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======================================================================
Slashdot Daily Newsletter
In this issue:
* Will Silicon Valley Run Out of Data Center Space?
* Google Two Years Into Overhaul of the Google File System
* Parents Baffled By Science Questions
* Why the UK Needs the Pirate Party
* World's First Formally-Proven OS Kernel
* EFF Says Burning Man Usurps Digital Rights
* US Colleges Say Hiring US Students a Bad Deal
* Wikipedia Approaches Its Limits
* AMD's Phenom II 965, 3.4GHz, 140 Watts, $245
* China Ditches Compulsory Green Dam Plans
* Open Textbooks Win Over Publishers In CA
* Guitar, Studio Wizard Les Paul Dies At 94
* Yahoo Revives Pay-per-email, With Charitable Twist
* Making the Case That Virtual Property Is a Bad Idea
* $18M Contract For Transparency Website Released — But Blacked Out
* Local Privilege Escalation On All Linux Kernels
* Why Should I Trust My Network Administrator?
* Mixed Conclusions About Powerline Networking vs. Ham Radio
* A Planet That Orbits Its Star the Wrong Way
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Will Silicon Valley Run Out of Data Center Space? |
| from the demand-and-demand dept. |
| posted by samzenpus on Wednesday August 12, @20:24 (Data Storage)|
| http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/08/12/2227215 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]1sockchuck writes "With capital scarce, data center developers are
prioritizing projects in northern Virginia, where the Obama stimulus plan
and federal shift to cloud computing are likely to boost data center
demand from government agencies. This is forcing them to delay or scale
back large projects in Santa Clara, setting the stage for [1]a
supply/demand imbalance in Silicon Valley, particularly for large space
requirements. One potential mitigating factor: some currently occupied
data center space could become available through the failure of
venture-backed startups."
Discuss this story at:
http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/08/12/2227215
Links:
0. http://www.gamehostingguide.com/
1. http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2009/08/12/a-data-center-shortage-for-silicon-valley/
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Google Two Years Into Overhaul of the Google File System |
| from the we-can-make-it-better dept. |
| posted by samzenpus on Wednesday August 12, @22:27 (Google) |
| http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/08/13/0031202 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]El Reg writes "As its ten-year-old file system ��� GFS ��� struggles to
keep up with Gmail, YouTube, and other apps it was never designed to
support, Google is [1]brewing a replacement. According to the company,
it's [2]two years into a GFS sequel designed specifically for
customer-facing apps that require ultra low latency."
Discuss this story at:
http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/08/13/0031202
Links:
0. mailto:cmetz@theregister.com
1. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/08/12/google_file_system_part_deux/
2. http://queue.acm.org/detail.cfm?id=1594206
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Parents Baffled By Science Questions |
| from the don't-get-smart-with-me dept. |
| posted by samzenpus on Thursday August 13, @00:57 (Education) |
| http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/08/13/0141219 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]Pickens writes "The BBC reports that four out of five parents living
in the UK have been [1]stumped by a science question posed by their
children with the top three most-asked questions: 'Where do babies come
from?', 'What makes a rainbow?' and 'Why is the sky blue?'. The survey
was carried out to mark the launch of a new website by the Department for
Business, Innovation and Skills called [2]Science: So what? So everything."
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/08/13/0141219
Links:
0. http://hughpickens.com/
1. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/8195805.stm
2. http://sciencesowhat.direct.gov.uk/
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Why the UK Needs the Pirate Party |
| from the representative-piracy dept. |
| posted by samzenpus on Thursday August 13, @03:42 (Censorship) |
| http://politics.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/08/13/0146258 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]Barence writes "The UK Pirate Party wants to reform copyright and
patent laws, abolish the surveillance state and increase our freedom of
speech, and [1]it's just been recognized as a political party. In this
interview with PC Pro, UK Pirate Party leader Andrew Robinson explains
how he's [2]planning to shake up the political landscape. 'What we really
want to do is raise awareness, so that the other parties say "bloody
hell, they've got seven million votes this time out," or one million
votes, or enough votes to make them care and seriously think about these
issues.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://politics.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/08/13/0146258
Links:
0. http://www.pcpro.co.uk/
1. http://www.pirateparty.org.uk/blog/2009/aug/11/party-registered/
2. http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/interviews/350728/q-a-why-the-uk-needs-the-pirate-party
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| World's First Formally-Proven OS Kernel |
| from the wait-for-it dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Thursday August 13, @07:57 (Operating Syst|
| http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/08/13/0827231 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
An anonymous reader writes "Operating systems usually have bugs ��� the
'blue screen of death,' the Amiga Hand, and so forth are known by almost
everyone. NICTA's team of researchers has managed to [0]prove that a
particular OS kernel is guaranteed to meet its specification. It is
fully, formally verified, and as such it exceeds the Common Criteria's
highest level of assurance. The researchers used an executable
specification written in Haskell, C code that mapped to the Haskell, and
the Isabelle theorem prover to generate a machine-checked proof that the
C code in the kernel matches the executable and the formal specification
of the system." Does it run Linux? "[1]We're pleased to say that it does.
Presently, we have a para-virtualized version of Linux running on top of
the (unverified) x86 port of seL4. There are plans to port Linux to the
verified ARM version of seL4 as well." [2]Further technical details are
available from NICTA's website.
Discuss this story at:
http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/08/13/0827231
Links:
0. http://www.theengineer.co.uk/Articles/312631/Safer+software.htm
1. http://ertos.nicta.com.au/research/l4.verified/faq.pml
2. http://ertos.nicta.com.au/research/l4.verified/
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| EFF Says Burning Man Usurps Digital Rights |
| from the free-spirit-for-a-price dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Thursday August 13, @08:43 (Privacy) |
| http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/08/13/1214244 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]Hugh Pickens writes "In a few weeks, tens of thousands of creative
people will make their yearly pilgrimage to Nevada's Black Rock desert
for [1]Burning Man, an annual art event and temporary community
celebrating radical self expression, self-reliance, creativity and
freedom, but EFF reports that the event's Terms and Conditions include 'a
remarkable bit of legal sleight-of-hand.' As soon as 'any third party
displays or disseminates' your photos or videos in a manner that the
Burning Man Organization (BMO) doesn't like, [2]those photos or videos
become the property of the BMO. BMO's Terms and Conditions also limits
your own rights to use your own photos and videos on any public websites
obliging you to [3]take down any photos to which BMO objects, for any
reason; and forbidding you from allowing anyone else to reuse your
photos. This 'we automatically own all your stuff' magic appears to be
creative lawyering intended to allow the BMO to use the streamlined
'notice and takedown' process enshrined in the Digital Millennium
Copyright Act (DMCA) to quickly remove photos from the Internet giving
BMO the power of fast and easy online censorship. 'Burning Man strives to
celebrate our individuality, creativity and free spirit,' writes Corynne
McSherry. 'Unfortunately, the fine print on the tickets doesn't live up
to that aspiration.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/08/13/1214244
Links:
0. http://hughpickens.com/slashdot/
1. http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/4.11/burningman_pr.html
2. http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/08/snatching-rights-playa
3. http://tickets2.burningman.com/info.php?i=2386
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| US Colleges Say Hiring US Students a Bad Deal |
| from the talking-to-you-cliff dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Thursday August 13, @09:27 (Education) |
| http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/08/13/137252 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]theodp writes "Many US colleges and universities have notices posted
on their websites informing US companies that they're tax chumps if they
hire students who are US citizens. 'In fact, a company may save money by
hiring international students because the majority of them are exempt
from Social Security (FICA) and Medicare tax requirements,' [1]advises
the taxpayer-supported University of Pittsburgh (pdf) as it makes the
case against hiring its own US students. You'll find identical pitches
made by the [2]University of Delaware, the [3]University of Cincinnati,
[4]Kansas State University, the [5]University of Southern California, the
[6]University of Wisconsin, [7]Iowa State University, and other public
colleges and universities. The same message is also echoed by private
schools, such as [8]John Hopkins University, [9]Brown University,
[10]Rollins College and [11]Loyola University Chicago."
Discuss this story at:
http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/08/13/137252
Links:
0. mailto:theodp@aol.com
1. http://www.ois.pitt.edu/pdf/HiringInternationalStudents.pdf
2. http://www.udel.edu/CSC/pdfs/Hiring-Int-Students.pdf
3. http://www.isso.uc.edu/forms/pdf/HiringIntlStudents/VisaInfoStudents_June08.pdf
4. http://www.k-state.edu/ces/employers/internationalstudents.htm
5. http://www.usc.edu/student-affairs/OIS/Service/career/employer.html
6. http://iss.wisc.edu/intemployer.html
7. http://www.business.iastate.edu/files/careers/documents/What_Employers_Should_Know_rev1.pdf
8. http://carey.jhu.edu/partners_employers/careerservices/recruit/hiring_international_students.html
9. http://www.brown.edu/Administration/OISSS/general_info/docs/what_employers_should_know.pdf
10. http://tars.rollins.edu/int-students/InformationforEmployers.shtml
11. http://www.luc.edu/bcc/employers_IntFAQs.shtml
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Wikipedia Approaches Its Limits |
| from the time-to-start-over-i-guess dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Thursday August 13, @10:09 (The Internet) |
| http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/08/13/1310228 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]Reservoir Hill writes "The Guardian reports that a study by Ed H Chi
demonstrates that the [1]character of Wikipedia has changed significantly
since Wikipedia's first burst of activity between 2004 and 2007. While
the encyclopedia is still growing overall, the number of articles being
added has reduced from an average of 2,200 a day in July 2007 to around
1,300 today while at the same time, the base of highly active editors has
remained more or less static. Chi's team discovered that the way the site
operates had changed significantly from the early days, when it ran an
open-door policy that allowed in anyone with the time and energy to
dedicate to the project. Today, they discovered, a stable group of
high-level editors has become increasingly responsible for controlling
the encyclopedia, while casual contributors and editors are falling away.
'We found that if you were an elite editor, the chance of your edit being
reverted was something in the order of 1% ��� and that's been very
consistent over time from around 2003 or 2004,' says Chi. 'For editors
that make between two and nine edits a month, the percentage of their
edits being reverted had gone from 5% in 2004 all the way up to about 15%
by October 2008. And the 'onesies' ��� people who only make one edit a
month ��� their edits are now being reverted at a 25% rate.' While Chi
points out that this does not necessarily imply causation, he suggests it
is concrete evidence to back up what many people have been saying: that
it is increasingly difficult to enjoy contributing to Wikipedia unless
you are part of the site's inner core of editors. Wikipedia's growth
pattern suggests that it is [2]becoming like a community where resources
have started to run out. 'As you run out of food, people start competing
for that food, and that results in a slowdown in population growth and
means that the stronger, more well-adapted part of the population starts
to have more power.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/08/13/1310228
Links:
0. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Reservoirhill
1. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/aug/12/wikipedia-deletionist-inclusionist
2. http://asc-parc.blogspot.com/2009/07/part-1-slowing-growth-of-wikipedia-some.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| AMD's Phenom II 965, 3.4GHz, 140 Watts, $245 |
| from the less-is-more dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Thursday August 13, @10:50 (AMD) |
| http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/08/13/1431209 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
Vigile writes "While AMD does not have the muscle to push around the i7,
they certainly have the ability to give the older and more common Core 2
Quads a run for their money. With [0]the release of the Phenom II X4 965,
AMD further attempts to dethrone the Core 2 Quad as the premier midrange
CPU offering. While it may not be a world-beater by any stretch of the
imagination, it certainly is catching Intel's attention in the
breadbasket of the CPU market. The X4 965 is the fastest clocked
processor that AMD has ever produced, much less shipped in mass
quantities. While the speed bump is appreciated, the cost in terms of
power and heat will make the introduction of the X4 965 problematic for
some. Many of us thought that we would never see another 140 watt
processor (as the Phenom 9950 was), but unfortunately those days are
back. Still, AMD offers a compelling part at a reasonable price, and
their motherboard support for this new 140 watt processor is robust."
Discuss this story at:
http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/08/13/1431209
Links:
0. http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=762
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| China Ditches Compulsory Green Dam Plans |
| from the well-that's-something-then dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Thursday August 13, @11:33 (Censorship) |
| http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/08/13/1434210 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
scrubl writes "China has ditched plans to force foreign and domestic
computer manufacturers [0] to install internet filtering technology in
computers sold inside its borders. The Chinese government paid $5.85m to
develop the software called Green Dam and claimed it was being installed
to stop access to porn on computers and protect children. China's
industry and information technology minister, Li Yizhong said
manufacturers, internet users and organisations opposed to the plans had
received the wrong message from his department and that installation was
never planned to be compulsory."
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/08/13/1434210
Links:
0. http://www.itnews.com.au/News/152924,china-ditches-compulsory-green-dam-plans.aspx
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Open Textbooks Win Over Publishers In CA |
| from the now-put-them-in-a-wiki dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Thursday August 13, @12:18 (Education) |
| http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/08/13/1450220 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]Unequivocal writes "Recently California's Governor announced a [1]free
digital textbook competition. The [2]results of that competition were
announced today. Many traditional publishers submitted textbooks in this
digital textbook competition in CA as well as open publishers. An upstart
nonprofit organization named [3]CK-12 contributed a number of textbooks
(all free and open source material). 'Of the 16 free digital textbooks
for high school math and science reviewed, ten meet at least 90 percent
of California's standards. Four meet 100 percent of standards.' Three of
those recognized as 100% aligned to California standards were from CK-12
and one from H. Jerome Keisler. None of the publisher's submissions were
so recognized. CK-12 has a very small staff, so this is a great proof of
the power of open textbooks and open educational resources."
Discuss this story at:
http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/08/13/1450220
Links:
0. mailto:public@misuse.org
1. http://gov.ca.gov/press-release/12225/
2. http://gov.ca.gov/press-release/12996/
3. http://www.ck12.org/
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Guitar, Studio Wizard Les Paul Dies At 94 |
| from the he-will-be-missed dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Thursday August 13, @13:22 (Hardware Hackin|
| http://entertainment.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/08/13/1716255|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
beeshman noted that [0]Les Paul has died. Paul was quite the [1]hardware
hacker of his day, innovating with guitar hardware, and later multi track
recording. The Gibson Les Paul is one of the single most iconic
instruments associated with Rock 'n Roll, and was of course [2]played by
Pete Townshend. Someday I'm going to get me one.
Discuss this story at:
http://entertainment.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/08/13/1716255
Links:
0. http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Music/08/13/obit.les.paul/index.html
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Paul
2. http://www.thewho.net/whotabs/lpdeluxe.htm
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Yahoo Revives Pay-per-email, With Charitable Twist |
| from the penny-post-sans-post dept. |
| posted by timothy on Thursday August 13, @14:12 (Spam) |
| http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/08/13/1716205 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]holy_calamity writes "Yahoo research have started a private beta of a
scheme that resurrects the idea of [1]charging people to send email to
cut spam. [2]Centmail users pay $0.01 for each message they send, with
the money going to a charity of their choice. The hope is that the feel
good effect of donating to charity will reduce the perceived cost of
paying for mail and encourage mass adoption, making it possible for mail
filters to build in recognition of Centmail stamps."
Discuss this story at:
http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/08/13/1716205
Links:
0. http://www.newscientist.com/
1. http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17577-payperemail-plan-to-beat-spam-and-help-charity.html
2. http://centmail.net/
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Making the Case That Virtual Property Is a Bad Idea |
| from the contrarians-just-can't-get-along dept. |
| posted by timothy on Thursday August 13, @15:07 (The Courts) |
| http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/08/13/1821203 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
pacergh writes "Many legal commentaries on virtual property [0]argue that
[1]it should exist. Others [2]argue why [3]it can exist. None seem to
explicitly spell out what virtual property will look like or how it will
affect online worlds. Lost in the technology love-fest are the problems
virtual property might bring. [4]The Virtual Property Problem lays out a
model for what virtual property might look like and then applies it to
various scenarios. This highlights the problems of carving virtual
property out of a game developer's rights in his creation. From the
abstract: '"Virtual property" is a solution looking for a problem.' The
article explains the 'failure of property rights to benefit the users,
developers, and virtual resources of virtual worlds.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/08/13/1821203
Links:
0. http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=807966
1. http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=402860
2. http://jolt.law.harvard.edu/articles/v20.php
3. http://new.stjohns.edu/academics/graduate/law/journals/lawreview/issues/80_3/Chein.stj
4. http://works.bepress.com/john_nelson/3/
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| $18M Contract For Transparency Website Released — But Blacked|
| from the but-don't-worry-government-health-care-will-be-cheap dep|
| posted by timothy on Thursday August 13, @15:59 (Government) |
| http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/08/13/195235 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]zokuga writes "The US government recently approved an $18 million
contract for Smartronix to build a website where taxpayers could easily
track billions in federal stimulus money, as part of President Obama's
[1]promise to make government more transparent through the Internet.
However, the contract, which was released only through repeated Freedom
of Information Act requests, [2]is itself heavily blacked out. ProPublica
reports: 'After weeks of prodding by ProPublica and other organizations,
the Government Services Agency released copies of the contract and
related documents that are so heavily blacked out they are virtually
worthless. In all, 25 pages of a 59-page technical proposal ��� the main
document in the package ��� were redacted completely. Of the remaining
pages, 14 had half or more of their content blacked out.' Sections that
were heavily or entirely redacted dealt with subjects such as site
navigation, user experience, and [3]everything in the pricing table. The
entire contract, [4]in all its blacked-out glory, is here."
Discuss this story at:
http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/08/13/195235
Links:
0. http://propublica.org/
1. http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/TransparencyandOpenGovernment/
2. http://www.propublica.org/ion/stimulus/item/stimulus-transparency-watchdogs-keep-contract-details-a-secret-813
3. http://documents.propublica.org/recovery-gov-contract-documents/page/103#p=103
4. http://documents.propublica.org/recovery-gov-contract-documents#p=1
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Local Privilege Escalation On All Linux Kernels |
| from the uriah-deems-it-scary dept. |
| posted by timothy on Thursday August 13, @16:54 (Security) |
| http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/08/13/2022212 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
QuesarVII writes "Tavis Ormandy and Julien Tinnes have discovered a
[0]severe security flaw in all 2.4 and 2.6 kernels since 2001 on all
architectures. 'Since it leads to the kernel executing code at NULL, the
vulnerability is as trivial as it can get to exploit: an attacker can
just put code in the first page that will get executed with kernel
privileges.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://linux.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/08/13/2022212
Links:
0. http://blog.cr0.org/2009/08/linux-null-pointer-dereference-due-to.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Why Should I Trust My Network Administrator? |
| from the hire-two-and-aim-them-at-each-other dept. |
| posted by timothy on Thursday August 13, @17:49 (Businesses) |
| http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/08/13/2016208 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
Andrew writes "I'm a manager at a startup, and decided recently to
outsource to an outside IT firm to set up a network domain and file
server. Trouble is, they (and all other IT companies we could find)
insist on administering it all remotely. They now obviously have full
access to all our data and PCs, and I'm concerned they could steal all
our intellectual property, source code and customers. Am I being overly
paranoid and resistant to change? Should we just trust our administrator
because they have a reputation to uphold? Or should we lock them out and
make them administer the network in person so we can stand behind and
watch them?"
Discuss this story at:
http://ask.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/08/13/2016208
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Mixed Conclusions About Powerline Networking vs. Ham Radio |
| from the absolutely-nzzzzbzzzzbzzzzz- dept. |
| posted by timothy on Thursday August 13, @18:52 (Wireless Network|
| http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/08/13/2249212 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]Barence writes "Since writing about the success he's had with
powerline networking, a number of readers emailed PC Pro's Paul Ockendon
to castigate him for recommending these products, such as HomePlug. They
were all amateur radio enthusiasts, claiming the products affect their
hobby in much the same way that urban lighting affects amateur
astronomers, but rather than causing light pollution they claim powerline
networking causes radio pollution in the HF band (otherwise known as
shortwave). Paul's follow-up feature, '[1]Does powerline networking nuke
radio hams?' documents his investigation into these claims, which found
evidence to support both sides of an intriguing debate."
Discuss this story at:
http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/08/13/2249212
Links:
0. http://www.pcpro.co.uk/
1. http://www.pcpro.co.uk/realworld/350648/does-powerline-networking-nuke-radio-hams
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| A Planet That Orbits Its Star the Wrong Way |
| from the didn't-get-the-memo dept. |
| posted by timothy on Thursday August 13, @19:57 (Space) |
| http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/08/13/2353252 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]Smivs writes "BBC News is reporting that astronomers have discovered
the first [1]planet that orbits in the opposite direction to the spin of
its star. Planets form out of the same swirling gas cloud that creates a
star, so they are expected to orbit in the same direction that the star
rotates. The new planet is thought to have been flung into its
'retrograde' orbit by a close encounter with either another planet or
with a passing star. The work has been submitted to the Astrophysical
Journal for publication. Co-author Coel Hellier, from Keele University in
Staffordshire, UK, said planets with retrograde orbits were thought to be
rare. 'With everything [in the star system] swirling around the same way
and the star spinning the same way, you have to do quite a lot to it to
make it go in the opposite direction.' Professor Hellier said a
near-collision was probably responsible for this planet's unusual orbit.
'If you have a near-collision, then you'll have a large gravitational
slingshot from that interaction,' he explained. 'This is the likeliest
explanation. But it might be possible you can do it by gradually
perturbing the orbit through the influence of a second planet. So far, we
haven't found any evidence of a second planet there.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/08/13/2353252
Links:
0. http://www.smivsonline.co.uk/
1. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8197683.stm
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