A super-massive Neptune-sized planet.

Neptune-sized planets exhibit a wide range of compositions and densities, depending on factors related to their formation and evolution history, such as the distance from their host stars and atmospheric escape processes. They can vary from relatively low-density planets with thick hydrogen-helium atmospheres1,2 to higher-density planets with a substantial amount of water or a rocky interior with a thinner atmosphere, such as HD 95338 b (ref. 3), TOI-849 b (ref. 4) and TOI-2196 b (ref. 5). The discovery of exoplanets in the hot-Neptune desert6, a region close to the host stars with a deficit of Neptune-sized planets, provides insights into the formation and evolution of planetary systems, including the existence of this region itself. Here we show observations of the transiting planet TOI-1853 b, which has a radius of 3.46 ± 0.08 Earth radii and orbits a dwarf star every 1.24 days. This planet has a mass of 73.2 ± 2.7 Earth masses, almost twice that of any other Neptune-sized planet known so far, and a density of 9.7 ± 0.8 grams per cubic centimetre. These values place TOI-1853 b in the middle of the Neptunian desert and imply that heavy elements dominate its mass. The properties of TOI-1853 b present a puzzle for conventional theories of planetary formation and evolution, and could be the result of several proto-planet collisions or the final state of an initially high-eccentricity planet that migrated closer to its parent star.

Do In-Prison Correctional Programs Affect Postrelease Employment and Earnings?

The objective of this research is to examine the effects of general educational development (GED) attainment in prison and therapeutic community participation on postrelease employment and earnings. The participants are all males released from prisons in Idaho during 2004. The dependent variables are employment and mean quarterly earnings up to 57 months after release. Propensity score matching analysis was used to enhance the equivalence of the comparison groups, with a small percentage of overly influential observations trimmed. Logistic regression was used to examine the effects of programming on employment. GED had no effect on employment. The effect of therapeutic community approached significance. The statistical analyses on earnings used generalized linear models based on the gamma distribution due to the highly skewed distribution of this variable. These analyses found that GED had no effect on earnings and that participation in a therapeutic community had a highly significant effect on mean quarterly earnings.

A giant planet undergoing extreme-ultraviolet irradiation by its hot massive-star host.

The amount of ultraviolet irradiation and ablation experienced by a planet depends strongly on the temperature of its host star. Of the thousands of extrasolar planets now known, only six have been found that transit hot, A-type stars (with temperatures of 7,300-10,000 kelvin), and no planets are known to transit the even hotter B-type stars. For example, WASP-33 is an A-type star with a temperature of about 7,430 kelvin, which hosts the hottest known transiting planet, WASP-33b (ref. 1); the planet is itself as hot as a red dwarf star of type M (ref. 2). WASP-33b displays a large heat differential between its dayside and nightside, and is highly inflated-traits that have been linked to high insolation. However, even at the temperature of its dayside, its atmosphere probably resembles the molecule-dominated atmospheres of other planets and, given the level of ultraviolet irradiation it experiences, its atmosphere is unlikely to be substantially ablated over the lifetime of its star. Here we report observations of the bright star HD 195689 (also known as KELT-9), which reveal a close-in (orbital period of about 1.48 days) transiting giant planet, KELT-9b. At approximately 10,170 kelvin, the host star is at the dividing line between stars of type A and B, and we measure the dayside temperature of KELT-9b to be about 4,600 kelvin. This is as hot as stars of stellar type K4 (ref. 5). The molecules in K stars are entirely dissociated, and so the primary sources of opacity in the dayside atmosphere of KELT-9b are probably atomic metals. Furthermore, KELT-9b receives 700 times more extreme-ultraviolet radiation (that is, with wavelengths shorter than 91.2 nanometres) than WASP-33b, leading to a predicted range of mass-loss rates that could leave the planet largely stripped of its envelope during the main-sequence lifetime of the host star.

Field observations of the developing legal recreational cannabis economy in Washington State.

BACKGROUND: Washington State legalized the sale of recreational cannabis in 2012. This paper describes the unfolding of the market regulatory regime in an eastern portion of the state, including field descriptions to illustrate the setting. METHODS: We made observations and conducted interviews of the local supply chain comprising a producer/processor, analytic facility, and retail establishments as well as querying the state director of the regulatory board. RESULTS: Interviews and observations of facilities suggest an overwhelming concern for black market diversion drives state regulatory efforts. The ongoing dialogue between market actors and the state has resulted in a more equitable distribution of profits at different stages in the process. State safety regulations have thus far been shifted to independent laboratories. Banks and insurance companies have slowly begun making inroads into the industry, despite federal prohibition. CONCLUSION: The law was conceived as a social justice remedy, but the bulk of the legal and regulatory activity surrounds cannabis marketplace management. This has been characterized by concerns for black market diversion, producer/processor profits, and a hands-off approach to safety regulation. Minor cannabis violations as a pathway to criminal justice system involvement have been reduced substantially but disproportionate enforcement upon racial/ethnic minorities continues.

Misaligned protoplanetary disks in a young binary star system.

Many extrasolar planets follow orbits that differ from the nearly coplanar and circular orbits found in our Solar System; their orbits may be eccentric or inclined with respect to the host star's equator, and the population of giant planets orbiting close to their host stars suggests appreciable orbital migration. There is at present no consensus on what produces such orbits. Theoretical explanations often invoke interactions with a binary companion star in an orbit that is inclined relative to the planet's orbital plane. Such mechanisms require significant mutual inclinations between the planetary and binary star orbital planes. The protoplanetary disks in a few young binaries are misaligned, but often the measurements of these misalignments are sensitive only to a small portion of the inner disk, and the three-dimensional misalignment of the bulk of the planet-forming disk mass has hitherto not been determined. Here we report that the protoplanetary disks in the young binary system HK Tauri are misaligned by 60 to 68 degrees, such that one or both of the disks are significantly inclined to the binary orbital plane. Our results demonstrate that the necessary conditions exist for misalignment-driven mechanisms to modify planetary orbits, and that these conditions are present at the time of planet formation, apparently because of the binary formation process.