Paleontologists at the University of Texas at Austin and other institutions have investigated the fossil of a giant penguin found in Peru. At five feet tall, it would have dwarfed today's largest living penguins. A UT press release stated, "The fossil shows [that] the flipper and feather shapes that make penguins such powerful swimmers evolved early."¹

Scientists believed and taught for ages that only gene-coding DNA (which is a small fraction of DNA in human and other genomes) was functional. All other DNA was "junk" leftovers from a long evolutionary past. But recent studies have shown that non-coding DNA actually carries useful and vital coded instructions.¹

A number of factors are required for life to exist--the presence of water, sustainable atmosphere, and appropriate temperature ranges, just to name a few. How many of these requirements should be observed in a distant planet in order for a serious scientist to claim that life there is a sure thing?

Just one, according to a University of California Santa Cruz astronomer.

Certain items seem to have just the right combination of shapes and colors to have universal aesthetic appeal. For example, few fail to appreciate the glory of a sunset on the beach, and many varieties of flowers have captivated people since time immemorial. Although the world is filled with a multitude of such wonders, only mankind seems to possess the ability to appreciate beauty.

Astronomers generally believe that Mars was formed billions of years ago. About 96 percent of the Red Planet's atmosphere is composed of carbon dioxide.¹ NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander began transmitting detailed data about the planet's atmosphere in 2008, and a recent analysis of the information has revealed that its atmosphere actually looks young.