Small telescope helps make big discovery
A small telescope, no bigger nor more powerful than a high-end digital camera, has helped researchers discover two new planets, both similar in make-up to the gas giant Jupiter. One, named KELT-2Ab, is unique because it is near a very bright star.
The bright light from the star will help researchers understand the atmosphere of the planet, said Thomas G Beatty, an astronomer at Ohio State University who was involved in the research."It's the only way to really understand a planet's interiors and exteriors," he said. "We can get enough of a signal from the light that goes through or reflects off the planet." The second planet, called KELT-1b, is about 30 times the mass of Jupiter.
It is so massive that it is being designated a brown dwarf, a category reserved for bodies "too heavy to be planets but not heavy enough to be stars," Beatty said.KELT-1b is so close to its star that a year for the planet is just 29 hours, Beatty said.KELT-1b is about 825 light-years from Earth, KELT-2Ab about 360.
Each planet receives thousands of times more sunlight from its star than the Earth does from the Sun, Beatty said.The researchers identified the planets using the Kilodegree Extremely Little Telescope, or KELT, housed at Winer Observatory, near Sonoita, Ariz., which cost less than $75,000 to build. The most expensive telescopes in the world cost billions of dollars, Beatty said.With a 42-millimeter lens, the instrument is "sort of like the little telescope that could," Beatty said.
"If an amateur astronomer had the money, they could buy the components and assemble this very easily."He presented the findings recently at the national meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Anchorage, Alaska, and the papers have been submitted to journals for publication.
Step into my parlour, says pitcher plant
Pitcher plants are carnivores that rely on insects for nourishment. One species of the plant, found in Southeast Asia, uses raindrops to trap prey in its fluid-filled pitcher, a new study reports. Writing in the journal PLoS One, researchers describe how the species Nepenthes gracilis has a springboardlike mechanism built into its lid. Insects seek shelter from rain on the underside of the plant's lid. Then, when raindrops hit the top of the lid, the insects are flung into the pitcher, said Ulrike Bauer, a biologist at the University of Cambridge in England and the study's first author.
Bauer and her colleagues set up a pitcher plant in a laboratory, with a drip system hanging above that simulated raindrops. In a box nearby, the researchers kept a colony of ants that were naturally attracted to the plant's nectar. The underside of the pitcher plant's lid is covered with specialised wax crystals, Bauer said. This surface seems to allow enough grip for the insects to walk on the surface to seek shelter and feed on nectar when the weather is calm. But it is also slippery enough that when it rains, insects are thrust from the lid into the clutches of the pitcher. This mechanism may let the pitcher plant capture a wider variety of insects than other types of pitcher plants. "Flying insects with very delicate wings, like flies and bees and wasps, may seek shelter from the rain," Bauer said.
Sindya N Bhanoo
New York Times News Service
Genes may hold the key to success: Study
Genes play a greater role in forming character traits such as self-control, decision making or sociability than was previously thought, new research suggests. A study of more than 800 sets of twins found that genetics were more influential in shaping key traits than a person's home environment and surroundings.
Psychologists at the University of Edinburgh who carried out the study, say that genetically influenced characteristics could well be the key to how successful a person is in life.
A study of twins in the US, most aged 50 and over, used a series of questions to test how they perceived themselves and others. The results were then measured according to the Ryff Psychological Well-Being Scale which assesses and standardises these characteristics.
By tracking their answers, the research team found that identical twins - whose DNA is exactly the same - were twice as likely to share traits compared with non-identical twins. Psychologists say the findings are significant because the stronger the genetic link, the more likely it is that these character traits are carried through a family. The study is published online in the Journal of Personality.
A small telescope, no bigger nor more powerful than a high-end digital camera, has helped researchers discover two new planets, both similar in make-up to the gas giant Jupiter. One, named KELT-2Ab, is unique because it is near a very bright star.
The bright light from the star will help researchers understand the atmosphere of the planet, said Thomas G Beatty, an astronomer at Ohio State University who was involved in the research."It's the only way to really understand a planet's interiors and exteriors," he said. "We can get enough of a signal from the light that goes through or reflects off the planet." The second planet, called KELT-1b, is about 30 times the mass of Jupiter.
It is so massive that it is being designated a brown dwarf, a category reserved for bodies "too heavy to be planets but not heavy enough to be stars," Beatty said.KELT-1b is so close to its star that a year for the planet is just 29 hours, Beatty said.KELT-1b is about 825 light-years from Earth, KELT-2Ab about 360.
Each planet receives thousands of times more sunlight from its star than the Earth does from the Sun, Beatty said.The researchers identified the planets using the Kilodegree Extremely Little Telescope, or KELT, housed at Winer Observatory, near Sonoita, Ariz., which cost less than $75,000 to build. The most expensive telescopes in the world cost billions of dollars, Beatty said.With a 42-millimeter lens, the instrument is "sort of like the little telescope that could," Beatty said.
"If an amateur astronomer had the money, they could buy the components and assemble this very easily."He presented the findings recently at the national meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Anchorage, Alaska, and the papers have been submitted to journals for publication.
Step into my parlour, says pitcher plant
Pitcher plants are carnivores that rely on insects for nourishment. One species of the plant, found in Southeast Asia, uses raindrops to trap prey in its fluid-filled pitcher, a new study reports. Writing in the journal PLoS One, researchers describe how the species Nepenthes gracilis has a springboardlike mechanism built into its lid. Insects seek shelter from rain on the underside of the plant's lid. Then, when raindrops hit the top of the lid, the insects are flung into the pitcher, said Ulrike Bauer, a biologist at the University of Cambridge in England and the study's first author.
Bauer and her colleagues set up a pitcher plant in a laboratory, with a drip system hanging above that simulated raindrops. In a box nearby, the researchers kept a colony of ants that were naturally attracted to the plant's nectar. The underside of the pitcher plant's lid is covered with specialised wax crystals, Bauer said. This surface seems to allow enough grip for the insects to walk on the surface to seek shelter and feed on nectar when the weather is calm. But it is also slippery enough that when it rains, insects are thrust from the lid into the clutches of the pitcher. This mechanism may let the pitcher plant capture a wider variety of insects than other types of pitcher plants. "Flying insects with very delicate wings, like flies and bees and wasps, may seek shelter from the rain," Bauer said.
Sindya N Bhanoo
New York Times News Service
Genes may hold the key to success: Study
Genes play a greater role in forming character traits such as self-control, decision making or sociability than was previously thought, new research suggests. A study of more than 800 sets of twins found that genetics were more influential in shaping key traits than a person's home environment and surroundings.
Psychologists at the University of Edinburgh who carried out the study, say that genetically influenced characteristics could well be the key to how successful a person is in life.
A study of twins in the US, most aged 50 and over, used a series of questions to test how they perceived themselves and others. The results were then measured according to the Ryff Psychological Well-Being Scale which assesses and standardises these characteristics.
By tracking their answers, the research team found that identical twins - whose DNA is exactly the same - were twice as likely to share traits compared with non-identical twins. Psychologists say the findings are significant because the stronger the genetic link, the more likely it is that these character traits are carried through a family. The study is published online in the Journal of Personality.