Researchers find evidence of a cataclysmic flare that punched so far out of the Galaxy its impact was felt 200,000 light years away.
An artist’s impression of the massive bursts of ionising radiation exploding from the centre of the Milky Way and impacting the Magellanic Stream. Credit: James Josephides/ASTRO 3D
A
titanic, expanding beam of energy sprang from close to the supermassive black
hole in the centre of the Milky Way just 3.5 million years ago, sending a
cone-shaped burst of radiation through both poles of the Galaxy and out into
deep space.
That’s
the finding arising from research conducted by a team of scientists led by
Professor Joss Bland-Hawthorn from Australia’s ARC Centre of Excellence for All
Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D) and soon to be published in The
Astrophysical Journal.
Prostate and other soft-tissue cancers are often treated with radioactive sources implanted or inserted into the body. But monitoring the dose is problematic.
Computer simulation of brachytherapy prostate treatment showing radioactive source trajectories through the pelvic region. Credit: Rick FranichMedical physicists at Melbourne’s RMIT University are developing a technique to monitor the radiation dose more accurately.
In high dose rate brachytherapy, tumours are targeted by radioactive sources temporarily inserted into the body.
“Until now, it has not been possible to check at the time of delivery whether the doses received by the tumour and by surrounding healthy tissue matched the planned levels,” says Dr Rick Franich, Medical Radiation Physics group leader at the University’s Health Innovations Research Institute. Continue reading Curing cancer with radiation – safely→
Synchrotron scientists at the ‘6 Star Green Star’-rated Melbourne Convention Centre.
Hundreds of the world’s leading synchrotron scientists descended on Melbourne in September when the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre hosted the 10th International Conference on Synchrotron Radiation and Instrumentation 2009 (SRI2009).
