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Published online 4 July 2001 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news010705-8
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Sibling rivalry stunts stars
Low birth weight may explain brown dwarves' lonelyplight.
Small, dim, and lonely - failed stars called brown dwarves can blame sibling rivalry in infancy for their inability to shine in adulthood, a new theory suggests1.
Bo Reipurth, of the University of Colorado in Boulder, and Cathie Clarke, of the Institute of Astronomy in Cambridge, UK, suggest that no special conditions are needed to explain brown dwarves; it's simply a question of bad luck.
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