So far, the blob has been unavailable for comment...

However, it does have a name: 'Himiko' a reference to a mysterious Japanese queen.

The newly discovered blob was named by Masami Ouchi of the Carnegie Institution for Science, lead researcher of an international team of astronomers. 

The most distant and ancient large object ever spotted - Himiko's existence poses a mystery for astronomers and cosmologists.

European Space Agency's GOCE satellite 'flies' on the edge of the atmosphere...

Skimming the edge of the Earth's atmosphere at a height of 250km up, the ESA's Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) has the look of science fiction about it.

Designed to take micro-measurements of Earth's gravity, data from GOCE will be used to construct a high-resolution map of our planet.  One of the benefits is a more intimate understanding of how gravity pulls on water, and hence the behaviour of hot and cold currents.  Scientists believe that studying information gathered by GOCE will greatly improve computer models of climate, helping to predict future climate change.

Smaller, lighter and can charge in seconds...

A new manufacturing process for existing lithium batteries shows great promise as a candidate as a power source for electric vehicles.

Led by Gerbrand Ceder, the Richard P. Simmons Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at MIT, researchers have discovered that lithium batteries could be produced which would be rechargeable in seconds, rather than minutes. 

Read more to find out how it's done...

Iridium satellite destroyed

It was going to happen eventually - and today was the day. 

Iridium Satellite LLC released a statement earlier confirming that it had lost an operational satellite as a result of a collision with a dormant Russian satellite.  According to the official press release from the company, the event will have '...minimal impact on Iridium's service' and result in '...very limited service disruption in the form of brief, occasional outages'.

NASA and the U.S. Space Command is assessing whether or not the spreading debris cloud will become a hazard to other satellites and in particular to the International Space Station; currently occupied by three astronauts.

Iridium is a provider of mobile satellite phone systems and as such it operates the largest privately owned group of satellites in orbit around the earth: 66 operational as well as in-orbit spares.