November 7, 2013 Page 3 Community Briefs Looking Up The Farthest Place: Astronomers Discover Universe’s Most Distant Galaxy By Bob Eklund Researchers from Texas A&M University and the University of Texas at Austin teamed up to detect the most distant galaxy ever found—one created only 700 million years after the Big Bang. Their research is published in the Oct. 24 edition of the journal Nature. The galaxy, known by its catalog name z8_GND_5296, was observed as it was 13 billion years ago. That’s the time it took for the galaxy’s light to travel to Earth. Because the universe has been expanding all that time, the researchers estimate the galaxy’s present distance to be roughly 30 billion light-years from Earth. “Because of its distance, we get a glimpse of conditions when the universe was only about 700 million years old—only five percent of its current age of 13.8 billion years,” said Texas A&M astrophysicist Casey Papovich, who is second author of the paper. He explains that researchers are able to accurately gauge the distances of galaxies by measuring a feature from the ubiquitous element hydrogen called the Lyman alpha transition, which emits brightly in distant galaxies. It’s detected in nearly all galaxies that are seen from a time more than one billion years from the Big Bang, but getting closer than that, the hydrogen emission line, for some reason, becomes increasingly difficult to see. “We were thrilled to see this galaxy,” said lead author is Steven Finkelstein, an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Austin. “And then our next thought was, ‘Why did we not see anything else?’ We’re using the best instrument on the best telescope with the best galaxy sample. We had the best weather—it was gorgeous. And still, we only saw this emission line from one of our sample of 43 observed galaxies when we expected to see around six. What’s going on?” The researchers suspect they may have zeroed in on the era when the universe made its transition from an opaque state in which most of the hydrogen is neutral to a translucent state in which most of the hydrogen is ionized. So it’s not necessarily that the distant galaxies aren’t there—it could be that they’re hidden from detection behind a wall of neutral hydrogen fog, which blocks the hydrogen emission signal. The Nature paper grew out of raw data gleaned from a powerful Hubble Space Telescope imaging survey of the distant universe. Using that data, the team was armed with 43 potential distant galaxies and set out to confirm their distances. On a crisp, clear April night, team members sat behind a panel of computers in the control room of the W. M. Keck Observatory, which is perched atop the 14,000-foot summit of Hawaii’s dormant Mauna Kea volcano and houses the two largest optical and infrared telescopes in the world, each standing eight stories tall, weighing 300 tons and equipped with 10-meter-wide mirrors. They detected only one galaxy during their two nights of observation at Keck, but it turned out to be the most distant ever confirmed. It had a redshift of 7.51—indicating that it was created about 13 billion years ago. Because the universe is expanding, the space between galaxies also is increasing. And as objects move away from an observer, their light becomes redder. In essence, the higher the “redshift,” the farther away the object. Only five other galaxies have ever been confirmed to have a redshift greater than 7, with the previous high being 7.215. • THIS IS YOUR TIME TO FIND A GOOD BUSINESS PARTNER. Are you ready to grow your business? Boston Private Bank can help with the personal guidance and favorable financing you need to invest in your ideas and your future. To learn more about our Small Business Lending Program, please call Jimar Wilson, Vice President, at 818-501-1752. BostonPrivateBank.com B O S T O N • S A N F R A N C I S C O • L O S A N G E L E S Hawthorne and Manhattan Beach Schools Form Partnership A partnership between Da Vinci Design of Hawthorne and Halstrom Academy of Manhattan Beach has resulted in students collaborating and pushing boundaries as they created a mural while painting live in front of an audience for the first time. The students unveiled their mural Friday, Oct.18 at Da Vinci Design. Student Kevin Taylor, a senior, began attending Halstrom full time last summer and forged the relationship between Halstrom Academy and Da Vinci Design. While Kevin has been happy with the education he received at Da Vinci, he said he needed a more focused environment for some of his core college-required courses. With the education Kevin is getting through Halstrom Academy and Da Vinci Design, he is confident he will get in to the college of his choice and pursue a career in fashion design. New Public Safety Communication System The Manhattan Beach Police Department has partnered with Nixle, a public safety communications system, to send timely community safety information directly to subscribers via email or text message. Nixle allows the Manhattan Beach Police Department to create and deliver messages instantly via cell phone and email. Notifications can also be accessed online at the Nixle website or on the police department homepage. There are no spam messages associated with the service, but standard text messaging rates do apply. To sign up and begin receiving alerts, go online to nixle.com/register or text the number 888777 (in the “To” field) and the zip code 90266 (in the message field). Sold-Out Neptunian Fundraiser The fundraiser held by the Neptunian Woman’s Club of Manhattan Beach on Saturday, Oct. 19 sold out for the third year in a row. The event raised money for children’s causes and featured food (catered by Tin Roof and SusieCakes), wine (poured by Vintage Shoppe) and music (by Aragorn & Olivia). There was also a silent auction and a raffle. The event was coordinated by the Neptunian Fundraising Chair Suzanne Sharer and was held at the Manhattan Beach Village Mall courtyard. • Seniors When Mixing Medication and Food Can Be Deadly (BPT) - More than one-third of adults in the U.S. have high cholesterol and high blood pressure. Yet many of those treated for these conditions don’t realize they are putting themselves at risk by not understanding the basics about their medications. Many commonly prescribed drugs have potentially fatal side effects when mixed with other medications, over-the-counter “Many commonly prescribed drugs have potentially fatal side effects when mixed with other medications.” drugs, supplements and even foods. This is true for the widely used cholesterol-lowering drugs known as statins, which can be deadly when mixed with grapefruit juice. These medications include atorvastatin, simvastatin, lovastatin and fluvastatin. “Most people don’t know that something as common as drinking grapefruit juice when taking statins can increase the risk of muscle pain and have serious adverse side effects that can be life threatening,” says Ed Dannemiller, specialist pharmacist in the Express Scripts Cardiovascular Therapeutic Resource Center (TRC). “The juice can substantially raise the concentration of statins in the body and make them much more potent.” As a specialist pharmacist, Dannemiller is one of a team of experts who are specifically trained to help patients with heart disease understand everything they need to know about their medications, including how their diet and other medications they take may affect their health. They also work closely with physicians to prevent potential problems that medications may pose to their patients. “Another popular drug, warfarin, which is a blood thinner that helps prevent heart attack and stroke, can react harmfully with a number of commonly used products,” he says. “When warfarin is mixed with antidepressants, alcohol, ibuprofen or aspirin, and even herbal products like gingko biloba or garlic, patients may be at risk of internal bleeding.” If you are one of the millions of Americans being treated for one of these common conditions, Dannemiller offers these tips to help prevent medication interactions. Ask before you use: Check with your doctor or pharmacist to find out what foods, medications and supplements should be avoided when taking a medication. Some combinations cause bad reactions by making the drug more potent, while others can make the medication less effective. Read the fine print: Always read the caution information provided in the medication package and make sure you understand how and when to take your medications. Instructions such as taking your dose with food or on an empty stomach should not be overlooked. Also, taking too much or too little of a drug can significantly impact how well the drug works. Look beyond prescriptions: Make sure your physicians know all the other medications and supplements you’re taking, such as herbal remedies and over-the-counter products, including vitamins since some interactions can cause life threatening side effects. Follow doctor’s orders: Taking your medications as prescribed by your doctor is essential for ensuring that they’ll effectively treat your condition. Don’t ever stop taking your medications or simply use them “when needed” without talking to your physician or specialist pharmacist. Even if you have no apparent symptoms, you may still be at risk. For example, blood pressure can reach dangerous levels, yet a patient may not be aware of any of the warning signs. Remember, just because you don’t notice any symptoms doesn’t mean that your disease is under control. • Follow Us on Twitter @heraldpub
Manhattan 11_07_13
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