Each one, Vogt said, is like a Rorschach test for the theorists, offering plenty of ways to look at this brand-new material and many new thoughts on the origins of the stars, their planets, their orbits and their life spans.

CNN: Astronomers spy new neighbors outside solar system

Heartening news rang forth from the renewable energy sector this week as a UN-backed study reported that the building of new renewable energy plants has officially overtaken fossil fuel plants in Europe and the US. We also took a look at two brand new types of power plants -- the world's first hydrogen-driven power plant in Italy and the first hybrid coal-solar power plant in Colorado.

ENGADGET: Inhabitat's Week in Green: of mirror cubes and urban icebergs