We were able to rule out Earth-sized planets in some of the orbits where theorists believed they might be found.

We expected that there might be Earth-mass planets here because the planet we know about is weird. It's too big for its mass and one of the best theories to explain that was that it was being puffed out by the tidal influence of a Earth-mass planet in a nearby orbit. Unfortunately that does not work.

Imagine trying to see a mosquito disappearing behind a 400-Watt streetlamp, not at the next street corner or a few blocks away, but 1,000 kilometers away. That's equivalent to what we're trying to do to detect the planet's eclipse in the HD 209458 system.

I would say the majority of astronomers believe there is life elsewhere, and the best place to find it would be on a planet that has conditions like the Earth.

Every teacher has to learn the lession.

The engineering design competition has grown tremendously in the last few years with the increased interest in robotics. The engineering aspect is a discipline that has reached down to the junior high level within the last few years. We've added a junior high level because the kids are sophisticated enough to build their own robots.