Strange Stars

Scientists have discovered a strange new parasitic star. The star was once the small companion of a much larger star. The current distance between the two is less than the distance between the Earth and the moon. When the large star became a supernova it engulfed the other and then became a neutron star. Eventually, the smaller star began to grow and became a red giant whose "outer envelope encapsulated the neutron star. This caused the two stars to draw closer together, while simultaneously ejecting the red giant's envelope into space." The neutron star's powerful gravity now siphons gas from the other star which essentially has only its "helium-rich core" left - the mere "skeleton of a star." Only 8 of these parasitic stars have been discovered.

Whew, that was complicated but we hope we've explained it all right. We <3 astronomy!

PS. We were also shocked to discover that scientists speculate that white dwarfs are made of crystallized carbon - like a diamond. "In 2004, they found that a white dwarf near the constellation Centaurus, BPM 37093, was made of crystallized carbon weighing 5 million trillion trillion pounds. [Or] 10 billion trillion trillion carats." Gives whole new depth to like a diamond in the sky, doesn't it?

PPS. We also loved this article that says black diamonds come from space! We can't get enough of LiveScience!

News - Endangered Species List Grows Dramatically

There was only one species that showed improvement this year scientists said today; the Mauritius echo parakeet moved from critically endangered to the endangered list.

This news comes from the World Conservation Union which released its annual Red List today.

Over 200 new species made the frightening list which rates endangered and critically endangered species all over the world.

The makers of the list stressed the importance of recognizing just how small of a representation it is. These numbers are only taken from the world's 41,415 traceable species. There are countless others that are yet undiscovered and as such, untrackable. The widely accepted figure is 15 million different species, total, on Earth.

“The estimate is low; we know it’s low. We’ve only really looked at the tip of the iceberg in terms of species that are out there that are known to science.”

Low though it is, the list names over 16,300 species threatened with extinction.

"One in four mammals, one in eight birds, one third of all amphibians and 70 percent of the world’s assessed plants on the 2007 Red List are in jeopardy, the IUCN added."

Here are a few of those who need help: lowland gorillas threatened by Ebola and poaching (they may only have 12 years left), the Yangtze River dolphin, corals from the Galapagos Islands, the Hawaiian crow (now extinct in the wild), the Goliath frog (the largest frog in the world), the Giant Hispaniolan galliwasp... The list goes on.

News - Perfectly Preserved Maiden Of Incan Sacrifice On Display

"La Doncella" (The Maiden,) this amazingly well-preserved mummy of a 15-year-old Inca girl, was put on display to thousands of museum-goers in Salta, Argentina recently.

She was found along with the corpses of a 6-year-old girl and a 7-year-old boy (not on display) in an "icy pit on Llullaillaco volcano" in 1999. The three human sacrifices are believed to have been "sacrificed more than 500 years ago in a ceremony marking the annual corn harvest."

"Dressed in fine clothes and given corn alcohol to put them to sleep, the victims were then left to die at an elevation of 22,080 feet."

The children, dubbed the "Children of Llullaillaco" were "found at the highest elevation ever discovered for sacrificial victims of the former Inca empire."

We live in a fascinating world.

News - Scientists Burn Water

This one is weird, folks. And exciting. John Kanzius, a scientist who was attempting to "desalinate water with the radio-frequency generator he developed to treat cancer" discovered that by exposing the water to radio frequencies he could weaken its bonds to release the hydrogen, which he could then burn.

Another chemist at Penn State, Rustum Roy, said, "Seeing it burn gives me the chills," after conducting his own experiments.

The discovery has excited scientists with the possibility of using water as fuel.

"Burn 'em all, laddie!"

News - New Underwater Species Discovered

LiveScience reports that new deep sea creatures have been discovered along the MidAtlantic Ridge by a team of scientists lead by Scottish researchers at the University of Aberdeen.

"Distinct habitats" up to two miles deep were discovered along the submerged mountain range that has known relatively little study until now.

Our favorite is the see-through shrimp that looks like a horse of the apocalypse. (Above.)

News - Einstein's Prediction Manifests Around Neutron Stars

The warping of space-time, an effect predicted by Einstein's Theory of Relativity, has been discovered around the densest observable matter in the universe -- Neutron stars. Wow.

Astronomers from the University of Michigan and NASA say, "the warping shows up as smeared lines of iron gas whipping around the stars..."

They believe this will play a huge role in understanding physics: "This is fundamental physics...There could be exotic kinds of particles or states of matter, such as quark matter, in the centers of neutron stars, but it's impossible to create them in the lab. The only way to find out is to understand neutron stars."

"Neutron stars can pack more than a sun's worth of material into a city-sized sphere. A few cups of neutron-star stuff would outweigh Mount Everest."

We love theoretical physics so much! -- Especially, when they move from theory to fact...'shivers' So awesome.

The Universe Is Missing

It's astrophysics hottest topic -- dark matter.

We can only see about 4% of the universe but due to the immense gravitational pull coming from space we know that about 96% percent of it is still out there -- and missing.

If you enjoyed Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time like we did, for a beginners grasp on the concept of dark matter, check out this brand new article from Live Science.

The First Space Hotel

The first ever space hotel will be open (yes, in space) by 2012.

For a mere $4 million, you can enjoy a three-day stay in one of the three pod-shaped rooms, orbiting the earth once every 80 minutes, while velcroed to the wall in your very own fuzzy unitard.

Look at these pictures; you'd have to pay us $4 million for even a one-day stay in this 'boutique' hotel. Not only are we not into minimalism -- at all -- but we'd lose our lunch wondering when the hotel was going to crack and we were going to get sucked into the abyss of space. And losing your lunch in zero gravity has got to be messy.

Scientists Freeze Light

Watch this amazing video from Live Science. An Australian physicist has managed to slow and then stop light for a few seconds -- this opens up amazing new possibilities in the fields of quantum physics and information technology.

We are definitely excited about the new computer prospects!

PS. While you're there, check out the amazing ways scientists are generating electricity nowadays -- from body heat to footsteps.

New Theories on Evolution

According to a brand new article on Live Science, "Some scientists are proposing additions to the list of evolutionary forces."

And frankly, it just makes sense. We are not at the apex of all knowlege by any stretch of the imagination.

One of the theories is that some organisms have flexible genes, which allow them to "change their physical or other features during development to accommodate environmental changes, a phenomenon called phenotypic plasticity."

Is this like those frogs who are all female but have one male and when he dies the biggest female becomes the new male? If not it should be.

PS. This is a picture of frogs mating. I think the one on top turned into a male. Yup. I checked.