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Tycho Supernova
This supernova remnant is the result of a Type Ia supernova explosion, which was observed by Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe in 1572. 400 years later, the ejecta from that explosion has expanded to fill a bubble 55 light-years across. Low-energy X-rays (red) show expanding debris from the supernova explosion, while high energy X-rays (blue) show the blast wave - a shell of extremely energetic electrons.
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![The Origin of Mysterious, Dark-Skinned Blonds Discovered
Residents of the Solomon Islands in the Pacific have some of the darkest skin seen outside of Africa. They also have the highest occurrence of blond hair seen in any population outside of Europe. Now, researchers have found the single gene that explains these fair tresses.
A single mutation is responsible for almost half of the variation in Solomon Islanders’ hair color, the scientists reported Thursday (May 3) in the journal Science. Most strikingly, this gene mutation seems to have arisen in the Pacific, not been brought in by fair-haired Europeans intermarrying with islanders.
“[T]he human characteristic of blond hair arose independently in equatorial Oceania,” study researcher Eimear Kenny, a postodoctoral scholar at the Stanford University School of Medicine, said in a statement. “That’s quite unexpected and fascinating.”](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m3pt7e0dtp1qiev67o1_500.jpg)
The Origin of Mysterious, Dark-Skinned Blonds Discovered
Residents of the Solomon Islands in the Pacific have some of the darkest skin seen outside of Africa. They also have the highest occurrence of blond hair seen in any population outside of Europe. Now, researchers have found the single gene that explains these fair tresses.
A single mutation is responsible for almost half of the variation in Solomon Islanders’ hair color, the scientists reported Thursday (May 3) in the journal Science. Most strikingly, this gene mutation seems to have arisen in the Pacific, not been brought in by fair-haired Europeans intermarrying with islanders.
“[T]he human characteristic of blond hair arose independently in equatorial Oceania,” study researcher Eimear Kenny, a postodoctoral scholar at the Stanford University School of Medicine, said in a statement. “That’s quite unexpected and fascinating.”
