We present an abundance analysis based on high resolution spectra of 8 stars selected to span the full range in metallicity in the Draco dwarf spheroidal galaxy. We find [Fe/H] for the sample stars ranges from −1.5 to −3.0 dex. Combining our sample with previously published work for a total of 14 luminous Draco giants, we show that the abundance ratios [Na/Fe], [Mg/Fe] and [Si/Fe] for the Draco...

The published pollen analysis of the Dos Cabezas giants, Geyer et al. ([2003]), lists a variety of purported dietary pollen types. The paper also hypothesizes that the giants were poisoned with plant toxins. We have severe reservations about the pollen evidence of diet and poisoning. We suggest that the analysts made several errors in their interpretation. Firstly, some of the discovered pollen...

Gigantism-very large body size-is an ecologically important trait associated with competitive superiority. Although it has been studied in particular cases, the general conditions for the evolution and maintenance of gigantism remain obscure. I compiled sizes and dates for the largest species in 3 terrestrial and 7 marine trophic and habitat categories of animals from throughout the Phanerozoic...

Kinematics of 237 Chromospherically Active Binaries (CAB) were studied. The sample is heterogeneous with different orbits and physically different components from F to M spectral type main sequence stars to G and K giants and super giants. The computed U , V , W space velocities indicate the sample is also heterogeneous in the velocity space. That is, both kinematically younger and older system...

Giant planets on short-period orbits are predicted to be inflated and eventually engulfed by their host stars. However, the detailed timescales stages of these processes not well known. Here we present discovery three hot Jupiters (P $<$ 10 d) orbiting evolved, intermediate-mass stars ($M_\star$ $\approx$ 1.5 M$_\odot$, 2 R$_\odot$ $R_\star < $ 5 R$_\odot$). By combining \tess photometry with g...

Context. Protoplanetary nebulae typically present non-spherical envelopes. The origin of such geometry is still controversial. There are indications that it may be carried over from an earlier phase of stellar evolution, such as the AGB phase. But how early in the star’s evolution does the non-spherical envelope appear? Aims. Li-rich giants show dusty circumstellar envelopes that can help answe...

For the last five years, the JCI has had the privilege of working with the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation to write profiles on the prizewinners. Coverage of the 2014 laureates will be featured in the October issue. In addition to the news features on the prizes, I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing several of the previous years’ laureates (Figure 1) for the series “Conversations with Giants...

The classical result in the theory of random graphs, proved by Erdős and Rényi in 1960, concerns the threshold for the appearance of the giant component in the random graph process. We consider a variant of this problem, with a Ramsey flavor. Now, each random edge that arrives in the sequence of rounds must be colored with one of r colors. The goal can be either to create a giant component in e...

The behaviour of the ∆ν=2 CO bands around 2.3 μm was examined by comparing observed and synthetic spectra in stars in globular clusters of different metallicity. Changes in the C/C isotopic ratio and the carbon abundances were investigated in stars from 3500–4900 K in the galactic globular clusters M71, M5, M3 and M13, covering the metallicity range from –0.7 to –1.6. We found relatively low ca...