At www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-38561076 … Japanese scientists have modelled the innards of the Earth and claim that silica exists as 5 per cent of the core. Whilst some 85 per cent of the core is reckoned to be iron and 10 per cent nickel the inclusion of silica is an interesting deduction/
Meanwhile, astronomers discover molecular and 'atomic' clouds associated with a super bubble in the Large Magellanic Cloud – see http://phys.org/print403337439.html. The discovery is more intriguing than first glance might appear as what they are calling a super bubble is a bright X-ray cavity that is face on towards the earth. Scientists have focussed on this region as it provides the opportunity for them to observe and try and understand shock waves and their effect on ambient inter stellar gas. The goal is to untangle what is going on in respect of high energy radiation and cosmic ray acceleration events from supernova remnants. They think they have found evidence of magnetic field amplification – which seems to suggest a leap forward as far as the concept of electricity in space.
At http://phys.org/print403356142.html … the subject is stars in our galaxy, the Milky Way. Some of them may have been captured from a passing dwarf galaxy – but key word here is 'may' as in might be.
At http://phys.org/print403378851.html … the Moon is getting longer in the tooth it would seem, confounding all the theories on its origins. It is now deemed to be older than previously allowed – in this paper at least. According to rocks collected by Apollo moonwalkers back in 1971 the Moon is actually 4.51 billion years of age. Mind you, the Earth is 4.54 billion years of age (so the Moon is catching up).