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 Kathryn Gray, discoverer of SN2010lt Kathryn Gray, 10, was studying starfield photos on her computer at her home in Birdton, New Brunswick, Canada, when she spotted something that looked like a supernova. It was, and she’s the youngest person ever to find one.
A supernova is the last gasp of a massive star that’s run out of nuclear fuel to “burn.” The star collapses in seconds, and the falling material gets very hot, very fast and explodes. UPDATED TO CORRECT AN ERROR.
In this case, Supernova 2010lt (Kathryn’s Supernova?) exploded because it was unable to regulate nuclear fusion. There was a runaway reaction, leading to a sudden, catastrophic explosion. The pre-supernova star may be quite dim, but the explosion makes it thousands of times brighter — for a very short time.
Astronomers looking for supernovas compare recent photos of the sky with older ones, to see if anything has changed. Kathryn hit paydirt. Here’s an animation to show what she saw.
 Supernovas happen when a large star explodes The star in question is in the galaxy UGC 3378, the bright spot at 8 o’clock relative to the supernova, in the constellation Camelopardalis. It’s 240 million light-years away, so that should give you an idea how bright that supernova is. Or was, since it happened 240 million years in our past and the light has only just now reached us.
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This is from the PBS News Hour website. It’s an image of the northern polar ice cap as it appears now, superimposed on a photo of the ice cap from 10 years ago. Looks like Santa Claus may have to relocate.
 The shrinking polar ice cap 2000-2010 Seriously, though, the melting of all that ice means it’s been getting warmer, on average, up North. That rise in temperatures affects wildlife, and also global sea levels. The melted ice has to go somewhere, after all.
Conditions are similar in the Antarctic.
So, while it’s hard to believe with all the snow we’ve been getting lately, the Earth is getting gradually warmer. Remember, weather is not climate.
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It’s today, at 6:38 PM EST (6:38 AM Wednesday my time). I hope you got a chance to see the lunar eclipse, because I’m on the wrong side of the world for it.
Just for the record, this is the shortest period of daylight in the northern hemisphere for the whole year. And the furthest south on the horizon that the sun will rise and set. Now the days will get longer, and the sun will move toward the north.
Good reason for a celebration! Have some glögg! It’s a traditional holiday punch in Sweden and the other north lands. The really old fashioned way to make it was to leave out the sugar, and instead drink the punch while holding a sugar cube in your teeth. At least, that’s how my grandpa did it. Sugar was expensive way back when.
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JISHOU, HUNAN — Just a few days ago, the Internet was in a hub-bub about the discovery of a strain of bacteria that thrives in an arsenic-laced environment.
Several biologists, however, are not so convinced, and have pointed out weaknesses in the scientific paper announcing the discovery. Carl Zimmer at Discover magazine just published a summary of some of these objections.
The late astronomer and author Carl Sagan once wrote that “extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.” In other words, if you claim you saw a UFO zipping across the sky from your backyard, your photographic “proof” had better not look like blurry shot of a modified dinner plate. Briefly, that’s what critics of the arsenic-loving bacteria paper are saying. They believe the authors’ methodology and analysis is flawed, so they want further evidence that these bacteria have really incorporated arsenic into their DNA, for example.
This is how science works. Even Newton and Einstein, whose theories of gravity and relativity are now considered foundations of modern physics, had their critics when they were first published. Science is all about testing and verification of hypotheses. Peer-reviewed journals, like Science, run submissions past a panel of editors, who judge in part whether the authors of the paper did an acceptable job of supporting their conclusions. Then, once it’s published, scientists reading the paper get to pick it over, too, as they are doing now with the “arsenic aliens.”
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xkcd nails the argument against alt-med and alt-science nonsense. If it all really worked, somebody would be using it for practical purposes.
 Print it and keep it in your wallet Click on the image to see the original, so you can read the mouse-over comment there.
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JISHOU, HUNAN — You win some, you lose some.
In the nifty cool corner, we have NASA scientists discovering a strain of bacteria that actually likes arsenic so much to incorporate it in their DNA. No word yet on their reactions to old lace. Or elderberry wine.
In the dunce-cap corner, we have Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear crowing that the Commonwealth is giving millions of dollars in tax breaks to a Noah’s Ark-themed (as in religious) amusement part.
The first bit of news is exciting, because until this week biologists believed all life on Earth is based only on CHONPS (carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur). Now we know some bacteria can live on CHONAsS. (I can just hear the jokes in high school biology classes now …)
Phosphorous and arsenic are neighbors in the periodic table, with similar chemical properties. It’s what makes arsenic (As) poisonous. Our cells grab hold of the arsenic, thinking it’s phosphorus, but, alas, it’s just different enough that it kills us.
These bacteria, found in an arsenic-laden lake in California could care less. Arsenic, shmarsenic.
Chances are, they were not aboard the Ark with Noah’s kin and all those animals. Genesis says nothing about bacteria, and given the lack of microscopes back then, it’s doubtful Noah could find any, much less identify them. (Unless God gave him microscopic vision. And why are Clark and Jo Nah checking each other out, and not the comely Lana Lang? Hmm.)
This is a preview of News of the week: new life forms and Noah’s Ark in Kentucky . Read the full post (394 words, 1 image, estimated 1:35 mins reading time)Possibly related posts:
[UPDATE: More late breaking unintentional humor from the O'Donnell hour: her dad was once a part-time Bozo the Clown in Philly. I am thinking of apples falling from trees here. ]
JISHOU, HUNAN — My favorite bloggers have been having a field day with the Republican Senatorial candidate from Delaware, Christine O’Donnell. The woman is a veritable treasure trove of nonsense.
There are two of her gems I can’t help but ridicule.
China has a secret plan to take over the USA. And she knows all about it, because an unnamed non-profit organization gave O’Donnell the complete low down. Apparently, missionaries working with this mysterious group uncovered this top-secret plot.
In the linked AP article, O’Donnell says this:
“A country that forces women to have abortions and mandates that you can only have one child and will not allow you the freedom to read the Bible, you think they can be our friend?” she asked. “We have to look at our history and realize that if they pretend to be our friend it’s because they’ve got something up their sleeve.”
Wrong, wrong and wrong. China does not force women to have abortions. But abortions are easier to get here than in the USA, so some women may choose to get one. China does saddle couples with financial penalties, threatens them with losing jobs and promotions, and stigmatize them if they have more than one kid, but I know a lot of families who have more than one child even under the one-child policy.
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