Science News Roundup: Siberian heatwave 'warning cry' from the Arctic; Planets around the nearby star are intriguing candidates for extraterrestrial life

Siberian heat wave is a 'warning cry' from the Arctic, climate scientists say Pine trees are bursting into flames. Reports of record-breaking Arctic heat – registered at more than 100 Fahrenheit (38 Celsius) in the Siberian town of Verkhoyansk on June 20 – are still being verified by the World Meteorological Organization.

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

Siberian heatwave is a 'warning cry' from the Arctic, climate scientists say

Pine trees are bursting into flames. Boggy peatlands are tinderbox dry. And towns in northern Russia are sweltering under conditions more typical of the tropics. Reports of record-breaking Arctic heat – registered at more than 100 Fahrenheit (38 Celsius) in the Siberian town of Verkhoyansk on June 20 – are still being verified by the World Meteorological Organization. But even without that confirmation, experts at the global weather agency are worried by satellite images showing that much of the Russian Arctic is in the red.

Planets around the nearby star are intriguing candidates for extraterrestrial life

Up to three planets - potentially rocky like Earth - have been spotted around a star located relatively near our solar system - a planetary system offering astronomers intriguing possibilities in the search for signs of extraterrestrial life. The planets orbit Gliese 887, a so-called red dwarf star half the sun's mass located 11 light-years from Earth - right in our backyard in cosmic terms, researchers said on Friday. A light year is the distance light travels in a year, 5.9 trillion miles (9.5 trillion km).

(With inputs from agencies.)