Astronomers find fastest rotating star

ScienceDaily (Dec. 5, 2011) ? The European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope has picked up the fastest rotating star found so far. This massive bright young star lies in our neighbouring galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud, about 160,000 light-years from Earth. Astronomers think that it may have had a violent past and has been ejected from a double star system by its exploding companion.

An international team of astronomers has been using ESO's Very Large Telescope at the Paranal Observatory in Chile, to make a survey of the heaviest and brightest stars in the Tarantula Nebula, in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Among the many brilliant stars in this stellar nursery the team has spotted one, called VFTS 102 [1], that is rotating at more than two million kilometres per hour -- more than three hundred times faster than the Sun [2] and very close to the point at which it would be torn apart due to centrifugal forces. VFTS 102 is the fastest rotating star known to date [3].

The astronomers also found that the star, which is around 25 times the mass of the Sun and about one hundred thousand times brighter, was moving through space at a significantly different speed from its neighbours [4].

"The remarkable rotation speed and the unusual motion compared to the surrounding stars led us to wonder if this star had had an unusual early life. We were suspicious." explains Philip Dufton (Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK), lead author of the paper presenting the results.

This difference in speed could imply that VFTS 102 is a runaway star -- a star that has been ejected from a double star system after its companion exploded as a supernova. This idea is supported by two further clues: a pulsar and an associated supernova remnant in its vicinity [5].

The team has developed a possible back story for this very unusual star. It could have started life as one component of a binary star system. If the two stars were close, gas from the companion could have streamed over and in the process the star would have spun faster and faster. This would explain one unusual fact -- why it is rotating so fast. After a short lifetime of about ten million years, the massive companion would have exploded as a supernova -- which could explain the characteristic gas cloud known as a supernova remnant found nearby. The explosion would also have led to the ejection of the star and could explain the third anomaly -- the difference between its speed and that of other stars in the region. As it collapsed, the massive companion would have turned into the pulsar that is observed today, and which completes the solution to the puzzle.

Although the astronomers cannot yet be sure that this is exactly what happened, Dufton concludes "This is a compelling story because it explains each of the unusual features that we've seen. This star is certainly showing us unexpected sides of the short, but dramatic lives of the heaviest stars."

Notes:

[1] The name VFTS102 refers to the VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey made using the Fibre Large Array Multi Element Spectrograph (FLAMES) on ESO's Very Large Telescope.

[2] An aircraft travelling at this speed would take about one minute to circle Earth at the equator.

[3] Some stars end their lives as compact objects such as pulsars (see note [5]), which may spin much more rapidly than VFTS 102, but they are also very much smaller and denser and do not shine by thermonuclear reactions like normal stars.

[4] VFTS 102 is moving at roughly 228 kilometres per second, which is slower than other similar stars in the region by about 40 kilometres per second.

[5] Pulsars are the result of supernovae. The core of the star collapses to a very small size creating a neutron star which spins very rapidly and emits powerful jets of radiation. These jets create a regular "pulse" as seen from Earth as the star rotates around its axis. The associated supernova remnant is a characteristic cloud of gas blown away by the shock wave resulting from the collapse of the star into a neutron star.

More information

This research was presented in a paper in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, "The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey: The fastest rotating O-type star and shortest period LMC pulsar -- remnants of a supernova disrupted binary?," by Philip L. Dufton et al.

The team is composed of P.L. Dufton (Astrophysics Research Centre, Queen's University Belfast (ARC/QUB), UK), P.R. Dunstall (ARC/QUB, UK), C.J. Evans (UK Astronomy Technology Centre, Royal Observatory Edinburgh (ROE), UK), I. Brott (University of Vienna, Department of Astronomy, Austria), M. Cantiello (Argelander Institut fur Astronomie der Universitat Bonn, Germany, Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of California, USA), A. de Koter (Astronomical Institute 'Anton Pannekoek', University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands), S.E. de Mink (Space Telescope Science Institute, USA), M. Fraser (ARC/QUB, UK), V. Henault-Brunet (Scottish Universities Physics Alliance (SUPA), Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, ROE, UK), I.D. Howarth (Department of Physics & Astronomy, University College London, UK), N. Langer (Argelander Institut fur Astronomie der Universitat Bonn, Germany), D.J. Lennon (ESA, Space Telescope Science Institute, USA), N. Markova (Institute of Astronomy with NAO, Bulgaria), H. Sana (Astronomical Institute 'Anton Pannekoek', University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands), W.D. Taylor (SUPA, Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, ROE, UK).

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by European Southern Observatory - ESO.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. P. L. Dufton, P. R. Dunstall, C. J. Evans, I. Brott, M. Cantiello, A. De Koter, S. E. de Mink, M. Fraser, V. H?nault-Brunet, I. D. Howarth, N. Langer, D. J. Lennon, N. Markova, H. Sana, W. D. Taylor. The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey: The fastest rotating O-type star and shortest period LMC pulsar -- remnants of a supernova disrupted binary? The Astrophysical Journal, 2011; 743 (1): L22 DOI: 10.1088/2041-8205/743/1/L22

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/tTBo1yMYRDs/111205102424.htm

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Panel to release report on Olympus scandal Tuesday: report (Reuters)

TOKYO (Reuters) ? An expert panel appointed by Japan's Olympus Corp to look into an accounting scandal at the disgraced firm will release its findings on Tuesday, Kyodo news agency said in a weekend report, opening the way for possible criminal complaints against former company executives.

Olympus has admitted to using murky M&A deals to hide losses on investments stretching back two decades. Its current management has blamed ex-president Tsuyoshi Kikukawa, former executive vice president Hisashi Mori and former internal auditor Hideo Yamada for the scheme and said it was ready to take legal action against those found responsible.

The 92-year-old maker of cameras and endoscopes is battling to remain listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, but if the panel finds involvement of organized crime syndicates -- as has been speculated -- that outcome would be difficult.

Tokyo police, prosecutors and the Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission (SESC) have launched a rare joint investigation of the scandal, and are likely to step up their probe after the panel report is released.

Potential criminal charges could include filing false financial statements, fraud and aggravated breach of trust -- an offence that can include embezzlement -- although proving breach of trust could be difficult because of the need to show that the offence had been committed for personal gain.

Olympus also needs to meet a December 14 deadline to file its financial results for the six months to September in order to avoid an automatic delisting.

Former Olympus CEO Michael Woodford, who blew the whistle on accounting tricks at the company after his sacking from the top job in October, has launched a campaign to oust the current board and replace it with his own team of candidates led by him as nominated CEO.

That has set up a battle between Woodford, an Englishman who was a rare foreign CEO in Japan, and current Olympus President Shuichi Takayama, who plans to stay on, at least in the short term, to try to get the company back on track.

The Olympus affair has fanned doubts about corporate governance generally in Japan as well as revived concerns about ties between "yakuza" gangsters and companies.

Attention will also be focused on what the panel, led by a Supreme Court judge, has to say about the role of outsiders in the scandal, including Akio Nakagawa, a banker with lengthy ties to Olympus and whose firm Axes received a mammoth advisory fee in the purchase of U.K. medical equipment maker Gyrus in 2008.

(Reporting by Linda Sieg; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111204/bs_nm/us_olympus_investigation

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Christie Brinkley Owes The Tax Man $531,000

Records show supermodel Christie Brinkley owes $531,000 in back taxes, and the IRS has filed a lien against her. The Daily News of New York reports that the tax lien was filed Nov. 21 on a mansion in Bridgehampton on New York’s Long Island, where she lives. A spokeswoman for Brinkley says the star was [...]

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Lung Cancer's Hidden Victims: Those Who Never Smoked (HealthDay)

FRIDAY, Dec. 2 (HealthDay News) -- Opera legend Beverly Sills never smoked. Neither did actress and health advocate Dana Reeve, wife of the late actor Christopher Reeve.

And yet in 2007 and 2006, respectively, both joined the ranks of about 32,000 Americans each year who never touch a cigarette but die of lung cancer anyway.

In fact, experts say, one in every five cases of the leading cancer killer occurs in nonsmokers. The annual death toll among this group now approaches that of breast cancer (about 40,000 per year) and is roughly equal to that of prostate cancer (32,000). Many never-smoking women may also be unaware that they are more than twice as likely to die of lung cancer as they are of ovarian cancer (14,000 deaths per year).

Numbers like those have experts calling for a shift in the public's thinking on lung cancer, away from its label of "the smoker's disease."

"We say, 'If you have a lung, you can get lung cancer,'" said Linda Wenger, executive director of Uniting Against Lung Cancer (UALC), a nonprofit advocacy group aimed at reaching a better understanding of lung cancer. The group was founded after the death in 2001 of Joan Scarangello, an ABC and NBC journalist and lifelong nonsmoker who fell victim at age 47 to lung cancer.

"She was very healthy, she was a runner," Wenger said, but the disease claimed Scarangello as it has many never-smokers. "We need to look at lung cancer as being a cancer like any other," Wenger added.

Many experts believe that the stigma around smoking that accompanies lung cancer -- that its victims somehow "brought it on themselves" -- has dampened public sympathy for patients and hindered funding for research.

"The lung cancer research field is definitely the stepchild in the [cancer research] family, and we're sure a lot of that has to do with stigma," said Holli Kawadler, UALC's scientific program director. She noted that, in terms of funding received from the U.S. National Cancer Institute, "the numbers are $27,000 in research per cancer death for breast cancer, compared to only about $1,400 per cancer death for lung cancer."

"It's very disheartening for the whole field," Wenger said. "We have a partner out there, his wife has lung cancer but she never smoked. And she has the attitude that 'I never smoked, but cigarettes are going to kill me' because the money is not there for research, because of the smoking stigma."

Lung cancer's lethal nature may also be hindering efforts to boost awareness and funding for research, experts add.

"Unlike other cancers where there is better funding, lung cancer patients aren't well enough to really advocate for themselves," explained Dr. James Dougherty, medical and scientific advisor for the Lung Cancer Research Foundation (LCRF), based in New York City. "When they get the diagnosis they often get sick pretty quickly, so they aren't about to publicly take on the role of saying 'Look, I have a problem, I need help.'"

Still, even with limited funding, scientists are slowly uncovering clues to the origins and distinct nature of lung cancer in never-smokers. One obvious starting point is the fact that women are affected far more often than men.

"Among never-smokers with lung cancer, women outnumber men two-to-one," Wenger said.

According to experts at the LCRF, the reasons for the disparity aren't clear, but early research is suggesting that, much like breast tumors, lung tumor aggressiveness in women appears linked to estrogen. Other factors, as yet unknown, may also be at play.

"We're also learning much more about the differences in the biology of [lung cancer in] smokers and nonsmokers," Dougherty added. He pointed to LCRF-funded research under way at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, "specifically looking at some new potential markers on the [tumor] cells of people who have never smoked. Hopefully that will lead to the identification of better treatment options for nonsmokers."

Determining risk factors that might place certain never-smokers at especially high risk for lung cancer is another focus of research. The dream, experts said, is to somehow devise an accurate "panel" of biological and other factors that could serve as a basis in pinpointing at-risk individuals who may need closer monitoring.

All of these research advances will depend on much better funding, however. In the meantime, the stigma of smoking that overshadows never-smokers newly diagnosed with lung cancer continues.

"We hear a lot from people that the first thing they are asked after diagnosis is, 'Did you smoke?'" said Kawadler. "That's very tough."

More information

Find out more about ongoing efforts to fight lung cancer at the Lung Cancer Research Foundation.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/cancer/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20111202/hl_hsn/lungcancershiddenvictimsthosewhoneversmoked

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Noonan: The Comeback Kid of 2012 (WSJ)

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USA Today reassigns top editor, business executive

MCLEAN, Va. (AP) ? USA Today said Wednesday that it is moving two of its top executives to new jobs.

John Hillkirk, the top editor of the second-largest U.S. newspaper, is stepping down to help oversee USA Today's investigative reporting projects as a senior editor.

USA Today, which is owned by Gannett Co., is looking for his replacement. In the interim, Susan Weiss, USA Today's executive editor, will run the newsroom.

In another transfer announced Wednesday, Rudd Davis is moving from vice president of business development to the newly created position of president of USA Today's travel media group.

The division will try to help USA Today reach more readers while they're traveling and sell more advertising aimed at people on the go.

The changes come as USA Today and other major newspapers cope with declining revenue as more advertising shifts from print pages to the Web. USA Today, based in McLean, Va., has eliminated jobs and cut other expenses to cope with the downturn.

The newspaper's print edition was losing paid circulation until it posted a slight increase earlier this year. USA Today's circulation averaged nearly 1.8 million during the six months that ended Sept. 30. It ranked behind The Wall Street Journal, whose circulation of nearly 2.1 million includes hundreds of thousands of digital subscribers. Unlike the Journal, the USA Today doesn't charge fees to access its website and mobile devices.

Hillkirk, 56, has worked at USA Today since the newspaper started in 1982. He ran USA Today's Money section for nine years before being named executive editor in 2004. He was promoted to editor-in-chief in 2009 when Dave Hunke became USA Today's publisher.

"We greatly appreciate John's good work over the last 30 years, especially the last two years as editor during this critical transformation phase," Susie Ellwood, USA Today's general manger, wrote in a memo to the newspaper's staff on Wednesday.

Davis, 31, came to Gannett in 2008 after the company bought his "extreme" sports website, BNQT.com. He will be based in Los Angeles.

Davis "is a highly creative entrepreneur, and we know he will lead this division with the innovative and entrepreneurial spirit that it requires," Ellwood said in a statement.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2011-11-30-US-Gannett-Personnel/id-31f379d93ee141f787ad248effd302be

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Sony Bravia XBR-46HX929

The Sony XBR-46HX929 is the 46-inch version of the Editors' Choice LCD HDTV, the Sony XBR-HX929 ($2,599.99, 4.5 stars). It includes built-in Wi-Fi, 3D support, and a variety of Web apps.

We have not yet tested this model in the labs, but the 55HX929 proved to have excellent black levels and color temperature, producing one of the best pictures we've seen in an LED LCD HDTV. While we can't be certain of the picture quality of this HDTV without testing it, it's reasonable to believe that it will have a similar picture.

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