Astronomers have identified 54 new exoplanets in the "habitable zone" of their solar systems—meaning they could potentially sustain life as we know it. But we won't be able to live on any of them! Here's why:

Bill O'Reilly and everyone else who doesn't know how the moon got there should read this explainer.

Remember how Bill O'Reilly used tidal phenomena to definitively establish the existence of God? And how you laughed at him because the moon, and not God, actually does that? He's got a question for you: How'd the moon get there?

People fossils! Dinosaur fossils! Sexy science! Cheating ladies! Lucky black hearts! Weights losing weight! Faraway planets! Implant perils! Monster alfalfa! And black holes that trip you out! It's your Friday Science Watch, where we watch science—with forgiveness!

Old galaxies! Nabokov butterflies! Milk safety! Insomnia relief! Cell timers! Solar sails! Bat naps! Math extinctions! Ovulation dreams! Breast chips! It's your Wednesday Science Watch, where we watch science—wackily, come on!

Martin Gaskell is an astronomer who studies quasars. He's also a Christian who questions evolution. The University of Kentucky decided not to hire him at least partly because of his religious views. Now Gaskell's won a settlement over it. Good.

Astrologists are lining up to "debunk" an astronomer who recalculated the zodiac to accommodate millennia of shifts in the Earth's axis. You realize this whole controversy is over an easily debunked, primitive myth that stars predict your personal life, right?

A "ball of fire"—likely a meteor—appeared over the U.S. Southeast tonight! You may be reassured to know that the volunteer fire department of Copiah County, Miss., "searched for whatever it was but didn't come up with anything."

This nerdy adolescent takes matters into his own hands by performing an informative yet hot rap song. "Just look at the sky, it'll blow your mind."

Kathryn Aurora Gray, a Canadian 10-year-old, just became the youngest-ever person to discover a supernova after spotting one in galaxy UGC 3378 while looking with her dad. So? When I was 10 I discovered late-night Cinemax. Where's my medal?

This week, the Winter Solstice lunar eclipse captivated the world with its once-in-400-years beauty. But the Universe has other cool stuff, too—the Milky Way, for example. Inside, a recent—and stunningly beautiful—time-lapse of the Galaxy over Nevada's Lake Tahoe.

Astronomers using NASA's Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope have discovered two huge 'bubbles' of gamma ray energy at the center of the galaxy. They're either leftover from a shitload of supernovae, or caused by the black hole at the galaxy's center.

For the second time this summer, amateur astronomers recorded an impact on Jupiter—big enough to be seen from earth. Is it an asteroid? Or an alien? Well, almost definitely an asteroid (or comet) nucleus. But judge for yourself!

Good News: Astronomers say the universe will likely keep expanding forever. Bad news: it will eventually become a "a cold, dead wasteland." This is exactly what happened to [insert name of actor/actress whose precipitous decline was marked by weight gain.]

Gender bias! Alien data! Virus art! Hard relaxing! Radical statins! Space water! And godless rotifers reproducing outside of the bounds of holy matrimony! It's your fact-based Science Watch, where we watch science—whether Jesus likes it or not!

Whoa! Something just hit Jupiter! The impact—which must have been huge to be visible on earth—was recorded by two different amateur astronomers, one in Australia and one in the Philippines. Was it... an alien vessel?? (No.)

Astronomers have found a kind of supernova that barfs calcium as it dies, and think such supernovae could be behind the abundance of calcium in our universe. No word on if they're better than Tums, or what. [LAT]

The Hubble telescope is 20 years-old today. It's produced many beautiful images. Here's a new one: A "three-light-year-tall pillar of gas and dust that is being eaten away by the brilliant light from nearby stars." (click to enlarge) [NASA]

[This new picture from the European Southern Observatory's new VISTA telescope of the future makes the Orion Nebula look like a bit of swirly sci-fi goodness. Image via ESO via Wired]

Astronomers have found a planet around six-and-a-half times the size of Earth, which they believe has abundant liquid water. It's one of the most Earth-like planets discovered yet, and it's a mere 40 light-years away. Road trip! [MSNBC]