超新星背后的秘密

在宇宙的某个地方每一秒钟都会发生超新星爆发。即使它们的距离极为遥远,这一恒星灾变现象仍能为我们提供有关恒星形成的重要信息——其抛射出几个太阳质量的恒星碎片丰富了星际空间重元素和放射性元素的含量。 尽管超新星非常的明亮,但是超新星爆发的能量     

The unusual γ-ray burst GRB 101225A from a helium star/neutron star merger at redshift 0.33

Long γ-ray bursts (GRBs) are the most dramatic examples of massive stellar deaths, often associated with supernovae. They release ultra-relativistic jets, which produce non-thermal emission through synchrotron radiation as they interact with the surrounding medium. Here we report observations of the unusual GRB 101225A. Its γ-ray emission was exceptionally long-lived and was followed by a bright X-ray transient with a hot thermal component and an unusual optical counterpart. During the first 10 days, the optical emission evolved as an expanding, cooling black body, after which an additional component, consistent with a faint supernova, emerged. We estimate its redshift to be z = 0.33 by fitting the spectral-energy distribution and light curve of the optical emission with a GRB-supernova template. Deep optical observations may have revealed a faint, unresolved host galaxy. Our proposed progenitor is a merger of a helium star with a neutron star that underwent a common envelope phase, expelling its hydrogen envelope. The resulting explosion created a GRB-like jet which became thermalized by interacting with the dense, previously ejected material, thus creating the observed black body, until finally the emission from the supernova dominated. An alternative explanation is a minor body falling onto a neutron star in the Galaxy.     

Steady-state distribution of lithium during cultivation of dissociated brain cells

Summary The formation of a steady-state intracellular lithium level was studied in the course of cultivation of dissociated nerve cell cultures obtained from chick embryonic brains. When lithium was given at a concentration of 2 mM, in the nutrient medium, at day 5, a steady state intracellular lithium content was achieved after about 30 min of incubation and it did not change significantly during the time of cultivation up to the 13th day in vitro.Acknowledgment. We thank Dr Latzkovits for useful advice and helping in methodology.