Tag Archives: austin

Texas Astronomers Measure Most Massive, Most Unusual Black Hole Using Hobby-Eberly Telescope

By Guest PostNovember 29, 2012Scienceastronomer, austin, bosch, constellation perseus, elliptical, Galaxy, galaxy mass, het data, hobby eberly telescope, karl gebhardt, lenticular galaxy, mass, massive black hole, massive galaxy survey, mcdonald observatory, Milky Way, neptune, ngc 1277, oddball galaxy, pennsylvania state university, remco, sun mass, texas, university, van den

FORT DAVIS, Texas — Astronomers have used the Hobby-Eberly Telescope at The University of Texas at Austin’s McDonald Observatory to measure the mass of what may be the most massive black hole yet — 17 billion times our sun’s mass — in galaxy NGC 1277. The unusual black hole makes up 14 percent of its galaxy’s mass, rather than the usual 0.1 percent. This galaxy and several more in the same study could change theories about how black holes and galaxies form and evolve. The work will appear in the journal Nature on Nov. 29.

NGC 1277 lies 220 million light-years away in the constellation Perseus. The galaxy is only 10 percent the size and mass of our Milky Way. Despite NGC 1277’s diminutive size, the black hole at its heart is more than 11 times as wide as Neptune’s orbit around the sun. (more…)

Half of Texans Prefer Faith over Science, According to UT/Texas Tribune Poll

By Guest PostNovember 2, 2012Politicsabortion, academics, austin, birth control, contemporary politics, daron shaw, democratic party, faith, gun control, ideology, james henson, manhattan project, methodology, partisan difference, polarization, political divisions, politicians, poll result, public policy, republican party, scientific evidence, scientists, survey, texas, texas politics project, texas voters, tribune poll, university

AUSTIN, Texas — About half of Texas voters believe faith is a better guide than scientific evidence on most important questions, according to a recent University of Texas at Austin/Texas Tribune poll.

According to the poll, which surveyed Texans on a wide range of attitudes related to science and public policy, a similar proportion of voters said that “instinct and gut reactions” are just as good as the advice of scientists in most cases.

However, 66 percent of voters said politicians, when faced with a difficult decision, should follow the advice of relevant experts, even if it means going against their ideology. (more…)

iPods in Classroom can Boost Academic Time and Resources for English Language Learners

By Guest PostSeptember 4, 2012Education, Technologyacademic advantage, austin, calculator, cesar navarrete, classroom, educational purpose, ells, english language, geographic area, internet, ipod touches, learner, learning resource, map, media creation, middle school, min liu, mobile device, multimedia, online translators, qualitative, quantitative data, sociocultural capital, still camera, texas, tool, university, video camera, voice recorder

AUSTIN, Texas — Providing English language learners (ELLs) with iPod Touches, or similar handheld devices, can increase learning time and motivation, according to a study from The University of Texas at Austin’s College of Education.

To find out how ELL students and teachers would use iPods and how they would feel about using the devices for educational purposes, Min Liu, a professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, examined elementary, middle and high school classes in a Central Texas school district. She found the devices might be useful tools in closing the achievement gap between ELLs and their English-speaking peers. Qualitative and quantitative data gathered during the 2010-12 school years revealed that students enjoyed educational benefits from the devices’ mobility, flexibility, connectivity and multimedia capabilities.

College of Education graduate students Cesar Navarrete, Erin Maradiegue and Jennifer Wivagg assisted Liu in this study. (more…)

NASA, Texas Astronomers Find First Multi-Planet System Around a Binary Star

By Guest PostSeptember 3, 2012Scienceaustin, bill cochran, binary star, caroline caldwell, faint star, giant magellan telescope, habitable zone, harlan j smith, het, hobby eberly telescope, jerome orosz, kepler 47, kepler mission, largest telescope, m dwarf star, mcdonald observatory, michael endl, multi planet, NASA, one system, planet, primary star, san diego, secondary star, solar system, space telescope, state university, stellar eclipse, sun, tatooine, telescope, texas, transit, university, west texas, william welsh, world

FORT DAVIS, Texas — NASA’s Kepler mission has found the first multi-planet solar system orbiting a binary star, characterized in large part by University of Texas at Austin astronomers using two telescopes at the university’s McDonald Observatory in West Texas. The finding, which proves that whole planetary systems can form in a disk around a binary star, is published in today’s issue of the journal Science.

“It’s Tatooine, right?” said McDonald Observatory astronomer Michael Endl. “But this was not shown in Star Wars,” he said, referring to the periodic changes in the amount of daylight falling on a planet with two suns. Measurements of the star’s orbits showed that daylight on the planets would vary by a large margin over the 7.4-Earth-day period as the two stars completed their mutual orbits, each moving closer to, then farther from, the planets (which are themselves moving). (more…)

Astronomers Test Einstein in a New Regime Using Pair of Burnt-Out Stars

By Guest PostAugust 31, 2012Sciencealbert einstein, apache point telescope, astronomer, austin, burnt out stars, canary islands, carlos allende prieto, don winget, dwarf stars, einstein, emission, energy, european space agency, fabric, Galaxy, gemini north telescope, general relativity, gran telescopio canarias, gravitational wave, hawaii, j j hermes, j0651, mcdonald observatory, milliseconds, moving object, mukremin kilic, NASA, new mexico, new regime, orbital decay, orbital period, otto struve telescope, ripple, space time, spain, sun, test, texas, theory, university, university of oklahoma, warren brown, west texas

AUSTIN, Texas — A team of astronomers led by researchers from The University of Texas at Austin has confirmed the emission of gravitational waves from the second-strongest known source in our galaxy by studying the shrinking orbital period of a unique pair of burnt-out stars. Their observations tested Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity in a new regime. The results will be published soon in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

Last year, the same team discovered that the two white dwarf stars are so close together that they make a complete orbit in less than 13 minutes, and they should be gradually slipping closer. The system, called SDSS J065133.338+284423.37 (J0651 for short), contains two white dwarf stars, which are the remnant cores of stars like our sun. (more…)

Study Determines Theoretical Energy Benefits and Potential of Algae Fuels

By Guest PostJuly 26, 2012Environment, Sciencealgae, algae fuels, algae pump, algeternal technologies, austin, austin startup, city of austin, colin beal, electricity, electromechanics, energy benefits, energy input, fertilizers, food, green source, michael webber, openalgae, pharmaceuticals, public policy, robert hebner, university of texas, viability of algae

AUSTIN, Texas — It’s theoretically possible to produce about 500 times as much energy from algae fuels as is needed to grow the fuels, according to a new study by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin.

However, limited by existing technology, the researchers found in a separate study that their algae growing facility is getting out about one-five hundredth as much energy as it currently puts in to grow the fuels.

“The search for cost-effective biofuels is one of the noble endeavors of our time, and these papers shed insight on where the boundaries are in algae research,” said Robert Hebner, a professor in the Cockrell School of Engineering and director of the Center for Electromechanics. “One of the responsibilities of a top research university is to discover and explain what the boundaries are so we can innovate within those boundaries or create ways to expand them.” (more…)

Scientists Discover New Site of Potential Instability in West Antarctic Ice Sheet

By Guest PostMay 12, 2012Environmentaircraft, Antarctica, austin, basin, british antarctic survey, computer model, don blankenship, duncan young, filchner ronne ice shelf, ice penetrating radar, ice sheet change, martin siegert, new jersey, pine island glacier, sea level, sub glacial basin, thwaites glacier, university of edinburgh, university of texas, wais, warmer ocean, weddell sea, west antarctic ice sheet

AUSTIN, Texas — Using ice-penetrating radar instruments flown on aircraft, a team of scientists from the U.S. and U.K. have uncovered a previously unknown sub-glacial basin nearly the size of New Jersey beneath the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) near the Weddell Sea. The location, shape and texture of the mile-deep basin suggest that this region of the ice sheet is at a greater risk of collapse than previously thought.

Team members at The University of Texas at Austin compared data about the newly discovered basin to data they previously collected from other parts of the WAIS that also appear highly vulnerable, including Pine Island Glacier and Thwaites Glacier. Although the amount of ice stored in the new basin is less than the ice stored in previously studied areas, it might be closer to a tipping point. (more…)

Seed Size is Controlled by Maternally Produced Small Rnas, Scientists Find

By Guest PostApril 14, 2012Naturearabidopsis, austin, david baulcombe, diploid, double fertilization, duplicate genome, embryo, endosperm, flowering plant, gene, maternal genome, molecular mechanism, placenta, plant, plant embryo, plant evolution, rna molecule, seed, seed production, sirnas, small, small interfering rnas, tetraploid, university of cambridge, university of texas, z jeff chen

AUSTIN, Texas — Seed size is controlled by small RNA molecules inherited from a plant’s mother, a discovery from scientists at The University of Texas at Austin that has implications for agriculture and understanding plant evolution.

“Crop seeds provide nearly 70 to 80 percent of calories and 60 to 70 percent of all proteins consumed by the human population,” said Z. Jeff Chen, the D.J. Sibley Centennial Professor in Plant Molecular Genetics at The University of Texas at Austin. “Seed production is obviously very important for agriculture and plant evolution.” (more…)