Astronomers Solve Magnetic Fields Mystery

An anonymous reader writes "It is a long-standing and unsolved mystery why 80% of all planetary nebulae are not spherical. Theories suggest that magnetic fields play a role in shaping planetary nebulae. A team of astronomers from Germany has now discovered the first direct clue that magnetic fields might indeed create these remarkable shapes. Planetary nebulae are expanding gas shells that are ejected by Sun-like stars at the end of their lifetimes."

Comments

fp

[Anonymous Coward]

fpee

Scenarios.

[FireballX301]

Scenario 1: They are spherical. Yay.

Scenario 2: They are slightly off center. The universe spontaneously combusts.

Post

[Anonymous Coward]

I was drawn here to make first post...I think it was a sort of attraction that made me do it

That's nothing

[c0p0n]

I have a bigger and stinkier nebulae around me. And I *know* it's not spherical, after all it comes from an asymetric place...

The Magnetic Fields

[Anonymous Coward]

I had kind of hoped this story would explain why Stephin Merrit has to write so many songs that are so explicitely gay.

There is no mystery

[Anonymous Coward]

The Magnetic Fields are the most well-known of Stephin Merrit's musical projects and are best known for their 69 love songs album, which was longer than necessary. These german researchers could have figured that out by just searching on Google.

Here's a hint

[Anonymous Coward]

HE HIGHLIGHTS AT GAY AND LESBIAN FESTIVALS FOR A REASON

Gravity doesn't exist

[Anonymous Coward]

The Earth sucks!

Re:this about that

[drawfour]

A couple in the Hamptons has asked the same group of scientists to determine why socks dissapear in the dryer. Film at eleven.

This is a common misconception. The socks actually get lost in the WASHER, in the tiny groove underneath the spinner (I don't know what to call it) and the bottom of the washer. You dry your clothes, and you come out with an odd number of socks. At some other time (next load of laundry perhaps), the sock becomes dislodged, and you toss it into the dryer. Again, you have an odd number of socks, so you assume you lost another one. However, you've really just added one back.

I for one...

[Anonymous Coward]

I for one, welcome our new magnetic field overlords!

Re:More and more

[DarkSarin]

You are wrong. Facts are simply datum. It is a fact that the surface temperature of the sun is x billion degrees. That is a fact. A mere data point that can give us insight into the universe. It is also a fact that a pure water molecule is composed of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. These are facts.

What you probably meant was that there cannot be Laws, which are like theories in that they are based on research. Take the Laws of Thermodynamics. These are generally accepted as being inviolate. They don't necessarily dictate the means, but they do work. If what you say is true, then you would accept the possibility of getting more energy/mass out of a system than was put into it. Most physicists (if not all) would probably balk at such a conclusion.

I do agree, however, that the headline is misleading--nothing has been solved, we just found another data point (a "fact" if you will) in the grand scheme of things.

I personally subscribe to the line of thought that given INFINITE time, it is possible for humans to discover every detail of how every field of science works, and how all those fields are related. Essentially, given infinite time, we could then predict, with perfect accuracy, what will happen in the universe at any given point in the future, barring external intervention. I'm not sure if I extend this to perfectly predicting human behavior, since I do subscribe to the concept of agency (that is, I believe that humans have the ability to truly choose their own actions, and that they are not limited in those actions by genetic or biological factors). But given infinite time, I think even that is possible.

Just a few thoughts.