This photo shows the glowing green planetary nebula IC 1295 surrounding a dim and dying star. It is located about 3,300 light-years away from Earth.
By Miriam Kramer Space.com
An amazing new photo from a telescope in Chile has captured the most detailed view yet of a green glowing blob 3,300 light-years away from Earth.
The new image, released Wednesday?by the?European Southern Observatory, shows the planetary nebula IC 1295 like it has never been seen before. This picture, which ESO scientists dubbed "ghostly," marks the first time the nebula has been imaged in such unprecedented detail.
"It has the unusual feature of being surrounded by multiple shells that make it resemble a microorganism seen under a microscope, with many layers corresponding to the membranes of a cell," officials from the European Southern Observatory wrote in a statement.
ESO offiials released a?video tour of the nebula as well.?
The formation of a?planetary nebula?marks one of the final chapters in the life of a star like the Earth's sun. Once the yellow star depletes its fuel, it collapses in on itself creating huge shells of gas ? like the green ones that appear in the new photo.
The IC 1295 nebula resides in "the shield" constellation, Scutum, and the bubble-like nebula's greenish tint comes from ionized oxygen particles.
Gas like the ionized oxygen is "belched" out of the nebula because fusion reactions are no longer stable in the dying star's core. This gas expulsion creates the glowing clouds that envelop the bright stars that also populate that part of the sky.
"At the center of the image, you can see the burnt-out remnant of the star?s core as a bright blue-white spot at the heart of the nebula," officials from the ESO wrote. "The central star will become a very faint white dwarf and slowly cool down over many billions of years."
Scientists using ESO's?Very Large Telescope?took the new photo of IC 1295. By combining three different exposures using a red, green and blue filter, the astronomers were able to create the stunning new nebula photo,?showing the object in a new light.
The Very Large Telescope is located in the Atacama Desert in Chile and is the "most productive individual ground-based facility," according to the ESO.
Follow Miriam Kramer?@mirikramer?and?Google+. Follow us?@Spacedotcom,?Facebook?and?Google+. Original article on?Space.com.
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JUBA, South Sudan (AP) ? South Sudan's military spokesman says that five United Nations peacekeepers were killed when suspected rebels ambushed a U.N. convoy in a remote, violent state.
Col. Philip Aguer said five others were also killed in the attack. A U.N. official who demanded anonymity because of U.N. rules said seven civilians were also killed in the attack.
A U.N. spokesman, Liam McDowall, confirmed that peacekeepers were killed. He declined to give numbers.
Aguer said the attack took place on a convoy traveling between the South Sudanese towns of Pibor and Bor on Tuesday morning.
Aguer blamed the attack on militants led by David Yau Yau, a rebel leader that South Sudan says is armed by Sudan.
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) ? Tens of thousands of Kenyans and about a dozen African leaders on Tuesday packed a sports stadium to watch the inauguration of Kenya's fourth president, Uhuru Kenyatta.
Kenyatta, 51, the son of Kenya's first president, becomes the second sitting African president to face charges at the International Criminal Court over allegations he helped orchestrate the vicious tribe-on-tribe violence that marred Kenya's 2007 presidential election.
Before the March 4 vote, the top U.S. official for Africa warned of "consequences" if Kenyatta was voted into office. European countries offered similar warnings. But the U.S. ambassador and European ambassadors were in attendance at Tuesday's ceremony, and analysts say they doubt the warnings of consequences will amount to very much.
Kenya is the lynchpin economy for East Africa's economy and the West's most vital security partner. Kenyan troops are helping battle al-Shabab militants inside Somalia, and Kenya hosts a U.S. military base near the Somali border.
Kenyatta ? the son of Jomo Kenyatta ? won the country's March 4 election victory with 50.07 percent of the vote. That win was challenged by outgoing Prime Minister Raila Odinga and civil society groups that complained of myriad anomalies in the voting process, but the Supreme Court upheld Kenyatta's win.
That court process, as well as requests by Odinga for peace, helped Kenya avoid the bloody deaths the country saw for two months in late 2007 and early 2008, when more than 1,000 people died in postelection violence.
Kenyatta has insisted he is innocent on allegations he helped orchestrate the violence and has pledged to cooperate with the ICC. His trial is scheduled to begin in July.
Kenyatta's deputy, William Ruto, faces similar charges at the ICC. His trial is set to begin in May.
Even as thousands cheered the dignitaries arriving at the Nairobi sports stadium, some in the crowd had Kenya's past violence on their mind.
"Kenyatta should put reconciliation as his priority. He must make sure we come as one nation," said Ndungu Kariuki, a 35-year-old engineer who was at the ceremony. "The charges against Uhuru are framed I was affected by the postelection violence and I know what happened. Kenyatta will be free."
DORTMUND, April 8 (Reuters) - Borussia Dortmund central defender Mats Hummels and midfielder Jakub Blaszczykowski have been cleared to play in their Champions League quarter-final return leg against Malaga on Tuesday, coach Juergen Klopp said. Hummels, out since March with an ankle injury, and Blaszczykowski, back after a groin problem, had missed the first leg 0-0 draw in Spain last week. "At the moment it looks good for all of them and they are all with the team in the hotel," Klopp told reporters on Monday, saying Marco Reus and keeper Roman Weidenfeller had also overcome minor knocks. ...
Apr. 8, 2013 ? The search for ways to use megatons of carbon dioxide that may be removed from industrial smokestacks during efforts to curb global warming has led to a process for converting that major greenhouse gas back into the fuel that released it in the first place. Research on the project was a topic in New Orleans on April 8 at the 245th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS).
"It may seem like trying to put the genie back into the bottle," Wojciech Lipi?ski, Dr. Sc.Techn.,said. "But it already has been proven with laboratory scale equipment. The process uses three of the world's most abundant and inexpensive resources. Sunlight is the energy source and carbon dioxide and water are the raw materials."
Lipi?ski also discussed another project that uses inexpensive calcium oxide, made from ordinary limestone, to capture carbon dioxide (CO2) before it leaves the smokestacks of coal-fired electric power stations. The CO2 reacts with calcium oxide, forming calcium carbonate, the same material in blackboard chalk, some calcium dietary supplements and some antacids. The calcium carbonate then goes into a reactor that removes the CO2 and regenerates the calcium oxide for another encounter with CO2.
Both processes use highly concentrated sunlight as the energy source. The test facility built at the University of Minnesota by Lipi?ski and his colleague Jane Davidson, Ph.D., is a high-flux solar simulator consisting of seven 6,500-watt light bulbs and mirrors that focus the light into a spot about 2 inches in diameter. Temperatures in that spot can reach 3,600 degrees Fahrenheit, way beyond the melting point of steel.
In smokestack process, that heat would remove the carbon dioxide from calcium carbonate and regenerate the calcium oxide. In the genie-out-of-the-bottle CO2 process, that heat fosters breakdown of carbon dioxide and water to form carbon monoxide and hydrogen, the two components of "synthesis gas" or "syngas."
The name comes from its time-tested use -- for more than a century -- in making or synthesizing other products. Syngas can be converted into synthetic hydrocarbons, for instance, gasoline, diesel and jet fuel or aviation kerosene. Jet fuel is already industrially produced in significant quantities from syngas obtained from coal and natural gas. Lipi?ski and his colleagues are developing prototype reactors to demonstrate syngas production from water and captured carbon dioxide in the solar simulator. A full-scale commercial facility would use a field of mirrors to focus sunlight onto a central reactor, similar to the emerging concentrated solar power, or CSP, facilities that now use heat from sunlight to produce electricity.
Lipi?ski noted that the sunlight-to-synfuels technology could be the basis of "carbon-neutral" energy production, in which CO2 is reused, with the same amount released into the air from burning of fossil fuels removed and put back into synfuels. With their similarity in composition to conventional fuels and long history of use, synfuels made with the solar process also would not require a new infrastructure.
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NEW YORK (AP) ? Attorneys for J.C Penney and Macy's were back in court Monday to fight over the Martha Stewart brand after a monthlong mediation period went nowhere.
But after the hearing, the real action began. Penney said late Monday, that the company's board of directors has ousted CEO Ron Johnson after only 17 months on the job and rehired Johnson's predecessor, Mike Ullman, 66, who was CEO of the department store chain for seven years until November 2011.
The case, which centers on Macy's claim that Penney's deal to sell Martha Stewart branded-merchandise infringes on its own deal with the domestic diva, was likely just one of the reasons Johnson was shown the door. He also had presided over a price strategy that confused customers and drove them away.
The court-ordered mediation followed nearly three weeks of testimony from witnesses including the domestic diva herself, Penney, Johnson and Macy's CEO Terry Lundgren.
At issue is whether Macy's has the exclusive rights to sell some Martha Stewart branded products such as cookware, bedding and bath products. Macy's sued Martha Stewart Living, arguing that the company breached its long-standing contract when it signed a deal with Penney in December 2011 to open Martha Stewart mini-shops, planned for this spring. It also sued Penney, contending that it had no regard for the contract and that Johnson had set out to steal the business that Macy's had worked hard to develop.
The stakes are high for all three companies involved but particularly for Penney, which is counting on a revamped home area to help it rebound from a disastrous year. The company amassed nearly $1 billion in losses and its revenue dropped about 25 percent as the first year of a transformation plan built around a new pricing strategy failed to resonate with shoppers.
Penney was counting on the overhauled home department as part of its bigger plan to turn Penney stores into mini-malls of sorts. It's in the midst of rolling out 20 shops in its home area featuring products from such designers as Michael Graves and Jonathan Adler. Martha Stewart mini-shops were expected to anchor the home area.
But those plans are in limbo. Penney had ordered goods like towels and cookware from Martha Stewart Living and were planning to name the goods JCP Everyday, to sidestep a conflict. But Macy's is trying to stop the retailer from selling goods covered by Macy's exclusive category even if they don't carry the Martha Stewart moniker.
And to make things more complicated for Penney, Macy's attorneys argued Monday in court that they want to stop Penney from selling plastic tableware like glasses and pitchers that were just starting to be sold on Penney's website.
Penney planned to sell those items from a mini-shop called Martha Celebrations featuring stationery and other paper products. Such products are not part of Macy's exclusive contract.
But Theodore M. Grossman, an attorney representing Macy's, told New York State Supreme Court Justice Jeffrey Oing that the stemware and other tabletop items, even though they're plastic, sill violate the contract because they compete with the Martha Stewart items that Macy's sells.
"The basic shapes and designs are the same," Grossman said.
Penney's attorneys said they needed time to talk to Penney since they were just informed by Macy's attorneys over the weekend.
Penney is aiming at what it believes is a loophole in the agreement between Macy's and Martha Stewart. It's a provision that allows Martha Stewart to sell goods in such categories like bedding in Martha Stewart Living's own stores. Penney and Martha Stewart have argued that since the Macy's contract does not specify that the stores have to be stand-alone, the mini-shops within Penney aren't barred by the exclusivity agreement.
John Tighe, who had been head of Penney's home area and was a key player in working with Martha Stewart Living to develop the contract, testified Monday that he looked over Macy's agreement and was confident that Penney could go ahead. Tighe, who now heads up the chain's men's area, had met Martha Stewart numerous times to get a sense of what she envisioned for the store.
New study finds plant proteins control chronic disease in Toxoplasma infectionsPublic release date: 8-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Anne DeLotto Baier abaier@health.usf.edu 813-974-3303 University of South Florida (USF Health)
University of South Florida-led research sheds light on malaria-related parasite's transition from acute to chronic stage
Tampa, FL (April 8, 2013) -- A new discovery about the malaria-related parasite Toxoplasma gondii -- which can threaten babies, AIDS patients, the elderly and others with weakened immune function -- may help solve the mystery of how this single-celled parasite establishes life-long infections in people.
The study, led by a University of South Florida research team, places the blame squarely on a family of proteins, known as AP2 factors, which evolved from the regulators of flowering in plants.
In findings published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers demonstrate AP2 factors are instrumental in flipping a developmental "switch" that transitions the parasite from a rapidly dividing form destructive to healthy tissue to a chronic stage invisible to the immune system. They identified one factor, AP2IX-9, that appears to restrict development of Toxoplasma cysts that settle quietly in various tissues, most commonly the host's brain.
A better understanding of how the switch mechanism works may eventually lead to ways to block chronic Toxoplasma infections, said study principal investigator Michael White, PhD, professor of global health and molecular medicine at USF Health and a member of the Center of Drug Discovery and Innovation, a Florida Center of Excellence at USF.
White and his colleagues are among the world's leading experts in T. gondii, combining approaches from biochemistry, genetics and structural biology to look for new ways to combat the parasitic disease toxoplasmosis.
No drugs or vaccines currently exist to treat or prevent the chronic stage of the disease. The T. gondii parasites may remain invisible to the immune system for years and then reactivate when immunity wanes, boosting the risk for recurrent disease.
"The evolutionary story of Toxoplasma is fascinating," White said. "We were blown away to find that the AP2 factors controlling how a flower develops and how plants respond to poor soil and water conditions have been adapted to work within an intracellular human parasite."
Ages ago the ancestors of malaria parasites genetically merged with an ancestor of plants, and the primitive plant donated its AP2 factors to the future malaria family.
"Our study showed that, like the AP2 factors help a plant survive a stressful environment, the AP2 factors of T. gondii help the parasite decide when the time is right to grow or when to form a tissue cyst that may lie dormant in people for many years," White said.
Toxoplasmosis, the infection caused T. gondii, is commonly associated with the medical advice that pregnant women should avoid contact with litter boxes. That's because infected cats play a big role in spreading the disease. The tiny organism thrives in the guts of cats, producing countless egg-like cells that are passed along in the feces and can live in warm moist soil or water for months.
People can acquire toxoplasmosis several ways, usually by exposure to the feces of cats or other infected animals, by eating undercooked meat of infected animals, or drinking water contaminated with T. gondii.
Up to 30 percent of the world's population is estimated to be infected with the T. gondii parasite.
In some parts of the world, including places where sanitation is poor and eating raw or undercooked meat is customary, nearly 100 percent of people carry the parasite, White said.
Few experience flu-like symptoms because the immune system usually prevents the parasite from causing illness, but for those who are immune deficient the consequences can be severe.
The disease may be deadly in AIDS patients, organ transplant recipients, patients receiving certain types of chemotherapy, and infants born to mothers infected with the parasite during or shortly before pregnancy. Recently, toxoplasmosis has been linked to mental illness, such as schizophrenia and other diseases of dementia, and changes in behavior.
Because it is common, complex and not easily killed with standard disinfection measures, the toxoplasma parasite is a potential weapon for bioterrorists, White added.
###
The USF-led study was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health. White's team worked with researchers at Princeton University, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and Indiana University School of Medicine. Joshua Radke, a PhD student in the USF Health Department of Molecular Medicine, was a first author of the study.
Article citation:
"ApiAP2 transciption factor restricts development of the Toxoplasma tissue cyst;" Joshua B. Radke, Oliver Lucas, Erandi K. DeSilva, YanFen Ma, William J. Sullivan, Jr., Louis M. Weiss, Manuel Llinas, and Michael W. White; Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences; http://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1300059110
USF Health's mission is to envision and implement the future of health. It is the partnership of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, the College of Nursing, the College of Public Health, the College of Pharmacy, the School of Biomedical Sciences and the School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences; and the USF Physician's Group. The University of South Florida is a global research university ranked 50th in the nation by the National Science Foundation for both federal and total research expenditures among all U.S. universities. For more information, visit http://www.health.usf.edu
[ | E-mail | Share ]
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
New study finds plant proteins control chronic disease in Toxoplasma infectionsPublic release date: 8-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Anne DeLotto Baier abaier@health.usf.edu 813-974-3303 University of South Florida (USF Health)
University of South Florida-led research sheds light on malaria-related parasite's transition from acute to chronic stage
Tampa, FL (April 8, 2013) -- A new discovery about the malaria-related parasite Toxoplasma gondii -- which can threaten babies, AIDS patients, the elderly and others with weakened immune function -- may help solve the mystery of how this single-celled parasite establishes life-long infections in people.
The study, led by a University of South Florida research team, places the blame squarely on a family of proteins, known as AP2 factors, which evolved from the regulators of flowering in plants.
In findings published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers demonstrate AP2 factors are instrumental in flipping a developmental "switch" that transitions the parasite from a rapidly dividing form destructive to healthy tissue to a chronic stage invisible to the immune system. They identified one factor, AP2IX-9, that appears to restrict development of Toxoplasma cysts that settle quietly in various tissues, most commonly the host's brain.
A better understanding of how the switch mechanism works may eventually lead to ways to block chronic Toxoplasma infections, said study principal investigator Michael White, PhD, professor of global health and molecular medicine at USF Health and a member of the Center of Drug Discovery and Innovation, a Florida Center of Excellence at USF.
White and his colleagues are among the world's leading experts in T. gondii, combining approaches from biochemistry, genetics and structural biology to look for new ways to combat the parasitic disease toxoplasmosis.
No drugs or vaccines currently exist to treat or prevent the chronic stage of the disease. The T. gondii parasites may remain invisible to the immune system for years and then reactivate when immunity wanes, boosting the risk for recurrent disease.
"The evolutionary story of Toxoplasma is fascinating," White said. "We were blown away to find that the AP2 factors controlling how a flower develops and how plants respond to poor soil and water conditions have been adapted to work within an intracellular human parasite."
Ages ago the ancestors of malaria parasites genetically merged with an ancestor of plants, and the primitive plant donated its AP2 factors to the future malaria family.
"Our study showed that, like the AP2 factors help a plant survive a stressful environment, the AP2 factors of T. gondii help the parasite decide when the time is right to grow or when to form a tissue cyst that may lie dormant in people for many years," White said.
Toxoplasmosis, the infection caused T. gondii, is commonly associated with the medical advice that pregnant women should avoid contact with litter boxes. That's because infected cats play a big role in spreading the disease. The tiny organism thrives in the guts of cats, producing countless egg-like cells that are passed along in the feces and can live in warm moist soil or water for months.
People can acquire toxoplasmosis several ways, usually by exposure to the feces of cats or other infected animals, by eating undercooked meat of infected animals, or drinking water contaminated with T. gondii.
Up to 30 percent of the world's population is estimated to be infected with the T. gondii parasite.
In some parts of the world, including places where sanitation is poor and eating raw or undercooked meat is customary, nearly 100 percent of people carry the parasite, White said.
Few experience flu-like symptoms because the immune system usually prevents the parasite from causing illness, but for those who are immune deficient the consequences can be severe.
The disease may be deadly in AIDS patients, organ transplant recipients, patients receiving certain types of chemotherapy, and infants born to mothers infected with the parasite during or shortly before pregnancy. Recently, toxoplasmosis has been linked to mental illness, such as schizophrenia and other diseases of dementia, and changes in behavior.
Because it is common, complex and not easily killed with standard disinfection measures, the toxoplasma parasite is a potential weapon for bioterrorists, White added.
###
The USF-led study was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health. White's team worked with researchers at Princeton University, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and Indiana University School of Medicine. Joshua Radke, a PhD student in the USF Health Department of Molecular Medicine, was a first author of the study.
Article citation:
"ApiAP2 transciption factor restricts development of the Toxoplasma tissue cyst;" Joshua B. Radke, Oliver Lucas, Erandi K. DeSilva, YanFen Ma, William J. Sullivan, Jr., Louis M. Weiss, Manuel Llinas, and Michael W. White; Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences; http://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1300059110
USF Health's mission is to envision and implement the future of health. It is the partnership of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, the College of Nursing, the College of Public Health, the College of Pharmacy, the School of Biomedical Sciences and the School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences; and the USF Physician's Group. The University of South Florida is a global research university ranked 50th in the nation by the National Science Foundation for both federal and total research expenditures among all U.S. universities. For more information, visit http://www.health.usf.edu
[ | E-mail | Share ]
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
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Public release date: 8-Apr-2013
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