Neat bits of science

[unixronin]

At least one of these came via wcg, I think, but I've lost track and it's been a long day.

First, Bad Astronomy reports on an amazing stellar artifact created by a dying carbon star, one partner in a double-star system with an orbital period of eight hundred years, seen illuminated by galactic starlight.

And second, Discovery News reports on how the Yellowstone hot spot has burned a hole through the remnant Juan de Fuca tectonic plate and cut it in half.