Bertrand Serlet, Apple's senior VP of Mac software engineering, developed the Mac OS X operating system. Photo courtesy Apple.

Apple announced Wednesday that Bertrand Serlet, lead developer of Mac OS X, is leaving the company, just a day before the operating system turns 10 years old.

Though less publicized than Apple executives Steve Jobs and Tim Cook, Serlet is a legend at the company. He was basically the Jony Ive of Apple’s software design. Mac OS X, which originally released March 24, 2001, has played a crucial role in driving the success of Apple’s Macs and mobile products.

“I’ve worked w...

A brown dwarf found hiding 75 light-years from Earth is the coldest and dimmest ever discovered, a new study reports. It may represent a new class of failed stars straddling the division between stars and Jupiter-like planets.

A warmer and brighter companion originally obscured the brown dwarf, named CFBDSIR J1458+1013B, until astronomers used telescopes powerful enough to discern it. It’s four to five times dimmer and 130 degrees cooler than previous record-holders, with a surface temperature of about 100 degrees Celsius — comparable to a cup of hot tea.

“At such temperatures we expect the b...