Bray and his colleagues suspected it was the distinct characteristics of individual explosions that could explain how certain neutron stars were propelled out into space. Supernovae are incredibly bright, briefly out-shining entire galaxies while creating almost all of the elements that we are made of, and many leave behind either a black hole or a neutron star. Bray recently published a paper that put forward an explanation of what it is that sends some neutron stars whizzing across the universe at speeds of millions of kilometres an hour, while others are almost motionless. By the age of 48, he'd worked in plants in New Zealand, Hong Kong and Australia and had landed a general manager's role. "If you have that interest and that desire, it'll make up for any cobwebs in the old brain matter."

Source: New Zealand Herald July 20, 2016 05:03 UTC