PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Rocks around the clock: Asteroids pound tiny star

2014-02-20
(Press-News.org) Scientists using the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation's (CSIRO) Parkes telescope and another telescope in South Africa have found evidence that a tiny star called PSR J0738-4042 is being pounded by asteroids — large lumps of rock from space. "One of these rocks seems to have had a mass of about a billion tonnes," CSIRO astronomer and member of the research team Dr Ryan Shannon said.

PSR J0738-4042 lies 37,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Puppis.

The environment around this star is especially harsh, full of radiation and violent winds of particles.

"If a large rocky object can form here, planets could form around any star. That's exciting," Dr Shannon said.

The star is a special one, a 'pulsar' that emits a beam of radio waves. As the star spins, its radio beam flashes over Earth again and again with the regularity of a clock.

In 2008 Dr Shannon and a colleague predicted how an infalling asteroid would affect a pulsar. It would, they said, alter the slowing of the pulsar's spin rate and the shape of the radio pulse that we see on Earth.

"That is exactly what we see in this case," Dr Shannon said.

"We think the pulsar's radio beam zaps the asteroid, vaporising it. But the vaporised particles are electrically charged and they slightly alter the process that creates the pulsar's beam."

Asteroids around a pulsar could be created by the exploding star that formed the pulsar itself, the scientists say.

The material blasted out from the explosion could fall back towards the forming pulsar, forming a disk of debris.

Astronomers have found a dust disk around another pulsar called J0146+61.

"This sort of dust disk could provide the 'seeds' that grow into larger asteroids," said Mr Paul Brook, a PhD student co-supervised by the University of Oxford and CSIRO who led the study of PSR J0738-4042.

In 1992 two planet-sized objects were found around a pulsar called PSR 1257+12. But these were probably formed by a different mechanism, the astronomers say.

INFORMATION: END


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Peru's Manu National Park sets new biodiversity record

Perus Manu National Park sets new biodiversity record
2014-02-20
Peru's treasured Manu National Park is the world's top biodiversity hotspot for reptiles and amphibians, according to a new survey published last week by biologists from the University of California, Berkeley, Southern Illinois University in Carbondale (SIU-Carbondale) and Illinois Wesleyan University. The park, which encompasses lowland Amazonian rain forest, high-altitude cloud forest and Andean grassland east of Cuzco, is well known for its huge variety of bird life, which attracts ecotourists from around the globe. More than 1,000 species of birds, about 10 percent ...

An innovative approach to promote water use efficiency

An innovative approach to promote water use efficiency
2014-02-20
RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Increasing block-rate water budgets are an innovative type of escalating tiered price structure in which the consumption block sizes are based on household characteristics, environmental conditions, and a judgment by the water utility with regard to what constitutes "efficient" water use given those characteristics and conditions. In these water budgets, prices are set relatively low for the most essential uses of water but then increase with usage. The price structure more accurately reflects the cost of supplying water and thus sends a more appropriate ...

A new laser for a faster Internet

2014-02-20
A new laser developed by a research group at Caltech holds the potential to increase by orders of magnitude the rate of data transmission in the optical-fiber network—the backbone of the Internet. The study was published the week of February 10-14 in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The work is the result of a five-year effort by researchers in the laboratory of Amnon Yariv, Martin and Eileen Summerfield Professor of Applied Physics and professor of electrical engineering; the project was led by postdoctoral scholar Christos Santis ...

New research blows away claims that aging wind farms are a bad investment

2014-02-20
The UK has a target of generating 15 per cent of the nation's energy from renewable resources such as wind farms by 2020. There are currently 4,246 individual wind turbines in the UK across 531 wind farms, generating 7.5 per cent of the nation's electricity. There has been some debate about whether wind turbines have a more limited shelf-life than other energy technologies. A previous study used a statistical model to estimate that electricity output from wind turbines declines by a third after only ten years of operation. Some opponents of wind power have argued that ...

Study shows gaps in inpatient psychiatry for Ontario youth

2014-02-20
OTTAWA, Canada – February 20, 2014 – A first of its kind benchmarking survey was used to evaluate the state of inpatient psychiatry settings and services for youth at hospitals across Ontario, as published today in the Journal of the Canadian Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. On average, the province's services are comparable to other settings internationally, helping youth with the most severe and complex mental health problems, but also show similar signs of inconsistency across settings in the types and quality of inpatient care. "There is no rhyme or reason ...

Forest model predicts canopy competition

Forest model predicts canopy competition
2014-02-20
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Out of an effort to account for what seemed in airborne images to be unusually large tree growth in a Hawaiian forest, scientists at Brown University and the Carnegie Institution for Science have developed a new mathematical model that predicts how trees compete for space in the canopy. What their model revealed for this particular forest of hardy native Metrosideros polymorpha trees on the windward slope of Manua Kea, is that an incumbent tree limb greening up a given square meter would still dominate its position two years later ...

What are the basics of Tennessee grandparents' rights?

2014-02-20
What are the basics of Tennessee grandparents' rights? Article provided by Toppenberg & Burke, P.C. Visit us at http://www.tbpc.pro If you have grandchildren, you know how important they are to you, and what an important part you play in their lives. You can't imagine anything ever interfering with the loving relationship you have with your granddaughters and grandsons. Unfortunately, sometimes, if a marriage ends, a family argument takes place or a relationship sours, grandparents may find themselves cut off from their grandchildren. This doesn't necessarily ...

The fundamentals of Tennessee child custody and support

2014-02-20
The fundamentals of Tennessee child custody and support Article provided by Toppenberg & Burke, P.C. Visit us at http://www.tbpc.pro An integral part of many Tennessee divorce and separation proceedings is a child custody determination. If parents are unable to agree upon custody, then it is up to the family court judge presiding over their case to establish custody and visitation arrangements (known in Tennessee as "parenting plans"). Making these decisions is a difficult task, and when judges have to step in, they must balance the needs of the child ...

IRA account was exempt from bankruptcy despite trustee's objection

2014-02-20
IRA account was exempt from bankruptcy despite trustee's objection Article provided by C. Edwin Shoemaker, Attorney at Law Visit us at http://www.ceshoemakerlaw.com/ Filing for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy can provide a fresh start from the burdens of unmanageable debt. A bankruptcy filing will also protect some of your assets, including retirement accounts. Generally, an individual retirement account is off limits from tax collectors and creditors in a bankruptcy proceeding, unless the retirement account is used in a prohibited way. The United States Court of Appeals ...

Car fatalities involving marijuana tripled in U.S., endangering Texas roads

2014-02-20
Car fatalities involving marijuana tripled in U.S., endangering Texas roads Article provided by Gilde Law Firm Visit us at http://www.gildelawfirm.com Marijuana is now legal in two states. Recently, Texas Governor Rick Perry also indicated that the strict drug laws regarding marijuana in the state should be relaxed, at least in regards to sentencing. Whatever one's views on legalization, it is clear that many people in Texas and across the U.S. are using marijuana for recreational purposes. Unfortunately, some people are choosing to drive after having smoked ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Drinking plenty of water may actually be good for you

Men at high risk of cardiovascular disease face brain health decline 10 years earlier than women

Irregular sleep-wake cycle linked to heightened risk of major cardiovascular events

Depression can cause period pain, new study suggests

Wistar Institute scientists identify important factor in neural development

New imaging platform developed by Rice researchers revolutionizes 3D visualization of cellular structures

To catch financial rats, a better mousetrap

Mapping the world's climate danger zones

Emory heart team implants new blood-pumping device for first time in U.S.

Congenital heart defects caused by problems with placenta

Schlechter named Cancer Moonshot Scholar

Two-way water transfers can ensure reliability, save money for urban and agricultural users during drought in Western U.S., new study shows

New issue of advances in dental research explores the role of women in dental, clinical, and translational research

Team unlocks new insights on pulsar signals

Great apes visually track subject-object relationships like humans do

Recovery of testing for heart disease risk factors post-COVID remains patchy

Final data and undiscovered images from NASA’s NEOWISE

Nucleoporin93: A silent protector in vascular health

Can we avert the looming food crisis of climate change?

Alcohol use and antiobesity medication treatment

Study reveals cause of common cancer immunotherapy side effect

New era in amphibian biology

Harbor service, VAST Data provide boost for NCSA systems

New prognostic model enhances survival prediction in liver failure

China focuses on improving air quality via the coordinated control of fine particles and ozone

Machine learning reveals behaviors linked with early Alzheimer’s, points to new treatments

Novel gene therapy trial for sickle cell disease launches

Engineering hypoallergenic cats

Microwave-induced pyrolysis: A promising solution for recycling electric cables

Cooling with light: Exploring optical cooling in semiconductor quantum dots

[Press-News.org] Rocks around the clock: Asteroids pound tiny star