As President Barack Obama struggles to lead the country through a struggling economy, his critics have been all-too-quick to make an invidious comparison to another Democratic president, Jimmy Carter. But slurs against Mr. Carter are two-edged; they also bring to mind some sunnier qualities. Of all presidents, the good-hearted Mr. (Today)

Scientists have long suspected that there are an infinite number of Earth-like planets in the universe. Proving that has been difficult because the universe is a big place and star systems with such planets are very far away. The ability to detect Jupiter-sized planets revolving around distant stars is one of the great achievements of the past decade. (Today)

THERE ARE two dates that live in infamy and the second, the Pearl Harbor of this generation, will be remembered in sorrow and resolve in less than two weeks. For the ninth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on 9/11, first lady Michelle Obama and her predecessor, Laura Bush, will be together for a ceremony in Shanksville, Somerset County, for the first time since the inauguration. (Today)