Swiss Witness Black Hole Devouring a Planet

Swiss astrophysicists have witnessed the most rare of event, a black hole awakening from its slumber to devour a planet-sized object in a galaxy 47 million light years away. Observers from the University of Geneva using the European Space Agency’s INTEGRAL satellite project, revealed a black hole that had been slumbering for years chomping on a giant, low-mass object that had ventured too close.

Scientists at the Swiss university analyse the data collected by INTEGRAL, launched in 2002 to study gamma rays and shed light on events far from Earth’s galaxy. They spotted a light flare coming from a black hole in the centre of the NGC 4845 galaxy, which has a mass more than 300,000 times greater than the Sun and had been dormant for more than 30 years, the university said in a statement.

Matter-sucking black holes normally lurk dormant and undetected at the centre of galaxies, but can occasionally be tracked by the scraps left over from their stellar feasts. This black hole had woken up and absorbed an object with a mass 15 times that of Jupiter after taking three months to drag the snack from its trajectory. It managed to swallow 10 per cent of the object’s total mass, while the remainder stayed in orbit :: Read the full article »»»»

Toad Toxin Turned Against Tadpoles

A group of researchers in the Northern Territory say they may have discovered a simple way to combat one of northern Australia’s most invasive pests, the cane toad. FrogWatch is conducting field studies in waterways across Darwin on ways to cut down numbers of the troublesome toad, which was originally introduced to Australia to control the cane beetle.

Group coordinator Graeme Sawyer says a variety of tadpole traps are being used, the most successful trap contains toxins which attract tadpoles, trapping them inside. ”We may be able to eradicate tadpoles completely out of places,” Mr Sawyer said. ”We couldn’t do that before.”

A single trap collected more than 16,000 tadpoles in just a few days. Mr Sawyer says the toxin was made from the toads. ”We’ve been harvesting it straight out of toads: putting the toad in a plastic sandwich bag, popping the glands like you would a pimple and then just putting the bags in the freezer,” he said.

Mr Sawyer says the traps could be a way for residents to help fight the toad. In our first trial the tadpole traps captured all of the tadpoles in a backyard pond and no metamorph toads – small toads newly emerged from the tadpole stage – were seen at the site. In the second trial the traps collected 16116 tadpoles and just 67 metamorphs were collected from the site. The group is hoping to eradicate the Cane Toad from the Northern Territory.

Checkout: www.frogwatch.org.au

Related: Australian Marsupials Make Meal of Toxic Toads

Pancreatic Cancer Genes Identified by Garvin Researchers

Australian scientists have identified a set of mutated genes responsible for pancreatic cancer – one of the most lethal forms of cancer, with very few treatment options – a finding that could lead to early detection and better treatment of the disease.

Pancreatic cancer is highly aggressive and has the highest death rate of the major cancerous diseases, with patients normally dying within months of diagnosis. The researchers say that the genetic sequencing of the DNA of tumours and patients will go into global database known as the International Cancer Genome Consortium – ICGC –  which will assist researchers from around the globe in comparing the success and failure of drug treatments and other therapies.

Professor Andrew Biankin from the Kinghorn Cancer Centre at Sydney’s Garvin Institute and co-author of a study appearing in the scientific journal Nature, says treating pancreatic cancer is a race against time :: Read the full article »»»»

Our Backyard and Beyond, A Month of Astronomicaly Rich Discoveries

WOW, isn’t really a word, it’s more like a thoughtfilled sound, in this case it’s the one I made looking back over this past month of astronomical discoveries. From a diamond encrusted jewel to a new earth sized planet a stones throw from our own blue planet.

News from skywatchers has boomed out through September and October this year, with clever astronomers and planetary scientists pushing the boundaries of computer climate modelling, forecasting weather, climatic change and glacial movements on Mars that just might have valid predictors for climate change on Earth.

A new planet, the closest yet outside our solar system and just an astronomical stone’s throw away at four light years,and according to scientists, seriously raising the chances of finding a habitable planet in Earth’s neighbourhood. Researchers say the new planet is too close to its sun to support any known forms of life, with a surface temperature estimated at 1,200 degrees Celsius.

Previous studies suggest that when one planet is discovered orbiting a sun, there are usually others in the same system. The new Earth-sized planet, announced in science journal Nature by Stephane Udry and Xavier Dumusque at the Geneva Observatory, orbits one of the suns in Alpha Centauri, only 40 trillion kilometres away, visible to the naked eye – though we’d suggest you wear clothes while backyard stargazing – The planet was discovered using the HARPS instrument on a telescope at the ESO’s – European Southern Observatory -  La Silla site in Chile. :: Read the full article »»»»

ANOTHER Report Saying “Decriminalise Cannabis”

Another national report into the use of  illicit drugs has recommended decriminalising cannabis and ecstasy via a government controlled program aimed at helping to curb addiction.

The report offers an alternatives to our current prohibition stance on illicit drugs, in this latest report by a group of futurists, academics and  prominent Australians from the social research group Australia 21, the  authors emotively push the line, ”The prohibition of illicit drugs is killing and criminalising our children and we are all letting it happen.” 

The report seems to be pushing the point that “By defining the personal use and possession of certain psychoactive drugs as criminal acts, governments have also avoided any responsibility to regulate and control the quality of substances that are in widespread use. Some of these illicit drugs have demonstrable health benefits.

The group argues that illicit drugs should be controlled, taxed and scorned in much the same way governments deal with tobacco and alcohol.

The report also argues that decriminalising soft-drugs like cannabis would have some effect on household crime? Saying that a substantial proportion of Australia’s street and household crime is a direct consequence of the trade in these drugs…

NOW THAT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE! A pot head with the ability to get off the couch and burgle someone’s home? Lifting the phone to dial for a pizza is about the most movement I’ve EVER seen a pothead under the influence motion toward!  :: Read the full article »»»»

Australian Age of Dinosaurs Unearths Massive Bone Cache

A dinosaur dig in western Queensland has unearthed 20 fossils, including a bone weighing more than 100 kilograms. Organisers of the dig say the discovery confirms the region as one of Australia’s richest fossil sites.

Volunteers from across Australia and scientists from Sweden and the Queensland Museum have been working with the Australian Age of Dinosaurs at Winton on a three-week dig.

David Elliott from the Australian Age of Dinosaurs says they found one “bone pit” west of Winton :: Read the full article »»»»

Can we say, ASPIRIN THE WONDER DRUG… yet?

It’s NO secret that aspirin is my favourite drug! - Australian Scientists Probe Aspirins Role in Cancer Treatment + www.cankler.com.au/wiki-aspirin - since it’s discovery by Arthur Eichengrün in the 1880s, this wonder of nature has been a cure-all. Aspirin has been in and out of vogue since the early 20th century, now thankfully, it’s back in.

Back in February we looked at new work by researchers from Melbourne’s Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute, who said that they had made an important discovery about how cancer spreads. A 2010 article published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology had previously suggested that aspirin may reduce the risk of death from breast cancer.

Scientists have known for years that common drugs like aspirin can help cancer patients, but they weren’t sure why. Peter Mac researchers have now found a link between drugs like aspirin and the ability for cancer tumours to spread in the body.

More anecdotael evidence of this wonder drugs fight against cancer has surfaced via a survey undertaken by Eric Jacobs at the American Cancer Society. The study of more than 100,000 healthy people found that those who took a dose of aspirin every day were much less likely to develop and die from a  broad range of cancers :: Read the full article »»»»