Russia had a failed cargo launch last week that is calling into question several upcoming Soyuz launches. This was actually the second consecutive Russian rocket failure this month. If they can’t resolve and correct the issue in such a way that ensures the safety of the crew, then the September Soyuz launch to the ISS. Due to winter landing concerns this creates the possibility of the ISS being left vacant in November. (Spaceflight Now)

Astronomers keep on finding crazy new exoplanets. The latest appears to be made of diamond. It’s possibly the leftover core of a star that lost it’s outer layers to the pulsar it orbits. For the ladies reading, if you’re going to get starry eyed over a diamond, it would be appropriate in this case. (Reuters)

The brightest and closest supernova observed in the last 40 years was spotted within hours of it’s explosion by scientists at Berkeley. Well, to be fair, it was spotted 21 million years after it’s explosion since it’s 21 million lighter years away in the Pinwheel Galaxy. Since discovery it has continued to get brighter, if you have a good telescope you may be able to see it, but even with a small one or some high power binoculars it will be visible (assuming clear, dark skies) in just a few weeks. (TG Daily)

NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) has returned data on 100 new brown dwarfs. Brown dwarfs are almost stars, they are not quite massive enough to have fusion reactions, so they do not emit visible light. but WISE can detect the heat they do give off. Six of them are classified as Y dwarfs, which are really cool brown dwarfs. The coldest one found blew away the record with a temperature of a mere 25 C. (New Scientist)

A new species of Titi monkey was discovered late last year in a remote part of Brazil. (New Scientist)

Fossils of a new, shrew-like eutherian (ancestors of the placental mammals)  dating back to 160 million years ago shows that the split between placental mammals and marsupials occurred 35 million years earlier than previously thought. (National Geographic)