Space News Items in Brief
Gamma Rays have been detected from a nova (not to be confused with a supernova) for the first time, something that has surprised scientists. I’m guessing that unlike supernovae, we are unable to tell if a nova event is likely to occur any time soon from a nearby star. This is the latest in a string of news reports where space is acting differently to what scientists previously believed – so keep that in mind when scientists insist we are safe from space nasties…
Radioactive elements decay at a constant rate, is something that is taught in high school. Wrong. When you are observing the decay year by year, it is pretty much constant. However it has just been discovered that the intra-year decay rate fluctuates due to how close we are to the Sun, and when there are solar flares.
