Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/288995382?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Friday, March 1, 2013
Birth of a giant Planet? Candidate protoplanet spotted inside its stellar womb
Feb. 28, 2013 ? Astronomers using ESO's Very Large Telescope have obtained what is likely the first direct observation of a forming planet still embedded in a thick disc of gas and dust. If confirmed, this discovery will greatly improve our understanding of how planets form and allow astronomers to test the current theories against an observable target.
An international team led by Sascha Quanz (ETH Zurich, Switzerland) has studied the disc of gas and dust that surrounds the young star HD 100546, a relatively nearby neighbour located 335 light-years from Earth. They were surprised to find what seems to be a planet in the process of being formed, still embedded in the disc of material around the young star. The candidate planet would be a gas giant similar to Jupiter.
"So far, planet formation has mostly been a topic tackled by computer simulations," says Sascha Quanz. "If our discovery is indeed a forming planet, then for the first time scientists will be able to study the planet formation process and the interaction of a forming planet and its natal environment empirically at a very early stage."
HD 100546 is a well-studied object, and it has already been suggested that a giant planet orbits about six times further from the star than Earth is from the Sun. The newly found planet candidate is located in the outer regions of the system, about ten times further out [1].
The planet candidate around HD 100546 was detected as a faint blob located in the circumstellar disc revealed thanks to the NACO adaptive optics instrument on ESO's VLT, combined with pioneering data analysis techniques. The observations were made using a special coronagraph in NACO, which operates at near-infrared wavelengths and suppresses the brilliant light coming from the star at the location of the protoplanet candidate [2].
According to current theory, giant planets grow by capturing some of the gas and dust that remains after the formation of a star [3]. The astronomers have spotted several features in the new image of the disc around HD100546 that support this protoplanet hypothesis. Structures in the dusty circumstellar disc, which could be caused by interactions between the planet and the disc, were revealed close to the detected protoplanet. Also, there are indications that the surroundings of the protoplanet are potentially heated up by the formation process.
Adam Amara, another member of the team, is enthusiastic about the finding. "Exoplanet research is one of the most exciting new frontiers in astronomy, and direct imaging of planets is still a new field, greatly benefiting from recent improvements in instruments and data analysis methods. In this research we used data analysis techniques developed for cosmological research, showing that cross-fertilisation of ideas between fields can lead to extraordinary progress."
Although the protoplanet is the most likely explanation for the observations, the results of this study require follow-up observations to confirm the existence of the planet and discard other plausible scenarios. Among other explanations, it is possible, although unlikely, that the detected signal could have come from a background source. It is also possible that the newly detected object might not be a protoplanet, but a fully formed planet which was ejected from its original orbit closer to the star. When the new object around HD 100546 is confirmed to be a forming planet embedded in its parent disc of gas and dust, it will become an unique laboratory in which to study the formation process of a new planetary system.
[1] The protoplanet candidate orbits about 70 times further from its star than Earth does from the Sun. This distance is comparable to the size of the orbits of outer Solar System dwarf planets such as Eris and Makemake. This location is controversial, as it does not fit well with current theories of planet formation. It is unclear at present whether the newfound planet candidate has been in its current position for the whole time since it formed or whether it could have migrated from the inner regions.
[2] The team made use of a special feature called an apodised phase plate that increases the contrast of the image close to the star.
[3] To study planet formation, astronomers cannot look at the Solar System, as all the planets in our neighborhood were formed more than four billion years ago. But for many years, theories about planet formation were strongly influenced by what astronomers could see in our local surroundings, as no other planets were known. Since 1995, when the first exoplanet around a sunlike star was discovered, several hundred planetary systems have been found, opening up new opportunities for scientists studying planetary formation. Up to now however, none have been "caught in the act" in the process of being formed, whilst still embedded in the disc of material around their young parent star.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by European Southern Observatory - ESO.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- Sascha P. Quanz, Adam Amara, Michael R. Meyer, Matthew A. Kenworthy, Markus Kasper, and julien H. Girard. A YOUNG PROTOPLANET CANDIDATE EMBEDDED IN THE CIRCUMSTELLAR DISK OF HD100546. ApJ Letters, 2013 (in press)
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/tonUxasjAoQ/130228103341.htm
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Jack Lew Confirmed As Treasury Secretary: Democrats Gave Him A Pass
The New Republic:
While Washington was obsessing Wednesday over whether or not the oh-so-intimidating Gene Sperling had threatened Bob Woodward over his deeply misguided take on the budget sequester, another veteran Democratic number-cruncher skated by: The Senate confirmed Jack Lew to be secretary of the Treasury, by a vote of 71 to 26.
Read the whole story at The New Republic
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College Discrimination Policy Bill Advancing - Higher Education
by Lucas L. Johnson II, Associated Press
NASHVILE Tenn. ? A proposal that seeks to prevent public higher education institutions in Tennessee from discriminating against religious groups was approved by a House subcommittee on Tuesday despite criticism that it?s unnecessary and its language is ambiguous.
The House Education Subcommittee on Tuesday approved the measure sponsored by Republican Rep. Mark Pody of Lebanon on a 7-2 vote.
The proposal is similar to legislation that was vetoed by Republican Gov. Bill Haslam last year.
That measure tried to force Vanderbilt University a private institution to exempt student religious groups from its nondiscrimination policy.
The university?s so-called ?all-comers? policy requires student groups at the school to allow any interested students to join and run for office. Religious groups said it forces them to accept students who don?t share their beliefs.
The proposal that cleared the subcommittee on Tuesday makes no reference to private institutions.
According to the bill, public higher education institutions are prohibited from withholding funding or access to facilities if ?a religious student organization may determine that the organization?s religious mission requires that only persons professing the faith of the group and comporting themselves in conformity with it qualify to serve as members or leaders.?
?This bill allows students on public campuses to worship there god with whom they want to worship with,? Pody said after the meeting. ?Nobody can tell them who they have to have in their organization to worship.?
In his decision to veto, Haslam said he disagreed with Vanderbilt?s policy, but added that it?s ?inappropriate for government to mandate the policies of a private institution.?
Pody promised the committee that he wouldn?t amend his proposal as it progressed through the legislative system, but there were still some concerns about the bill.
David Gregory, vice chancellor of the Tennessee Board of Regents, said he doesn?t believe the proposal is necessary. He said he?s not aware of problems at public colleges and universities that it needs to address.
Gregory said the language is also unclear in its reference to religion, which could be problematic if colleges and universities are left to interpret what it means.
David Fowler, a former Republican state senator and president of the Family Action Council of Tennessee, said he doesn?t see any problem with the language and that the proposal is needed.
?We know that public colleges tend to be very liberal, they?re dominated by liberal faculty members,? he said. ?It?s just a matter of time before somebody brings this issue up.?
However, Hedy Weinberg, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee, said the bill itself is actually discriminatory.
?Legislation that would require state universities and colleges to fund student groups that exclude members based on religion uses religion to discriminate,? she said. ?Religious freedom means that every person has the right to his or her own personal, religious beliefs, and ACLU has long defended that right.?
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Forging partnerships: churches, schools & government come together for a common cause ? helping children and their schools
Source: http://diverseeducation.com/article/51594/
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Today on New Scientist: 28 February 2013
Backlash against civilian drones begins
Hide from them, shoot them down or just have them banned? Privacy fears are sparking widespread rejection of civilian drones by the US public
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Dark matter rival boosted by dwarf galaxies
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The self: Why are you like you are?
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Fossil shows origin of stuffing your face
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Canine intelligence tests reveal how dogs think
Is your dog aware of physics? See how to test your pet's abilities in a series of science-based games
Leap Motion unveils contents of its own app store
The Leap gesture sensor has taken gadget reviewers by storm - the addition of an app store called Airspace to its armoury should help it no end
First mind-reading implant gives rats telepathic power
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Stem cells aboard SpaceX will seed mice back on Earth
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Boeing, battery maker at odds over 787 fix - report
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Boeing Co
Battery maker GS Yuasa Corp believes the fix for the battery should include a voltage regulator that could stop electricity from entering the battery, the Journal said.
Boeing proposed its fix to the FAA on Friday, but on Thursday, Yuasa told the agency that its laboratory tests indicated a power surge outside the battery, or other external problem, started the failures on two batteries, according to the newspaper.
The FAA confirmed the meeting with Yuasa, but did not give any details.
A Yuasa spokesman declined to comment. Boeing spokesman Marc Birtel said that the investigation has not showed that overcharging was a factor and that the 787 had quadruple-redundant protection against overcharging in any case.
"Our proposal includes multiple layers of protection covering the known potential probable causes of the events," Birtel said by email.
He did not respond directly to the comments about Yuasa, although he added that Boeing was coordinating with key suppliers.
No comment was immediately available from Securaplane, the company that makes the charger for the battery.
(Reporting By Jim Wolf, Andrea Shalal-Esa, Mari Saito and Peter Henderson; Editing by M.D. Golan and Andre Grenon)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/boeing-battery-maker-odds-over-787-fix-report-225915826--sector.html
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New Zeland police hunt giant killer great white shark
WELLINGTON (Reuters) - A New Zealand man was attacked and killed by a great white shark on Wednesday in a rare fatal shark incident in the country, prompting police to open fire.
Police said they fired shots at the shark after a man was fatally bitten at Muriwai beach located around 40 kilometers (25 miles) northwest of Auckland, one of many beaches dotted along the North Island's west coast that are known for their wild surf.
Rescue crews were quoted by local media as saying the shark was a "white pointer", commonly known as a great white, measuring roughly 4 meters (13 feet) long. Witnesses said a rescue helicopter also fired shots at the shark.
"We saw the shark fin, and the next minute, boom, the attack came. There was blood everywhere on the water," eye witness Pio Mosie was quoted by local news website Stuff.co.nz as saying.
"They fired six or seven shots to the shark, three from the police helicopter and a few shots from the lifeguard. I don't know if they killed the shark or not," he added.
The head of the local volunteer lifeguard service was quoted as saying they had confirmed that "one or two" sharks were spotted, but none had been seen since the man's body was removed from the water.
Shark attacks are rare in New Zealand, where water sports and beach holidays are a rite of summer. More than 60 shark species are known to swim in the country's waters.
Fourteen fatal attacks have been reported since records began around 1837, according to the country's Department of Conservation, which added that non-fatal shark attacks average roughly two each year.
The last attack linked with a death was in 2009, when a kayaker was mauled by a great white in the nearby Coromandel Peninsula, although whether the victim drowned before the attack has been disputed.
According to the International Shark Attack File, 11 shark fatalities were reported last year, including three in Australia and South Africa, nearly tripling the average annual number of fatalities for 2001 to 2010.
(Reporting by Naomi Tajitsu, editing by Elaine Lies)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/zealand-man-fatally-attacked-shark-police-open-fire-111439376.html
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