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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2014
PAGE 13A
SCIENCE
NASA awards $500,000 to supernova research
MICHAEL O'BRIEN/KANSAN
DALTON KINGERY
@DaltonKingeryNews
Dr. Adrian Melott, a professor of physics and astronomy, leads the KU Astrophysics Biology Working Group, which just received $500,000 from NASA to study the effects of a supernova occurring near Earth.
Of all the events that take place in the vast universe we live in, a supernova may be one of the most fascinating. These stellar explosions are the last breath of dying stars, and they release an amount of energy rivaling what the exploding star emitted throughout its entire lifespan, with the shock waves of the explosion traveling at up to 18,000 miles per second.
In May, NASA awarded a team of researchers $500,000 to fully assess the effects of a supernova occurring near Earth.
The group, named the KU Astrophysics Biology Working Group, is led by Adrian Melott, professor of physics and astronomy at the University. Melott, along with University alumni Andrew Overholt of MidAmerica Nazarene University and Brian Thomas of Washburn University, will analyze past evidence and computer models to produce the most detailed reports to date of the effects of a supernova within 30 lightyears of Earth.
Melott has been involved with supernovae research for some time, but did not begin working on this particular
project until he learned that his team had received funding.
"There's actual evidence that a supernova occurred nearby 2.5 million years ago," Melott said. "The research will help to understand any effects a supernova had in the past, which will tell us more about what could happen in the future."
"This is something that is important, and has relevance," said Ben Neuenswander, a member of the research support staff at the Specialized Chemistry Center who is assisting Melott with the research. "The research in general will answer questions
Before heading to the local nuclear fallout bunker, know that no supernovae are expected to occur near Earth anytime soon, but they occur two-to-three times every century within the Milky Way, making research into their possible effects on humankind necessary. Melott said in a press release that supernovae occurring within 30 light years of Earth, or the distance considered "Near-Earth," are only likely to occur every few hundred million years.
about what might happen if a supernova goes off near us. It could help us prepare for an event like that."
"Supernovae as events are really popular with the public, and supernova remnants are really beautiful," said Samantha Brunker, a senior from Kansas City, Mo., majoring in astronomy and physics. "I feel really proud that KU does so much top-notch research like this."
CHECK OUT THIS SUPER-NOVA VIDEO
CRIME
Edited by Sarah Kramer
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Members of the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department's Urban Search and Rescue team prepare to recover the body of Erin Corwin from an abandoned mine shaft near Twentynine Palms, Calif., on Sunday.
Sheriff says ex-Marine researched body disposal
ASSOCIATED PRESS
SANTA ANA, Calif. — A former Marine charged Tuesday with murder after the body of his alleged lover was found in an abandoned California mine shaft had been looking into how to dispose of a human body, a sheriff's investigator said.
Christopher Lee, 24, admitted conducting Internet searches on human body disposal, and a witness told detectives that Lee asked him "what was the best way to dispose of a human body," a sheriff's investigator wrote in a document filed in San Bernardino County Superior Court in support of an arrest warrant.
Lee was arrested Sunday in Anchorage, Alaska, a day after Corwin's body was spotted with a video camera down the 140-foot shaft on federal land near Twentynine Palms, where her husband, who was also a Marine, was stationed. Lee was scheduled to appear in an Alaska court Tuesday afternoon.
shaft. The head stamp from the casings matched those on casings found in Lee's vehicle and home, the document said.
In addition, 22-caliber fired casings and rebar were recovered from the scene where the body of 19-year-old Erin Cortwin was found late Saturday in an abandoned mine
ings. Her husband, Marine Cpl. Jonathan Corwin, reported her missing the next day.
Prosecutors in California charged Lee with murder with a special circumstance allegation of lying in wait, which enables them to potentially seek the death penalty, the San Bernardino County district attorney's office said in a statement.
Corwin was in the early stages of pregnancy when she disappeared on June 28, according to earlier court fil-
Erin Corwin's friend told investigators that Corwin and Lee were having an affair and that the unborn child might be Lee's, according to the earlier filings. Corwin told the friend that Lee was worried his wife might divorce him and prevent him from spending time with his child if she knew Corwin was pregnant, the papers say.
Corwin told her husband when she left that day that she was going to scout out hiking trails in Joshua Tree National Park that she and her mother could explore when her mother visited a few days later. But the friend showed authorities text messages that said Corwin was planning to go on a special hunting trip with Lee the day she disappeared.
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