Authorities are attempting to trace the plane

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Authorities are attempting to trace the plane across two possible corridors, indicated by the dotted red lines on the map above. CBS NEWS
Northern route more populated: The possible northern corridor being investigated would have taken the plane over countries with busy airspace, as well as
potentially over heavily militarized areas, including countries with robust air defense networks like China, India or Pakistan. Mark Rosenker, former chair
of the National Transportation Safety Board and CBS News' Aviation Safety Analyst said that it would have been unlikely for the plane to have flown over
those countries without getting picked up.
Southern route mostly open water: The possible southern corridor being investigated would have put the plane over the Indian Ocean, with an average depth of
12,762 feet -- one of the most remote stretches of water in the world, with little radar coverage. On this path, the plane may have passed near the Cocos
Islands, a remote Australian territory with a population of less than 1,000 people and one small airstrip, about 745 miles southwest of Indonesia. Australia
said it was sending one of its two AP-3C Orion aircraft involved in the search to the islands at Malaysia's request.
Satellite data suggests plane flew for over 7 hours: Malaysia's prime minister said Saturday the last confirmed signal between the plane and a satellite came
at 8:11 a.m. - 7 hours and 31 minutes after takeoff. This was more than five hours later than the previous time given by Malaysian authorities as the
possible last contact. Airline officials have said the plane had enough fuel to fly for up to about eight hours.

A new look at the Big Bang, moments later
CAMBRIDGE -- After days of rumors and anticipation, a team led by a Harvard astronomer announced Monday it had detected a pattern in the distant cosmos that
reveals what happened in the first moments of the Big Bang 13.8 billion years ago: a hyper-expansion of our universe known as inflation.
The scientists also for the first time reported direct evidence of gravitational waves, which have been long predicted by Albert Einstein’s general theory
of relativity. It is also the first direct measurement of a type of radiation predicted by famed British cosmologist Stephen Hawking.