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From today's featured article

Habitable zones of TRAPPIST-1 and the Solar System

TRAPPIST-1 is a cool red dwarf star with seven known exoplanets. It lies in the constellation Aquarius about 40.66 light-years away from Earth. It has a mass of about 9% of the Sun and is estimated to be 7.6 billion years old, making it older than the Solar System. The discovery of the star was first published in 2000. Observations in 2016 from the Transiting Planets and Planetesimals Small Telescope (TRAPPIST) led to the discovery of two orbiting terrestrial planets, and five more were found in 2017. It takes the seven planets between about 1.5 and 19 days to orbit around the star. They are likely tidally locked to TRAPPIST-1, leading to permanent day on one side and night on the other. Their masses are comparable to that of Earth. Up to four of the planets orbit at distances where temperatures are suitable for the existence of liquid water (diagram pictured), and are thus potentially hospitable to life. This has drawn interest from both researchers and popular culture. (Full article...)

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In the news

José Mujica

Former president of Uruguay José Mujica (pictured) dies at the age of 89.
The Kurdistan Workers' Party announces its dissolution, ending its insurgency against Turkey.
Robert Francis Prevost is elected as Pope Leo XIV, becoming the first Catholic pope born in the United States.
Friedrich Merz is elected Chancellor of Germany and sworn in alongside his coalition government.
Zhao Xintong defeats Mark Williams to win the World Snooker Championship.
In horse racing, Sovereignty, ridden by Junior Alvarado, wins the Kentucky Derby.

On this day

May 17: International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia

Anne of Denmark

1590 – Anne of Denmark (pictured) was crowned the queen consort of Scotland in a ceremony at Holyrood Abbey in Edinburgh.
1863 – American Civil War: At the Battle of Big Black River Bridge in Mississippi, Union forces under John A. McClernand defeated a Confederate rearguard and captured around 1,700 men.
1900 – The first copies of the children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum were printed.
1954 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education, outlawing racial segregation in public schools because "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal" and therefore unconstitutional.
1987 – An Iraqi jet fired two Exocet missiles at the American frigate USS Stark, killing 37 personnel and injuring 21 others.

Caroline of Brunswick (b. 1768)
Erik Satie (b. 1866)
Little Gerhard (b. 1934)
Maggie Laubser (d. 1973)

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Selected good articles

A droplet of rain on a leaf

Rain is liquid water in the form of droplets (pictured) that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then precipitated—that is, become heavy enough to fall under gravity. It is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. Rain provides suitable conditions for many types of ecosystems, as well as water for hydroelectric power plants and crop irrigation.

The Girls He Left Behind Him and The Iron Clad Lover are two lost American silent short comedies produced by the Thanhouser Company. Both films were originally released together on a single reel and are of two distinct and separate subjects. Released on December 1910, the films were met with positive reviews.

Foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong are domestic workers employed by Hongkongers, typically families. About three percent of Hong Kong's population, an overwhelming majority of which are women. Required by law to live in their employer's residence, they perform household tasks such as cooking, serving, cleaning, dishwashing and child care.

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Today's featured picture

The short-beaked echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus) is one of four living species of echidna. It is covered in fur and spines, has a distinctive snout to help detect its surroundings, and uses a specialized tongue to catch insects. Its extremely strong front limbs and claws allow it to burrow quickly. It repels predators by curling into a ball and deters them with its spines. During the Australian winter, it goes into deep torpor and hibernation. As the temperature increases, it emerges to mate. Female echidnas lay one egg a year and the mating period is the only time the solitary animals meet. A newborn echidna grows rapidly on mother's milk and is expelled into the mother's burrow when it grows too large for the pouch. It leaves the burrow when it is around six months old. The species is found throughout Australia and in coastal and highland regions of eastern New Guinea. It is not threatened with extinction, but human activities have reduced its distribution in Australia. This photograph shows a Tasmanian short-beaked echidna (T. a. setosus), a subspecies of the short-beaked echidna, near Scottsdale, Tasmania.

Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp

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