Number 239 (Story #3), September 8, 1995 by Phillip F. Schewe and Ben Stein QUASAR WINDS , analogous to solar winds, are gusts of particles blown away from quasars at speeds up to 10% the speed of light. Evidence for the winds consists of peculiarities in the broad absorption lines observed in the spectra of some quasars. The absorption occurs in gas that lies between the quasar's central energy source (10**10 to 10**13 km away) and observers on earth. A new study suggests that some of the absorbing gas is transformed into the high-speed wind through the radiation pressure exerted by the prodigious flux of light issuing from the quasar. (N. Arav et al., Nature, 17 August 1995.)