Huge Applet, Unsearchable Terrestrials! This anagram could hold the clue to an important extrasolar planet discovery. When astronomer Gregory Laughlin of the University of California at Santa Cruz posted it on his blog last month, readers immediately leapt on the puzzle...
Getting scooped is an ongoing occupational hazard for astronomers. A interesting idea pops into your head, or a significant peak starts to emerge in a periodogram, and you drop everything to do an analysis and write up your idea or discovery for submission.