Source: VolcanoDiscovery.com - By T, 10/12/12

View of the Santorini Caldera from the town of Fira.

Popular Science - Rebecca Boyle, 10/11/12

New research says the planet has no water and is made primarily of carbon. It also shows that planets can be more complex to study than stars.

A super-Earth-sized exoplanet in a nearby planetary system is likely made mostly of carbon, which means it is made partly of diamond, according to a new study. The main reason this paper is interesting: It upends the assumption that distant rocky planets might have similar chemistry to Earth. But also: A diamond planet!

Chicago Tribune - Philip Pullella/Reuters, 10/11/12

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict urged lapsed and lukewarm Roman Catholics on Thursday to rediscover their faith but acknowledged there are "bad fish" in the Church itself.

The pope made his comments at two large events before thousands of people in St. Peter's Square on the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council, a far-reaching event in the Church's 2,000-year history.

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Source: The Extinction Protocol, 10/12/12

October 12, 2012 – INDONESIA - A magnitude 6.7 earthquake has struck eastern Indonesia near the Aru Islands. The US Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake was originally measured at 6.9. It struck at a depth of 33 kilometers, 80 kilometers north-northwest of Dobo on the Aru Islands.

The US Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said a destructive widespread tsunami was not likely to be generated by the earthquake. However, it said there was a small possibility of a local tsunami. People in the northern Australian city of Darwin reported feeling the tremors. Today’s earthquake is the fifth 6.0+ magnitude earthquake recorded in the month of October. –Radio Australia

Source: VolcanoDiscovery.com - By T, 10/8/12