The natives of a remote Polynesian Island invented a binary number system, similar to the one used by computers to calculate, centuries before Western mathematicians did, new research suggests.

A binary star is a system of two gravitationally bound stars that orbit a common center of mass called a barycenter. Stars in a binary system do not necessarily have the same mass, size or brightness.

Apples-to-apples comparisons in the distant universe are hard to come by. Whether the subject is dwarf galaxies, supermassive black holes, or 'hot Jupiters,' astronomers can spend months or years ...