(University of Leicester) University of Leicester scientist proposes theory for mysterious doughnut-shaped dust clouds.

(NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) A new analysis of Hubble surveys, combined with simulations of galaxy interactions, reveals that the merger rate of galaxies over the last 8 billion to 9 billion years falls between the previous estimates.

(DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory) Saul Perlmutter, an astrophysicist at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and a professor of physics at the University of California at Berkeley, has won the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics “for the discovery of the accelerating expansion of the universe through observations of distant supernovae.” Perlmutter shares the prize with Brian Schmidt of the Australian National University and Adam Riess of Johns Hopkins University.

(Naval Research Laboratory) Scientists at the Naval Research Laboratory are refurbishing the Very-high Angular resolution ULtraviolet Telescope (VAULT) in preparation for two launches aboard NASA sounding rockets from the Navy’s launch complex at the White Sands Missile Range starting in 2013. VAULT was initially flown as a sounding rocket payload in 1999 and 2002.

(University of California – Santa Cruz) A new analysis of images from the Hubble Space Telescope combined with supercomputer simulations of galaxy collisions has cleared up years of confusion about the rate at which smaller galaxies merge to form bigger ones.

(Penn State) Three planets — each orbiting its own giant, dying star — have now been discovered by a team led by Alexander Wolszczan, the discoverer of the first planets ever found outside our solar system. One of these stars has another mystery object orbiting it. The research is expected to shed light on the evolution of planetary systems around dying stars and the influence of metal content on the behavior of dying stars.

(ESO) Astronomers have measured the diameter of the dwarf planet Eris by catching it as it passed in front of a faint star. This was seen by telescopes in Chile, including the TRAPPIST telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory. The observations show that Eris is an almost perfect twin of Pluto in size and appears to be covered in a layer of ice. Results will be published in the Oct. 27 issue of the journal Nature.

(The University of Hong Kong) In today’s issue of the journal Nature, Prof. Sun Kwok and Dr. Yong Zhang of The University of Hong Kong report that organic compounds of unexpected complexity exist throughout the Universe. They indicate that an organic substance commonly found throughout the Universe contains a mixture of aromatic and aliphatic components. The results suggest that complex organic compounds are not the sole domain of life but can be made naturally by stars.

(The Thiel Foundation) Peter Thiel today launched a new program of the Thiel Foundation, Breakout Labs, a revolving fund to improve the way early-stage science and technology research is funded by helping independent scientists and early-stage companies develop their most radical ideas.

(City College of New York) The Greenland ice sheet can experience extreme melting even when temperatures don’t hit record highs, according to a new analysis by Dr. Marco Tedesco, assistant professor in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the City College of New York. His findings suggest that glaciers could undergo a self-amplifying cycle of melting and warming that would be difficult to halt.