Science News

The Vatican considers the possibility that extraterrestrial life forms exist -- and ponders the implications their existence would have on the Catholic Church. It is hosting a five-day conference gathering astronomers, physicists, biologists and other experts to discuss the budding field of astrobiology.

A new study by Consumer Reports finds what it deems unhealthy levels of bisphenol A, or BPA, in a variety of canned foods. Although this preservative has been linked to diseases in animals, industry groups insist it is safe. Two recent measures in Congress are calling for a ban on BPA, and both the FDA and EPA plan to study the issue in coming months.

NASA marks the 400th anniversary of the telescope by releasing one of the most detailed images to date of the heart of the Milky Way. The image, a composite created by the Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes and the Chandra X-ray Observatory, will go on display at scores of planetariums, libraries and schools.

The Large Hadron Collider is shorted out when a bird drops part of a baguette into its external machinery. The $10 billion atom smasher has already been beset by various technical glitches, but the baguette-toting bird took the LHC staff by surprise. Luckily the massive gizmo was powered down at the time of the incident, and suffered no major damage.

Twenty years of research convinced Pulitzer Prize-winning science journalist Jon Franklin that people wouldn't be where they are today if it weren't for our four-legged panting friends. Some doubt his conclusions, likening him to a dyslexic churchgoer. But others support his findings.