black hole. For some reason, Milky Way's own Sagittarius A* seems dormant, but Japanese observers say it wasn't always this way. The full story follows after the jump.

The question of how the universe came to be is a common one now, and the Big Bang theory does a good job of giving us clues on what actually happened. However, has anyone stopped to think what there was before the huge explosion of matter? Scientists have, and they say there could very well have been a twin universe to ours before this one came to be. Details in the full article.