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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…)

Attitudes Towards Security Threats Uncovered

By Guest PostNovember 29, 2012Politicsaggressive, biggest, british government, daniel stevens, esrc, exeter, fear, government claim, impact, level, national security, national security strategy, nick vaughan williams, online survey, policy maker, political outlook, Politics, population, security, security sign, security threat, terrorism, uk, uk foreign policy, university, warwick

New research has revealed a significant gap between what the government claims are the biggest security threats facing the UK and the fears of the population.

Terrorism is not perceived as the most important threat to everyday life despite claims by policy makers.

Politics researchers at the Universities of Exeter and Warwick led detailed focus groups across the UK and conducted a nationwide survey as part of an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funded project which looked at public attitudes towards security threats. (more…)

Researchers ID Ways to Exploit ‘Cloud Browsers’ for Large-Scale, Anonymous Computing

By Guest PostNovember 29, 2012Technologyashwin shashidharan, cloud browser, cloud computing, enck adds, function, Google, joe pletcher, kevin butler, large scale computing, mapreduce, megabytes, north Carolina, oregon, paradigm, service, state university, technique, university, vasant tendulkar, web browsers, web interface, william enck

Researchers from North Carolina State University and the University of Oregon have found a way to exploit cloud-based Web browsers, using them to perform large-scale computing tasks anonymously. The finding has potential ramifications for the security of “cloud browser” services.

At issue are cloud browsers, which create a Web interface in the cloud so that computing is done there rather than on a user’s machine. This is particularly useful for mobile devices, such as smartphones, which have limited computing power.The cloud-computing paradigm pools the computational power and storage of multiple computers, allowing shared resources for multiple users. (more…)

Blame, Responsibility and Demand for Change Following Floods

By Guest PostNovember 27, 2012Environmentclimate change, conor murphy, cumbria, economic disruption, England, events, exeter, extreme weather, galway, governmental failure, heavy flooding, irene lorenzoni, mega storms, Nature, neil adger, north west england, political demand, turbulent weather, tyndall centre, university, western ireland

New research shows concerns about governmental failure to act effectively and fairly in the aftermath of extreme weather events can affect the degree to which residents are willing to protect themselves.

Published in the journal Nature Climate Change, the findings of a team led by scientists at the University could prove key to establishing how society should evolve to cope with more turbulent weather and more frequent mega storms.

The team examined attitudes in Cumbria in north west England and Galway in western Ireland, which were both hit by heavy flooding in November 2009. Record rainfall was recorded in both countries, resulting in a number of deaths, properties being severely damaged and economic disruption. (more…)

A Country of Two Tales

By Guest PostNovember 23, 2012Economy, PoliticsChina, confucius institute, country, delaware, Economy, gdp, global impact, gross domestic product, growth engine, iew, Japan, jastak burgess hall, jianguo chen, market, policy, soes, state capitalism, state owned enterprises, two tales, united states, university

Confucius Institute director addresses global impact of China’s economy

China’s economy has undergone astounding growth during the past 60 years, with its gross domestic product (GDP) climbing from just under $18 billion in 1949 to almost $6 trillion in 2011. Most of that growth has occurred since 1980, when the country’s economic reform began.

The result? China has emerged from being known as “the world’s most populous country” to the “growth engine for the world’s economy.”

But the double-digit growth that China witnessed every year from 2003 to 2011 has slowed, leading to much debate about the seriousness of the downturn and how it will reverberate across the globe. (more…)

Shaking out Sugars

By Guest PostNovember 23, 2012Healthamericans, blood lipids, caloric intake, corn, diabetes researcher, dietary sugar, endocrinologist, fructose, fruit sugar, glucose, hfcs, high, john bantle, minnesota, mixture, Pizza, sucrose, sugar consumption, syrup, university

A diabetes researcher’s take on dietary sugar

With all the talk these days about fructose, glucose, sucrose, high-fructose corn syrup, and sugar in general, it can be hard for a health-conscious person to sort out the truth.

“A lot of people are putting out their ideas as established fact,” says diabetes researcher and endocrinologist John Bantle, M.D., a professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota. “It’s hard to find the actual facts and then to interpret them.”

Bottom line: Too much sugar is bad, if only for the excess calories. But the story isn’t quite so simple. (more…)

Teenagers Urged to Exercise to Ward off Bone Disease

By Guest PostNovember 23, 2012Healthbone health, bone mass, bone mineral, content, counteract, exercise, exeter, luis gracia marco, osteoporosis, playing football, potential damage, running, sedentary activities, sitting, teenager, university, young people, zaragoza

Playing football or running for at least three hours a week could help teenagers counteract the potential damage to their bone health caused by prolonged spells of sitting.

An international team, including an expert from the University of Exeter, has found evidence that adolescents who spend long periods engaged in certain sedentary activities are more likely to have low bone mineral content in parts of the body where it can be an indicator of the risk of developing osteoporosis.

The team found that studying put girls at particular risk, while for boys leisure internet use posed the greatest threat. Scientists found that participating in at least three hours of certain sports could significantly reduce the threat in girls. The study found evidence of the benefits of high-intensity sports where the participant is on their feet, such as football, basketball, netball or running. (more…)

Say Hi to a Magpie via New App

By Guest PostNovember 21, 2012Natureandroid, apple devices, benefit, colin scott, common garden birds, database, exeter, good morning, gps, habitat, human life, human sense, magpie mapper, mobile phone, mr magpie, new app, quality, richard inger, satellite technology, sightings, south west, tony whitehead, uk, university, urban birds

A new app which encourages people to say “good morning Mr Magpie” via their mobile phone will help scientists evaluate the benefits which birds bring to the quality of human life.

Whether you view them with sorrow or joy, using your smart device to help build up a national database of sightings of the distinctive black-and-white birds will feed into wider research by the University of Exeter to assess how much value people place on having birds in their gardens.

Dr Richard Inger, at the Environment and Sustainability Institute on the University’s Cornwall Campus, said: “We chose to study magpies because they’re one of the most common garden birds in the UK and are easily recognisable. Many people already acknowledge them for luck, and we’re asking them to go one small step further and log sightings on their mobile phones. Magpies are not everyone’s favourite birds, but by getting involved you can help us to gather crucial data which will help us establish how much time the birds spend in different habitats. (more…)

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