SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
For the first time a powerful laser has been used to further our understanding of some of the most mysterious celestial objects just beyond the solar system - brown dwarfs.
Despite being discovered 20 years ago, very little is known about brown dwarfs – notably why they fail to grow into stars. Scientists say part of the answer probably lies in the physics of how dense plasmas merge inside them. Now researchers, led by the York Plasma Institute at the University of York and the UK's Science and Technology Facilities Council's (STFC) Central Laser Facility, have created "lumps" of plasma to recreate the conditions similar to those found deep inside brown dwarfs.
They were able to do this using one of the world's most powerful lasers, STFC's Vulcan Petawatt that is based at their Oxfordshire laser laboratory, to create the first test of resistivity and viscosity found in brown dwarfs.
Brown dwarfs bridge the gap between very low mass stars and planets and share characteristics with both. Despite being numerous across the immensity of space, these little "starlets" are hard to spot because they are small and cool in temperature so tend to be faint and difficult to record.
But by measuring the x-rays emitted from these objects, the researchers were able to build up a profile of how dense plasmas form inside brown dwarfs.
(Score: 2) by AnonymousCowardNoMore on Saturday November 07 2015, @12:19PM
Think of it as the other way around. Gravity creates a potential, so a system can have more potential in one configuration than in another. If the system moves between two configurations, the potential is realised in the form of e.g. kinetic energy or the kinetic energy is converted into potential energy.
Now let's go one step further to actually answer your question: A central theme of general relativity is that any energy is causes gravity. What we call "mass" is simply a measure of how much energy is sitting in one place. When you charge the batteries in your hipster-certified electric car, it becomes more massive (by a small amount). When you heat water in a sealed container, it becomes more massive and less massive again when you let it cool off. E = mc^2 applies everywhere. (Or E^2 = (mc^2)^2 + (pc)^2. Let's not get into details today.)