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Tag: Australia

  • Giant Pink Slugs Found In Australia

    Giant pink slugs have been found on a mountainside in Australia, and park rangers say that on a good day, you can see hundreds of them clustered on the rocks, creating an odd juxtaposition between nature and a very unnatural color.

    “As bright pink as you can imagine, that’s how pink they are,” Michael Murphy, a ranger with the National Parks and Wildlife Service, said. “On a good morning, you can walk around and see hundreds of them.”

    So far, the slugs have only been found on Mount Kaputar in New South Wales, and scientists believe that’s because that particular area allows them to thrive like no other environment could. This is due to the weather, altitude, and a history of rain forests which receded after a volcano eruption over 17 million years ago. A degree or two change in temperature could be enough to alter their world forever, which is why the NSW National Parks And Wildlife Service fought to have the site listed as endangered so as to preserve the species.

    ‘These species have evolved from lowland ancestors and have been isolated in an otherwise snail-hostile environment as conditions began to dry,” NSW said.

    The slugs can grow up to eight inches long and hide out during the day, coming out at night to feed on mold and tree moss.

  • Nurse Admits to Murdering 11 in Sydney Nursing Home Fire

    A 37-year-old Australian Man has admitted to setting a fire at a Quaker Hill nursing home that took the lives of 11 elderly patients and injured another 8.

    Roger Dean had been working as a nurse at the nursing home for just two months.

    According to The Sydney Morning Herald, the incident occurred on the morning of November 18th, 2011. Dean admitted to setting an empty bed ablaze. He then moved to the room of 80-year-old Dorothy Sterling and 85-year-old Dorothy Wu.

    From the SMH:

    Around 4.50am, Dean set an empty bed on fire in one wing, before moving to the room where Ms Wu and Ms Sterling were sleeping. When resident Helen Perry, 63, saw her friends’ room was on fire she told Dean, “We have to get them out”.

    But Dean grabbed her arm and moved her on, saying, “People are on their way”.

    They weren’t. As firefighters battled to contain the first blaze Dean had started, they had no idea the room of Ms Wu and Ms Sterling was also on fire. He didn’t tell them and by the time they reached the spot, the blaze had reached the roof. As the fires raged, Dean “actively assisted in moving residents and their beds, being careful to keep up the appearance of having nothing to do with the lighting of the two fires,” the documents said.

    Dean had already stolen over 200 pills from the nursing home, and hours before the fire police visited the home to investigate the theft.

    Now, in a New South Wales court, Dean has admitted his guilt. Previously, he had said that it was Satan that made him do what he did. The oldest victim of the fire was 97, and the youngest was 73.

  • Germany, Australia Think The Xbox One Is An Orwellian Nightmare

    Much of the controversy surrounding the Xbox One thus far has been focused on its vague used game policy. Now another controversy may be brewing in countries with strong privacy laws.

    Gamasutra reports that both Germany and Australia have expressed concern over the new Kinect camera in the Xbox One. It’s been confirmed that the camera must be connected for the Xbox One to operate, and some fear this will lead to snooping for marketing purposes. Microsoft, of course, says it won’t be using it to violate privacy, but some aren’t so sure.

    Germany’s Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information Peter Schaar says that he needs to know if the Xbox One’s Kinect can store user information, and whether or not Microsoft can share that information with third parties. He goes so far to call the Xbox One and its potential to spy on living rooms a “twisted nightmare.” [Update: In the comments, Kenny tells us the statement from Schaar, when translated, merely says that he isn’t concerned about Microsoft spying on people via Kinect.]

    Civil Liberties Australia Director Tim Vines says that the Xbox One’s Kinect is a surveillance device under Australian law. As such, Microsoft will have to come forward and tell users who can access the information it collects. He also encourages Australians to skip out on the Xbox One if Microsoft doesn’t give users an option to turn off the Kinect camera.

    Germany and Australia aren’t exactly huge game markets, but it does show that people are uncomfortable with the idea of constantly being watched. Sony’s PS4 isn’t much better as it ships with its own camera, but the Japanese company hasn’t outlined an Orwellian surveillance regime in a patent application either.

  • Nurse Admits Murdering 11 Elderly Patients

    Nurse Admits Murdering 11 Elderly Patients

    An Australian man this week pleaded guilty to murdering 11 elderly residents of a nursing home where he worked briefly in 2011.

    According to an Australian Associated Press report, 37-year-old Roger Dean admitted during his Australian Supreme Court trial to setting a fire that killed 11 residents of the Quakers Hill nursing home in Sydney. Dean started the fire in the early morning hours of November 18, 2011 by lighting an empty bed in the nursing home.

    Some of the eleven residents who died were unable to move without assistance. In addition to the murder charges, Dean also pleaded guilty to injuring eight other nursing home residents in the fire.

    The AAP report also states that Dean admitted taking prescription drugs from the nursing home. He had apparently been caught on a security camera entering a medication a storage room multiple times. The incident was reported, but police were not able to arrive immediately. Dean started the fire soon after, and then played the part of rescuer by helping some residents escape the flames. During the chaos, Dean managed to steal the facility’s drug logs, which he later destroyed.

  • Man Attempts To Bust Ghosts, Stumbles Upon Wife Having Sex With Stepson

    Being a ghostbuster isn’t easy. You may stumble upon some rather scary things, including your son having sex with your wife.

    The Mercury reports that a 28-year-old woman recently pled guilty to five counts of sexual intercourse with a minor. What makes this particular case a bit weirder isn’t the fact that the minor was her stepson, but rather, how they were caught.

    It all started when the father set up a camera in the house hoping to find evidence of ghosts. He forgot to turn off the camera when he left for work and came back to a surprise. On the tape was footage of his wife having sex with her stepson.

    In the following days, she confessed to police that she had sex with her stepson twice. She also said that she knew he was 16-years-old. She tried to play off the latter by saying that she thought the age of consent was 16.

    Even after being separated from the boy, the prosecution stated that she had traveled to a remote hotel room to engage in more sexual activities with her stepson.

    Obviously, the events put quite the damper on the relationship between the woman and her husband. She is now working to repair their relationship.

    She will be sentenced on Monday.

  • Australian Politician Tricked Into Liking Photo of Teen’s Nuts on Facebook

    An Australian politician fell victim to a photo prank on Facebook that resulted in “liking” a picture of a 16-year-old boy’s testicles. Peter Collier has since apologized, claiming that the photo looked innocent enough to him when he liked it in late 2011.

    What happened to Collier could happen to all of us. You see a nice picture on Facebook of a group of people and you think “oh, that’s lovely. I like that!” and so you like it. But lurking in the shadows are exposed testicles.

    “Sneaky nuts” is a prank that involves sneakily showing one’s balls in a photograph, you know, by putting them through the zipper or something at the last minute. It’s kind of like a photobomb, but with your balls. Yeah, it’s not the internet’s best moment for sure.

    Collier, a Liberal member of the Western Australian Legislative Council who currently serves Minister for Energy; Training and Workforce Development, says that he was simply tricked by a sneaky photo.

    Hence the “sneaky nuts” part:

    “At first glance it appeared to be a harmless picture. It was a silly mistake on my part. I only became aware of the actual content of the photo when shown by a journalist…This obviously highlights the pitfalls of social media. I apologise if I caused any offense,” said Collier in a statement.

    The apology wasn’t enough for Labor Party MP sue Ellery, who has called for an investigation.

    “This is a man who is a senior minister in charge of the professional standards of dealing with young people and young people’s use of social media,” she said.

    It looks like politics are the same no matter where you go.

  • Dead For 40 Minutes: New CPR Machine Brings Man Back From The Brink

    It’s the sort of thing you usually only see in the movies or on medical shows on TV: a patient is clinically dead and all hope seems lost, when suddenly he (or she) is miraculously revived after an impossibly long time. Well, that scenario played itself out in Melbourne, Australia several months ago when Colin Fielder, 39, of Dandenong, Victoria was revived after being clinically dead for 40 minutes.

    The reason for Fielder’s amazing recovery is an experimental combination of new techniques: the use of a new automated CPR machine, called the AutoPulse, and the use of a blood-oxygen machine. As the name implies, the AutoPulse automatically performs regular chest compressions on patients in cardiac arrest. Meanwhile, the blood-oxygen machine – a device usually reserved for the operating room – maintains the blood’s oxygen levels, ensuring that the brain and other vital organs continue to receive oxygen while the patient is “dead.”

    When Fielder suffered a heart attack in June of last year, paramedics in his ambulance gave him a choice of two Melbourne-area hospitals. As luck would have it, he chose the Alfred Hospital, which is the only hospital in Victoria currently using this new technique. After coming back from his 40 minute rendezvous with death, Fielder made a full recovery and has suffered no ill-effects.

    Since his recovery he has stopped smoking and takes a much more relaxed approach to life, Fielder told the Herald Sun.

    Fielder is one of three patients to have been brought revived after a long time clinically dead. One patient was brought back after 60 minutes. While the system is still in clinical trials, physicians hope to bring it to more hospitals eventually. Meanwhile, the AutoPulse machine is currently deployed in three Melbourne ambulances, though the company that produces it is working to deploy it more broadly.

  • $120 Egg Sandwich Offered at Sydney Restaurant

    An egg sandwich would rank pretty low in an ordered list of expensive sandwiches. One restaurant, however, has found a way to raise the price of an egg sandwich to over $100.

    According to a report in The Sunday Telegraph, a Sydney, Australia restaurant called 4Fourteen this week will be selling a $120 egg sandwich. It contains Australian bacon, a duck egg fried in truffle butter, roasted foie gras, aged cheddar, shaved truffle, semi-dried smoked gourmet truss tomato, and a crème fraîche and caviar dressing, all on a brioche roll.

    The sandwich will be available only during this week. The sandwich was unveiled at a breakfast Monday morning at 4Fourteen, hosted by Australian celebrity chef and 4Fourteen owner Colin Fassnidge. A 4Fourteen chef named Carla Jones told the Telegraph that she expects people to order the sandwich out of curiosity, though she might not eat it herself because she is “not that into truffles.”

    The egg sandwich is actually part of “Bacon Week” – a celebration of Australian pork. Events promoting locally-produced pork will be held throughout Australia this week. The organization Australian Pork Limited (APL) has issued a challenge to other Australian chefs to create a bacon and egg roll to rival 4Fourteen’s.

  • Player Dies: Snake Bite Kills From Field Hockey Pitch

    Player Dies: Snake Bite Kills From Field Hockey Pitch

    An Australian field hockey player was bitten by a snake while attempting to get it off the pitch and died hours later, officials say.

    A series of unfortunate circumstances led to the death of 26-year old Karl Berry on Tuesday; thinking the snake was non-venomous, he picked it up without hesitation and threw it into the bushes, suffering a bite in the process. Deciding not to seek medical attention, Berry then went on a run for training. Tragically, running only caused the venom to circulate through his blood stream faster than usual, and he collapsed. When paramedics arrived, however, Berry didn’t mention the snake bite for several minutes. Those minutes could have been the thin line between life and death.

    “When the paramedics looked at his hand they saw the bite mark on his finger. The bite was more consistent with a bite from a poisonous species,” said St. John Ambulance Operations Manager Craig Garraway.

    In fact, it was a Western Brown, considered to be one of Australia’s most dangerous snakes.

    Berry reportedly picked up the snake because it was edging close to a group of children who were playing near the field.

  • Australia Claims To Have Nabbed LulzSec Leader, Anonymous Says They Nabbed A Troll

    Just last week, a member of LulzSec was sentenced for his part in the Sony Pictures hack in 2011 that saw information from the site being spread across the Internet. Now Australia says it’s nabbed another member of the notorious hacking group.

    The Australian Federal Police announced yesterday evening that they arrested Matt Flannery, a 24-year-old IT professional from Point Claire. The police allege that he attacked and defaced a government Web site earlier in the month. Interestingly enough, the police also say that he’s a “self-proclaimed leader” of LulzSec.

    The police say Flannery used his position within an IT company to hack a number of clients. The police also warned that he would have attacked more Web sites had he stayed employed with the company.

    Flannery faces two counts of unauthorized modification of data to cause impairment and one count of unauthorized access to, or modification of, restricted data. The police note that the maximum penalty for the former is 10 years and 2 years for the latter.

    What’s interesting about all of this is that the police say he’s a “self-proclaimed leader” of LulzSec. Members of Anonymous and others have come out on Twitter to dispute this claim:

    As an added bonus, Gizmodo AU dug up this video of the alleged LulzSec “leader” singing along to Grease:

    [h/t: BBC]

  • Ella Fitzgerald Gets Some Google Doodle Love

    Google has begun to show a doodle honoring Ella Fitzgerald on its homepage in regions where the date has already changed to April 25th. Thursday would have been her 96th birthday.

    This excludes Australia and New Zealand, as Google chooses to honor Anzac Day instead, with a small flower image:

    Anzac Day

    Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance in these countries, commemorating Australians and New Zealanders who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations.

    Google is sometimes criticized for its choice of doodles when it falls on the same day as another significant day in history. For example, Google celebrated the opening of the first drive-in theater last year, some people complained that Google chose this over a D Day doodle, but Google has indicated various times that it likes to keep doodles more about upbeat kinds of events. That’s probably why the company elected to go with the simple flower rather than a full-on doodle for Anzac Day.

    Elsewhere in the world, however, it’s about Ella Fitzgerald’s birthday. She was born on April 25, 1917, and died on June 15, 1996 at the age of 79. She is commonly known as the “First Lady of Song” and the “Queen of Jazz”.

    The Fitzgerald doodle can currently be seen at Google.com.fj, and no doubt on other Google international properties as the hours move forward.

  • Thief Smashes Through Glass Door at Full Speed [VIDEO]

    If you’re like me, you’ll never get tired of idiot criminals doing idiotic things. This bag thief definitely fits the bill, running through a glass door at full speed in his attempt to flee the scene.

    According to The Telegraph, what you’re seeing is from Perth, Australia. Our thief was able to make an escape, even after flying through the glass at full speed. According to reports, he had a getaway driver waiting nearby in a stolen car.

    Police have apparently released the video in the hopes of identifying the man.

  • April Fools’ Prank Lets You Renovate Your House On Street View [Google SCHMICK]

    Google, as usual, has plenty of April Fools’ pranks today. One that Google revealed on the Google Australia blog promises to let you renovate your house on Street View with “Google SCHMICK” .

    “Now you can give your house a lick of fresh paint for free on Street View with Google SCHMICK (Simple Complete House Makeover Internet Conversion Kit),” writes Google Apps manager Andrew Mitchell. “Forgot to mow the nature strip? Deck it out with some fresh buffalo grass. Front steps falling down? Swap them out for doric columns and a pergola. Graffiti on the front fence? Cover it with so many palm trees people will think they’re on the Vegas strip.”

    “Feeling patriotic? Why not fly the Australian flag, leave some lamingtons out for Skippy or permanently switch on ‘Night View’ to place the Southern Cross directly above your inner city terrace. Perhaps, you’ll choose to add in a sheep or two and a kangaroo like Uncle Burke, throw in a miniature replica of Coffs Harbour’s Big Banana, or ‘go international’ and throw the Big Ben on top of that new second story you’ve just added to your house,” writes Mitchell.

    This one actually is an April Fools’ prank. Google has gone to greater lengths with some of its April Fools’ offerings. You can actually use Google Nose (to some extent), for example. They made a game out of Google Maps Treasure Mode. The SCHMICK landing page, however, is just a message letting you know what day it is.

  • Store Charges $5 Browsing Fee to Combat Showrooming

    Store Charges $5 Browsing Fee to Combat Showrooming

    In order to combat showrooming, one Brisbane, Australia store is taking to some rather extreme measures.

    The store is now charging people a $5 “just looking” fee in the hopes of deterring them from using the store as a physical showroom, and then running off to buy the same products online.

    If the customer ends up buying something, the $5 fee is waived.

    “There has been high volume of people who use this store as a reference and then purchase goods elsewhere. These people are unaware our prices are almost the same as the other stores plus we have products simply not available anywhere else. This policy is in line with many other clothing, shoe, and electronic stores who are also facing the same issue.”

    The sign went viral on reddit, as user BarrettFox said that “when they open tomorrow I’m going to see how many times I can walk in and out without paying the toll.”

    AdelaideNow tracked down the specific store, which happens to be a Celiac supplies store in Coorparoo, a suburb of Brisbane. The owner of the store, which sells gluten-free products, says that she was tired of “spending hours each week giving advice to people who leave empty-handed.”

    She claims that around 60 people a week would come in, browse, ask her questions, and then leave to buy the product online (she assumes).

    “I can tell straight away who are the rat bags who are going to come in here and pick my brain and disappear,” she said.

    Many business owners, from companies as large as Best Buy to small businesses like this one, can surely relate to the frustrations of seeing people use their store as a testing ground for Amazon. But on the other hand, if you have competitive prices and hard-to-find products, do you really need to be charging a $5-a-head browsing fee?

    Pissed off at people for showrooming or not, it simply seems like bad business any way you look at it.

    [h/t BoingBoing]

  • Chromebooks Are Now Available In Six More Countries

    Chromebooks Are Now Available In Six More Countries

    Chromebooks are slowly making their way around the world as Google introduces more consumers to its idea of what personal computing should look like. Now consumers, schools and businesses in six more countries can take advantage of the affordable computing provided by Chromebook.

    Google announced today that Chromebooks are now available for purchase in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland and The Netherlands. Consumers can go ahead and pick up a new Chromebook from Google itself or a licensed reseller today.

    The Chromebooks available for purchase today include those from Acer, HP and Samsung. It’s not immediately clear if the $1,300 Chromebook Pixel will be available in these countries as well.

    As for schools and businesses, Google expects that those organizations may have some questions. For schools, Google in Education will be hosting a number of Hangouts next week to address any questions or concerns schools may have with the Chromebooks for Education program:

  • Australia – Event on March 28th at 10:00 EST
  • Canada – Event on March 28th at 14:00 EDT
  • France – Event on March 29th at 16:00 CET
  • Germany – Event on March 28th at 17:00 CET
  • Ireland – Event on March 26th at 17:00 GMT
  • The Netherlands – Event on March 27th at 17:00 CET

    • Most of today’s news may be focused on Europe, Oceania and our neighbor up north, but Google has a small announcement for the U.S. Chromebook market as well. Starting today, Chromebooks will be available in 1,000 more Best Buy stores around the country for those who prefer to still buy computers at retail stores.

  • Australian Miners Fired for Harlem Shake Video [REPORT]

    According to one Australian mining outfit, doing the Harlem Shake on the job is a fireable offense.

    ABC News is reporting that at least 15 miners at the Agnew Gold mine in Western Australia were canned after posting their own version of the Harlem Shake to YouTube. The 15 fired miners include participants in the video as well as those who simply watched it take place.

    According to Barminco, the company that runs the mine, the Harlem Shake constituted at safety hazard and did not represent the company’s “core values of safety, integrity and excellence.”

    You can watch the totally innocuous underground Harlem Shake below and decide if you think it deserved this kind of response:

    Not only were the miners fired from their current gig, but Barminco also banned the workers from being “subcontracted by Barminco at any site domestically and globally.”

    All of this for 30 seconds of (admittedly ridiculous) fun.

    If you think that the firing was a little over the top, you can express your support for the miners on the Reinstate the sacked WA Harlem Shake Miners Facebook page.

  • Julian Assange Forms Wikileaks Party, Runs For Australian Senate Seat

    Early last year, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange found that he could technically run for the Australian senate while under house arrest in London. A lot has happened since then, but Assange’s political aspirations have not diminished.

    The Age reports that Julian Assange will be on the ballot for thet Australian Senate in Victoria come election time on September 14. He has been registered under the Wikileaks Party, a newly formed political party comprised of 10 close friends of Assange and pro-Wikileaks activists.

    The newly formed party, according to Assange’s father John Shipton, will be focused on “the democratic requirement of truthfulness from government.” It’s obviously a very Wikileaks-centric platform, but the party has yet to mention how it will use this to appeal to voters who probably have more than just government secrets on the mind.

    So, how does this all work? Assange is currently holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London as he evades a state mandated extradition to Sweden. The Age explains that Assange is eligible as an overseas elector:

    Australian citizens living overseas can enrol to vote as an overseas elector, and consequently run as a Senate candidate if they left Australia within the past three years and intend to return within six years of their date of departure.

    The rules make Assange eligible to run, but there’s a very real possibility that he would not be able to return to Australia even if he did win. If that turns out to be the case, he will appoint a Wikileaks party nominee to the seat.

    This is a strage, but not unexpected, turn of events. Assange may just be popular enough to win the election in September. If it’s successful, we may just start seeing Wikileaks parties popping up in countries all over the world, especially Europe. The continent has already seen an increase of applications for the alternative Pirate Party, which has already won a number of seats in various levels of government across Europe.

  • Google Wins Six-Year Legal Battle Over Ads In Australia

    Google has won a legal battle against the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) after six years in court. The ACCC had alleged that Google enaged in “misleading and deceptive” practices, when displaying ads for a company called CarSales for search results related to Honda Australia. The group believed this to be a violation of Australia’s Trade Practices Act 1974.

    The Federal Court had ruled against Google last spring, but Google appealed, and on Wednesday, five judges in Australia’s High Court unanimously ruled that Google was not in violation. CNET shares a quote from the court:

    “At first instance, the primary judge found that although the impugned representations were misleading and deceptive, those representations had not been made by Google,” the court said. “Ordinary and reasonable members of the relevant class of consumers who might be affected by the alleged conduct would have understood that sponsored links were advertisements and would not have understood Google to have endorsed or to have been responsible in any meaningful way for the content of those advertisements.”

    ACCC Chairman Rod Sims had this to say:

    “The ACCC took these proceedings to clarify the law relating to advertising practices in the internet age. Specifically, we considered that providers of online content should be accountable for misleading or deceptive conduct when they have significant control over what is delivered.”

    “The High Court’s decision focused only on Google’s conduct. In the facts and circumstances of this case the High Court has determined that Google did not itself engage in misleading or deceptive conduct. It was not disputed in the High Court that the representations made in sponsored links by advertisers were misleading or deceptive. It remains the case that all businesses involved in placing advertisements on search engines must take care not to mislead or deceive consumers.”

    As Reuters reports, a search for “Honda Australia” on Wednesday returned ads for Honda Australia’s site.

    Google put to a bed a similar case with Rosetta Stone a few months ago, after three years in court. However, that did not come down to a ruling, but an agreement between Rosetta Stone and Google to dismiss the suit and collaborate to combat ads that abuse trademark.

  • Humans Wiped Out Tiger, Not Disease, Shows Study

    A new study from the University of Adelaide has shown that humans, not diseases, were responsible for the extinction of the Tasmanian tiger.

    The Tasmanian tiger, also known as thylacine, was a marsupial carnivore found in Tasmania until the species went extinct in the 1930s. According to researchers, the Tasmanian government encouraged the hunting of the animals from 1886 until 1909, paying bounties for thylacine carcasses. The last known wild Tasmanian tiger was captured in 1933.

    “Many people, however, believe that bounty hunting alone could not have driven the thylacine extinct and therefore claim that an unknown disease epidemic must have been responsible,” said Thomas Prowse, leader of the project and a research associate at the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences and the Environment Institute. “We tested this claim by developing a ‘metamodel’ – a network of linked species models – that evaluated whether the combined impacts of Europeans could have exterminated the thylacine, without any disease.”

    The researchers used a modified version of mathematical models developed by conservation biologists to simulate extinction risks to populations of endangered species, called a population viability analysis (PVA). Prowse and his colleagues added species interactions to the normal PVA model.

    “The new model simulated the directs effects of bounty hunting and habitat loss and, importantly, also considered the indirect effects of a reduction in the thylacine’s prey (kangaroos and wallabies) due to human harvesting and competition from millions of introduced sheep,” said Prowse. “We found we could simulate the thylacine extinction, including the observed rapid population crash after 1905, without the need to invoke a mystery disease. We showed that the negative impacts of European settlement were powerful enough that, even without any disease epidemic, the species couldn’t escape extinction.”

    (Image via Wikimedia Commons)

  • Python On Plane Wing Is Your WTF Story Of The Day [Video]

    I promise not to make any stupid “Snakes on a Plane” jokes. A Python was spotted on the wing of a Quantas Airways plane during a two-hour flight from Cairns, Australia to Papua New Guinea.

    According to The Sydney Morning Herald, the serpent was spotted by a passenger about 20 minutes into the flight, in an incident that more closely resembles a famous Twilight Zone episode than the Samuel L. Jackson film.

    In other news, Snakes on a Plane director David R. Ellis died this week. Unfortunately, that’s not a joke.

  • Milky Way Galaxy “Geysers” Spotted

    A team of astronomers has detected detected huge outflows of charged particles streaming out of the center of our galaxy, the Milky Way. The outflows were detected using the CSIRO’s Parkes radio telescope in Australia, and the new research has been published today in the journal Nature.

    “These outflows contain an extraordinary amount of energy – about a million times the energy of an exploding star,” said Ettore Carretti, the CSIRO research team’s leader. The CSIRO, or Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, is Australia’s national science agency.

    The particles are streaming out of the galactic center at 1000 kilometers per second.

    That’s fast, even for astronomers,” said Carretti. “They are not coming in our direction, but go up and down from the Galactic Plane. We are 30,000 light-years away from the galactic center, in the plane. They are no danger to us.”

    Astronomers have shown that the outflows cover around two-thirds of the sky, from horizon to horizon. The radiation from the outflows also corresponds to previously-measured microwave emissions and gamma-ray emissions measured by NASA’s Fermi telescope in 2010. Those measurements were not enough to determine the source of the radiation, but the new Parkes observations, by measuring the polarization of the outflows, have provided evidence that the radiation is from the galactic center.

    “The options were a quasar-like outburst from the black hole at the Galactic Center, or star-power – the hot winds from young stars, and exploding stars,” said Gianni Bernardi a research team member at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. “Our observations tell us it’s star-power.”

    According to astronomers, the outflows have been created by generations of stars that have formed and exploded near the galactic center in the past 100 million years. Taken as a whole, the outflows extend 50,000 light-years out of the galactic plane.