Planetary-mass objects, or planemos, are a relatively new addition to the astronomy pantheon. There remains a great deal to be discovered about them, and the mysteries are compounded by the recent discovery of a binary pair of objects too small to be stars in their own right, but which have no parent star either. It’s unclear whether this is a common occurance or a rare fluke, but the answer could tell us a lot about how planemos are formed.

Some great news for bookworms with internet connections – publishing giant HarperCollins, one of the first to digitise its entire back catalogue, is going to allow potential buyers to browse excerpts of selected titles online. Of course, it’s not all good news – one of the books is by Michael Crichton. You can’t expect miracles to happen right away, I guess.

Astronomers have puzzled over the equatorial lump on the moon’s dark side for centuries, but a solution to the conundrum has now been proposed. The theory goes that the lump was created by orbital forces long ago, when the moon was still molten, much closer to Earth, and in a far more eccentric orbit than at present. Since then, it has gradually moved away from the Earth, its spin and orbit becoming steadily more sedate.

JAXA, the Japanese Aerospace Agency, has announced plans to have established a Lunar base by 2030, which is a slight step back from their previous target of 2025. They don’t seem to have any clear and definite plans as to how they’ll do it, either, so maybe more collaboration is on the cards in the near future.

It’s no surprise to find that a country that gets as much sun as Australia is keen to start using solar sources of renewable energy. Way out in the outback, a tower half a kilometer high will be built, surrounded by a two-mile-diameter canopy. The canopy will superheat the air, which will then flow up towards the lower pressure area of the tower and drive turbines. No fuels required, totally pollution free – and a great use for otherwise desolate land.