Asteroid Lutetia may have core of hot melted metal

A new look at an asteroid in deep space has revealed signs of a molten-hot core, a smoldering remnant from the earliest days of the solar system that could also help unlock secrets of some of Earth's weirdest meteorites, researchers say.


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45065506/ns/technology_and_science-space/
http://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/features/rosetta_images20100710.html (images)
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_1712.html (one images)
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMG93HURTG_index_0.html (ESA page)

Mysterious single-celled organisms discovered six miles below surface

Scientists announced Tuesday that they have discovered a mysterious single-celled organism living nearly six miles below the surface of the ocean.

The team documented the deepest known existence of xenophyophores, single-celled animals exclusively found in deep-sea environments. The organism are known for their size, with individual cells often exceeding 4 inches, their extreme abundance on the seafloor and their role as hosts for a variety of organisms. Recent studies suggest that by trapping particles from the water, xenophyophores can concentrate high levels of lead, uranium and mercury, which means they are likely resistant to massive amounts of heavy metal.

http://www.thestatecolumn.com/health/mysterious-single-celled-organisms-discovered-six-miles-below-surface/

In African Cave, Signs of an Ancient Paint Factory

Digging deeper in a South African cave that had already yielded surprises from the Middle Stone Age, archaeologists have uncovered a 100,000-year-old workshop holding the tools and ingredients with which early modern humans apparently mixed some of the first known paint.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/14/science/14paint.html

Star blasts alien planet with fierce X-ray attack

A nearby star is drubbing its close-orbiting planet with a barrage of X-rays 100,000 times more powerful than what the Earth receives from the sun, a new study has found.

That intense, high-energy radiation is blasting about 5 million tons of matter from the gigantic planet into space every second, researchers said. They made the observations using NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory and the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in Chile.


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44509931/ns/technology_and_science-space/

Prehistoric clay disks found in northwestern Alaska

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - Four decorated clay disks have been discovered at a prehistoric site in Alaska, apparently the first artifacts of their type discovered in the state, the University of Alaska Museum of the North said.

The disks were found during a summer expedition in Noatak National Preserve, at a site where archeologists have for decades been studying lakefront pit dwellings that date back 1,000 years, officials at the Fairbanks museum said.

The disks are etched, and two of them have holes in the center.

They were discovered when a team from the museum and the National Park Service traveled to the site in northwestern Alaska to make records of previously discovered prehistoric petroglyphs on boulders.

Such prehistoric rock art is extremely rare in interior and northern Alaska, though common in the southwestern part of the United States and other regions, museum and Park Service officials said.

http://news.yahoo.com/prehistoric-clay-disks-found-northwestern-alaska-222029097.html;_ylt=AsBB1MECjqVtbpVC34i9OOtvzwcF;_ylu=X3oDMTNvYm5uNmNrBG1pdANUb3BTdG9yeSBVU1NGBHBrZwMwMmU2ZTM0OC03OWZhLTM1YmMtOTIzMy00Y2Q3MGUxMDFjYTYEcG9zAzEzBHNlYwN0b3Bfc3RvcnkEdmVyAzRiMzA3NmYwLWRiMzItMTFlMC1iZGRmLTIwMTQ0NTk4ZjI0Yg--;_ylg=X3oDMTFtdTQ1b3RjBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdAN1cwRwdANzZWN0aW9ucwR0ZXN0Aw--;_ylv=3

GURPS NPC Generators On Line

Links to various on line GURPS NPC generators:
http://banjo.actrix.com/code/Goblin/   (only four options)
http://lapse.nerdvana.org.au/code/gurps/ (design tool: no auto-generation)
http://brentnewhall.com/rpg/gurps_4e.php (design tool: no auto-generation)
http://ayinger.no-ip.info/NPCGen/NPCGen

Regular software (not on line, web sites):
http://banjo.actrix.com/code/rabble/
http://gurpscharactersheet.com/wiki/

Random link:
http://masterplan.habitualindolence.net/

Quark Nova and Quark Stars

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quark-nova