By Jacopo Prisco, CNN

(CNN) — An exoplanetary system about 116 light-years from Earth could flip the script on how planets form, according to researchers who discovered it using telescopes from NASA and the European Space Agency, or ESA.

Four planets orbit LHS 1903 — a red dwarf star, the most common type of star in the universe — and are arranged in a peculiar sequence. The innermost planet is rocky, while the next two are gaseous, and then, unexpectedly, the outermost planet is also rocky.

This arrangement contradicts a pattern commonly seen across the galaxy and in our own solar system, where the rocky planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars) orbit closer to the sun and the gaseous ones (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune) are farther away.

Astronomers suspect this common pattern arises because planets form within a disk of gas and dust around a young star, where temperatures are much higher close to the celestial body. In these inner regions, volatile compounds such as water and carbon dioxide are vaporized while only materials that can withstand extreme heat — such as iron and rock-forming minerals — can clump together into solid grains. The planets that form there are therefore primarily rocky.

Farther from the star, beyond what scientists call the “snow line,” temperatures are low enough for water and other compounds to condense into solid ice — a process that allows planetary cores to grow quickly. Once a forming planet reaches about 10 times the mass of Earth, its gravity is strong enough to pull in vast amounts of hydrogen and helium, and in some cases, this runaway growth produces a giant gas planet such as Jupiter or Saturn.

“The paradigm of planet formation is that we have rocky inner planets very close to the stars, like in our solar system,” said Thomas Wilson, an assistant professor in the department of physics at the University of Warwick in England and first author of a study on the discovery that was published Thursday in the journal Science. “This is the first time in which we have a rocky planet so far away from its host star, and after these gas-rich planets.”

The unexpected rocky planet, called LHS 1903 e, has a radius about 1.7 times that of Earth, making it what astronomers call a “super Earth” — a larger version of our planet with similar density and composition. But why is it there, defying logic and previous observations?

“We think that these planets formed in very different environments from each other, and that is what’s kind of unique about this system,” Wilson said. “This outer planet, which is rockier compared to the middle two planets, shouldn’t have happened, based on the standard formation theory. But what we think happened is that it formed later than the other planets.”

‘Gas-depleted’ formation

The planetary system was first discovered using a Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS, a NASA space telescope launched in 2018 to discover new exoplanets. The system was then analyzed using ESA’s CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite, or Cheops, which was launched in 2019 to study stars that are already known to host exoplanets. The researchers also used data from other telescopes across the world, leading to a large international collaboration.

After they confirmed the odd finding of an “inside out” planetary system, the scientists tested some hypotheses to explain the presence of the outermost rocky planet, hoping to unders

Por Brian Stelter, CNN

El director ejecutivo de Paramount, David Ellison, regresó a la Casa Blanca la semana pasada para reunirse en privado con el presidente Donald Trump, en medio de la oferta pública de Paramount para adquirir CNN y el resto de Warner Bros. Discovery.

Ellison y Trump sostuvieron dos conversaciones amplias, según dos fuentes con conocimiento de las reuniones.

El momento de los encuentros —a inicios de la semana pasada— es relevante porque Trump fue consultado el miércoles por Tom Llamas, de NBC, sobre la disputa entre Paramount y Netflix, y respondió: “No he estado involucrado”.

Eso marcó un cambio importante para Trump, quien previamente había dicho que estaría involucrado y había señalado su preferencia por Paramount.

Los reguladores del Gobierno de Trump están revisando actualmente el acuerdo de Warner Bros. Discovery para vender el estudio Warner Bros. y HBO a Netflix. Paramount intenta frenar ese acuerdo acudiendo directamente a los accionistas con su propia oferta por todo Warner Bros. Discovery, incluido CNN.

En la entrevista con NBC, Trump pareció sorprenderse por la atención que ha estado recibiendo tanto de Ellison como del codirector ejecutivo de Netflix, Ted Sarandos, quien también se ha reunido con Trump en meses recientes. “Debo decir que supongo que se me considera un presidente muy fuerte”, afirmó. “He recibido llamadas de ambos lados. Son los dos bandos, pero he decidido que no debería involucrarme. El Departamento de Justicia se encargará”.

En sus comentarios a NBC, Trump también aludió al argumento del lado de Paramount de que la adquisición de Warner Bros. por parte de Netflix sería monopolística: “Hay una teoría de que una de las compañías es demasiado grande y no debería permitírsele hacerlo, y la otra compañía dice otra cosa. Se están golpeando muy duro entre ellas —y habrá un ganador”.

Dos días después de la entrevista con NBC, The Wall Street Journal informó que el Departamento de Justicia está investigando si Netflix “ha incurrido en tácticas anticompetitivas”, citando una copia de una citación judicial.

Netflix respondió diciendo que la compañía “no tiene conocimiento de ninguna investigación sobre nuestro negocio fuera del proceso estándar de revisión de fusiones”.

Un portavoz de Paramount declinó comentar sobre las reuniones en la Casa Blanca. La oficina de prensa de la Casa Blanca no respondió a una solicitud de comentarios.

Ellison ha sido un visitante recurrente de la Casa Blanca durante el segundo mandato de Trump, al igual que su padre, Larry Ellison, multimillonario cofundador de Oracle y cercano aliado del presidente.

En diciembre pasado, The Wall Street Journal informó que David Ellison “ofreció garantías a funcionarios del Gobierno de Trump de que, si compraba Warner, haría cambios profundos en CNN”. Días después de que se publicara ese reporte, Trump dijo públicamente: “Es imperativo que CNN sea vendida” y calificó a los actuales líderes de la cadena como una “vergüenza”.

El acuerdo entre Netflix y Warner no implica ningún cambio de propiedad para CNN. Warner Bros. Discovery planea dividirse en dos compañías que cotizarán por separado más adelante este año. Cuando eso ocurra, CNN y otros canales pasarán a formar parte de Discovery Global, mientras que HBO y el estudio cinematográfico Warner quedarán posicionados para la adquisición por parte de Netflix.

Paramount sostiene que el acuerdo con Netflix es inferior a la oferta de US$ 30 por acción que ha presentado públicamente por Warner Bros. Discovery. Pero hasta ahora hay poca evidencia de que los accionistas de WBD estén inclinándose por Paramount.

Uno de los argumentos clave de Paramount se ha centrado en el Gobierno de Trump y en si los reguladores bloquearán el acuerdo con Netflix.

Ellison ha promovido lo que describe como “una vía regulatoria clara” para la oferta de adq

By Ella Nilsen, CNN

(CNN) — The Trump administration delivered a deadly blow to longstanding US climate policy on Thursday, finalizing rules that revoke the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate climate pollution.

First issued in 2009, the endangerment finding determined that six greenhouse gases could be categorized as dangerous to human health under the Clean Air Act. It has underpinned the EPA’s authority to limit planet-warming pollution from the oil and gas industry, power plants and vehicles since the Obama administration and is considered the federal government’s most powerful tool to tackle climate pollution and the country’s contribution to the global crisis.

“We are officially terminating the so called endangerment finding,” President Donald Trump said on Thursday, calling the policy “disastrous.”

In addition, the Trump administration will finalize a repeal of rules that regulate greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles, since they stem from the finding. Under former President Joe Biden, the EPA sought to tighten those standards to prod the auto industry to make more fuel-efficient hybrids and electric vehicles — an effort the industry has since backtracked on.

The full text of EPA’s repeal of the endangerment finding wasn’t made available before the Trump administration announced it, but the justification will likely rely far more on legal arguments that climate pollution cannot be regulated by the landmark Clean Air Act than an outright rejection of climate science, legal experts told CNN.

Legal precedent has granted the government regulatory powers over climate pollution. The US Supreme Court ruled in 2007 that EPA had the authority to regulate climate pollution from greenhouse gases. And in 2022, the US Supreme Court upheld the EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gases from power plants, but narrowed the agency’s scope significantly, prompting the Biden administration to formulate rules aimed only at making individual power plants more efficient.

But the endangerment finding repeal will thrust that question back into the courts, where litigating the repeal could take years, and potentially go all the way to the nation’s highest court. A former top Biden EPA official told CNN he believes this move shows the Trump administration is playing a legal long game.

“Their definition of winning I believe has been and will be when they take final action and defend their action in the courts, to permanently remove EPA’s Clean Air Act authority to regulate greenhouse gases,” said Joe Goffman, who led EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation under Biden.

If the Trump administration repeal is “upheld in court, no future EPA will be able to regulate (carbon dioxide) emissions,” said Jeff Holmstead, an energy attorney with the law firm Bracewell, and a former high-ranking EPA official in the George W. Bush administration. Congress could pass a new law that specifically directs the EPA to regulate climate pollution, but there is little bipartisan consensus on addressing the issue.

Climate and environmental groups are already promising legal challenges to the agency’s move.

“Earthjustice and our partners will see the Trump administration in court,” said Abigail Dillen, president of the environmental legal group. “There is no way to reconcile EPA’s decision with the law, the science, and the reality of disasters th

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