Category: 7. Science

With shiny new next-generation spacecraft come the complex systems required to track their technologically advanced systems. When it comes to NASA’s Orion spacecraft, that need is a whole extra room of monitors.

NASA has opened a new complex in the Mission Control Center at its Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston ahead of the Artemis 2 mission to send astronauts around the moon aboard the Orion space capsule — the vehicle’s first-ever crewed flight test. JSC’s new Mission Evaluation Room (MER) will provide behind-the-scenes, in-depth data analyses of Orion to augment the in-flight operations coordinated inside the main White Flight Control Room (WFCR).

A team of researchers at Argonne National Laboratory has developed a groundbreaking technique that allows them to explore quantum behaviour in materials at a tiny scale, just a few nanometers from the surface

This new method creates new avenues for advancing technologies such as superconductors, spintronics and quantum computing.

Cracking open a complex interface

Studying the interface between two materials where they meet and interact has always been a challenge for scientists. These interfaces often hold the key to understanding exotic properties, such as magnetism and superconductivity. However, they are typically buried deep within a sample and only a few nanometers thick, making them nearly impossible to probe using traditional methods.

To combat this long-standing struggle, the research team used a new technique known as surface-sensitive terahertz spectroscopy (SSTS).

SSTS involves directing ultrafast laser pulses through an oxide crystal that’s topped with a thin magnetic film. When the laser hits the interface between the two materials, it generates terahertz vibrations, a form of electromagnetic radiation operating at frequencies approximately 1,000 times higher than those of current 5G wireless networks.

Listening to terahertz vibrations

The researchers focused on capturing these terahertz vibrations because they hold a lot of information about the material’s quantum characteristics. Specifically, they were able to detect what’s known as the TO1 phonon, a type of vibrational mode that is especially sensitive to the material environment near the interface.

What they discovered was that the behaviour of this phonon changed significantly within just 5 nanometers of the interface, compared to how it behaves deeper in the bulk of the material. This suggests that the surface region behaves differently, just like water waves move differently in the shallow versus deep parts of a lake.

This subtle shift in phonon behaviour provides a new way to study and understand complex quantum effects that might otherwise be hidden in traditional experiments.

The future of quantum technologies

One of the most critical aspects of this breakthrough is the sensitivity and versatility of this new technique. Because SSTS can focus precisely on the interface, it allows scientists to study a wide variety of materials and quantum phenomena, not just magnetism but potentially also superconductivity and other elusive states of matter.

Terahertz radiation, in particular, is an exciting tool for this type of research. Not only can it reveal hidden properties in materials, but it may also be capable of triggering entirely new states of matter when it interacts with quantum systems in specific ways.

The future applications of this research

This study was carried out by a collaborative team from Argonne National Laboratory and the University of Washington. The materials were analysed using both terahertz emission spectroscopy and advanced electron microscopy, utilising national facilities supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

While the research is still in its early stages, the insights gained from this work could help pave the way for the design of next-generation quantum devices. By providing scientists with a more detailed view of what’s happening at material interfaces, the technique could inform the development of faster, more efficient, and more powerful technologies across various fields.

A bright-yellow worm that lives in deep-sea hydrothermal vents is the first known animal to create orpiment, a brilliant but toxic mineral used by artists from antiquity until the nineteenth century. The findings¹ were published in PLoS Biology this week.

The worm (Paralvinella hessleri) is the only creature to inhabit the hottest part of deep-sea hydrothermal vents in the Okinawa Trough in the western Pacific Ocean. The hot, mineral-rich water that shoots up from the sea floor contains high levels of toxic sulfide and arsenic.

Researchers found that the worm accumulates microscopic particles of arsenic on its outer skin cells as well as along its internal organs. This reacts with sulfide from the hydrothermal vent to form small clumps of orpiment, fashioning a microscopic armour around the worm that protects it from the toxic environment.

Orpiment is a naturally occurring arsenic sulfide mineral, often found in hydrothermal and magmatic ore deposits.

The findings came as a surprise to the research group. In the deep sea, creatures dwell in total darkness and are typically greyish white or adorned in hues of orange to dark red, says co-author Hao Wang, a deep-sea biologist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Qingdao. It “doesn’t make any sense to make pigment in total darkness,” Wang says.

Unknown mechanism

The team is yet to discover how arsenic is transported into the creature’s internal organs.

Tiny, strange-looking, and almost impossible to spot in the wild, pygmy seahorses are one of nature’s most impressive masters of disguise.

No bigger than your thumbnail, these tiny creatures cling to coral in the western Pacific Ocean. But don’t expect to find one easily – they’ve practically vanished into their surroundings.

What makes them nearly invisible isn’t just luck. It’s the result of millions of years of extreme evolutionary fine-tuning.

A recent study finally cracked part of the code behind camouflage in pygmy seahorses, revealing surprising clues in their DNA.

Pygmy seahorses: Built for invisibility

Pygmy seahorses were not found until 1969, and it’s no surprise they remained concealed for so long. Their bodies have tiny bumps that are the same texture as coral polyps. They’re colored just like the coral.

The snouts of pygmy seahorses are even short and stubby – like the small coral knobs they call home. They do not resemble their larger relatives, which have tube-like, long snouts.

Pygmy seahorses appear to be the same as the coral they attach themselves to, blending as though they are a part of it. Their camouflage is so strong that in the wild, they are virtually untrackable, and keeping them captive has proven to be a challenge.

Genetic secrets revealed

The study was led by researchers from the University of Konstanz in Germany and the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology in Guangzhou, China.

The team set out to answer a question that had puzzled scientists: How does a pygmy seahorse end up looking so much like coral?

To find out, the researchers studied the animals’ gene activity at different stages of development. They focused on one odd feature – the pygmy seahorse’s short snout.

Normally, all seahorses start off with a baby-like face. But as they grow, most develop the long snout that gives them their name. Pygmy seahorses never go through that growth spurt.

“Normally, a combination of different genetic components causes the snout of a seahorse to grow proportionally faster than other parts of the body from a certain age and thus become elongated,” noted study lead author Professor Axel Meyer.

“In the pygmy seahorse, however, we have now discovered that these different growth rates are suppressed because the hoxa2b gene has been lost.”

A childlike stage of life

The team confirmed the gene was missing by using CRISPR gene-editing technology on zebrafish. The experiments showed that when the hoxa2b gene was removed, the fish retained shorter, baby-like features – just like the pygmy seahorse.

“The head of the pygmy seahorse remains stuck in the ‘childlike’ earlier stage of development. This shape mimicks the coral perfectly and makes it more difficult for predators to detect these animals on the corals,” explained Professor Meyer.

“With its short snout, the pygmy seahorse merges visually with the coral. A long nose, on the other hand, would stand out and make camouflage less perfect.”

Genes tied to the immune system

The snout isn’t the only thing that changed. The study also revealed that pygmy seahorses have lost a huge number of genes compared to their larger relatives. That includes genes tied to the immune system.

The researchers believe this happened for a reason. Coral can release toxins, and being able to tolerate those chemicals may actually help pygmy seahorses avoid harmful bacteria. In that case, a strong immune system isn’t as necessary.

“This is probably due to the fact that coral toxins can be tolerated by the pygmy seahorses and even provide them with protection against microbes. Consequently, their immune system no longer needs the corresponding genes,” said Professor Meyer.

Benefits for reproduction

There’s another twist. In seahorses, it’s the males that carry the eggs in a special pouch. Normally, the immune system would attack anything inside the body that doesn’t match its own cells.

But if the immune system is weakened or altered, the male can carry the eggs without triggering a rejection.

“As, however, the eggs are not genetically identical to the cells of the male’s body, they would normally be attacked as foreign tissue. Losing immune-system genes was necessary to weaken the corresponding immune response,” said Meyer.

Evolution of the pygmy seahorse

The changes seen in pygmy seahorses are an example of evolution at work. Some traits disappear, while others get stronger. Over time, these changes add up to something completely new.

“In all of these adaptations, we see examples of massive gene losses and a seemingly paradoxical release of evolutionary creativity, which ultimately explains the unusual appearance and remarkable biology of these creatures,” said Professor Meyer.

Pygmy seahorses may be small, but they offer big insights into the surprising ways that life can evolve on Earth. By losing what they did not need to retain, these organisms developed something remarkable – the capacity to all but disappear in their own environment.

The full study was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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The Sun will someday die. This will happen when it runs out of hydrogen fuel in its core and can no longer produce energy through nuclear fusion as it does now. The death of the Sun is often thought of as the end of the solar system. But in reality, it may be the beginning of a new phase of life for all the objects living in the solar system.

When stars like the Sun die, they go through a phase of rapid expansion called the Red Giant phase: The radius of the star gets bigger, and its color gets redder. Once the gravity on the star’s surface is no longer strong enough for it to hold on to its outer layers, a large fraction – up to about half – of its mass escapes into space, leaving behind a remnant called a white dwarf.

I am a professor of astronomy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In 2020, my colleagues and I discovered the first intact planet orbiting around a white dwarf. Since then, I’ve been fascinated by the prospect of life on planets around these, tiny, dense white dwarfs.

Researchers search for signs of life in the universe by waiting until a planet passes between a star and their telescope’s line of sight. With light from the star illuminating the planet from behind, they can use some simple physics principles to determine the types of molecules present in the planet’s atmosphere.

In 2020, researchers realized they could use this technique for planets orbiting white dwarfs. If such a planet had molecules created by living organisms in its atmosphere, the James Webb Space Telescope would probably be able to spot them when the planet passed in front of its star.

In June 2025, I published a paper answering a question that first started bothering me in 2021: Could an ocean – likely needed to sustain life – even survive on a planet orbiting close to a dead star?

A universe full of white dwarfs

A white dwarf has about half the mass of the Sun, but that mass is compressed into a volume roughly the size of Earth, with its electrons pressed as close together as the laws of physics will allow. The Sun has a radius 109 times the size of Earth’s – this size difference means that an Earth-like planet orbiting a white dwarf could be about the same size as the star itself.

White dwarfs are extremely common: An estimated 10 billion of them exist in our galaxy. And since every low-mass star is destined to eventually become a white dwarf, countless more have yet to form. If it turns out that life can exist on planets orbiting white dwarfs, these stellar remnants could become promising and plentiful targets in the search for life beyond Earth.

But can life even exist on a planet orbiting a white dwarf? Astronomers have known since 2011 that the habitable zone is extremely close to the white dwarf. This zone is the location in a planetary system where liquid water could exist on a planet’s surface. It can’t be too close to the star that the water would boil, nor so far away that it would freeze.

The habitable zone around a white dwarf would be 10 to 100 times closer to the white dwarf than our own habitable zone is to our Sun, since white dwarfs are so much fainter.

The challenge of tidal heating

Being so close to the surface of the white dwarf would bring new challenges to emerging life that more distant planets, like Earth, do not face. One of these is tidal heating.

Tidal forces – the differences in gravitational forces that objects in space exert on different parts of a nearby second object – deform a planet, and the friction causes the material being deformed to heat up. An example of this can be seen on Jupiter’s moon Io.

The forces of gravity exerted by Jupiter’s other moons tug on Io’s orbit, deforming its interior and heating it up, resulting in hundreds of volcanoes erupting constantly across its surface. As a result, no surface water can exist on Io because its surface is too hot.

In contrast, the adjacent moon Europa is also subject to tidal heating, but to a lesser degree, since it’s farther from Jupiter. The heat generated from tidal forces has caused Europa’s ice shell to partially melt, resulting in a subsurface ocean.

Planets in the habitable zone of a white dwarf would have orbits close enough to the star to experience tidal heating, similar to how Io and Europa are heated from their proximity to Jupiter.

This proximity itself can pose a challenge to habitability. If a system has more than one planet, tidal forces from nearby planets could cause the planet’s atmosphere to trap heat until it becomes hotter and hotter, making the planet too hot to have liquid water.

Enduring the red giant phase

Even if there is only one planet in the system, it may not retain its water.

In the process of becoming a white dwarf, a star will expand to 10 to 100 times its original radius during the red giant phase. During that time, anything within that expanded radius will be engulfed and destroyed. In our own solar system, Mercury, Venus and Earth will be destroyed when the Sun eventually becomes a red giant before transitioning into a white dwarf.

For a planet to survive this process, it would have to start out much farther from the star — perhaps at the distance of Jupiter or even beyond.

If a planet starts out that far away, it would need to migrate inward after the white dwarf has formed in order to become habitable. Computer simulations show that this kind of migration is possible, but the process could cause extreme tidal heating that may boil off surface water – similar to how tidal heating causes Io’s volcanism. If the migration generates enough heat, then the planet could lose all its surface water by the time it finally reaches a habitable orbit.

However, if the migration occurs late enough in the white dwarf’s lifetime – after it has cooled and is no longer a hot, bright, newly formed white dwarf – then surface water may not evaporate away.

Under the right conditions, planets orbiting white dwarfs could sustain liquid water and potentially support life.

Search for life on planets orbiting white dwarfs

Astronomers haven’t yet found any Earth-like, habitable exoplanets around white dwarfs. But these planets are difficult to detect.

Traditional detection methods like the transit technique are less effective because white dwarfs are much smaller than typical planet-hosting stars. In the transit technique, astronomers watch for the dips in light that occur when a planet passes in front of its host star from our line of sight. Because white dwarfs are so small, you would have to be very lucky to see a planet passing in front of one.

Nevertheless, researchers are exploring new strategies to detect and characterize these elusive worlds using advanced telescopes such as the Webb telescope.

If habitable planets are found to exist around white dwarfs, it would significantly broaden the range of environments where life might persist, demonstrating that planetary systems may remain viable hosts for life even long after the death of their host star.

Newswise — Maui, HI, August 28, 2025 — The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) National Solar Observatory (NSO) and The Brinson Foundation are proud to announce that Dr. Souymaranjan Dash has been named a Brinson Postdoctoral Fellow in Solar Physics. This prestigious recognition is awarded by The Brinson Foundation to early-career scientists who pursue bold, creative research in their respective fields. This is the second such fellowship in solar physics at NSO, after the one received by Dr. Ryan French in 2022. Dr. Dash’s fellowship begins September 1, 2025.

The new fellow, Dr. Dash, works on understanding the evolution of magnetic fields on the Sun and other stars using data-driven numerical magnetohydrodynamic simulations—magnetohydrodynamics is the science of how electrically charged fluids move when they are affected by magnetic fields. He will join NSO scientist Dr. Tom Schad’s team at the NSF Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope, built and operated by NSO. During his graduate work, he extensively worked on predicting global solar coronal magnetic field configurations using data-inspired numerical models during total solar eclipses. Most recently, he worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa where he developed algorithms to both infer and constrain numerical model parameters by combining numerical models and observations. 

Dr. Dash comments on the exciting opportunity ahead: “I’m excited to join the NSO as a Brinson Fellow and to study the magnetic structure and dynamics of the solar corona by combining high-resolution data from the Inouye Solar Telescope with numerical models and theoretical analysis. My work aims to improve our understanding of the magnetic processes that shape solar activity.”

The Brinson Foundation and NSO’s Commitment to Scientific Advancement

The Brinson Foundation is a privately funded philanthropic organization dedicated to supporting cutting-edge research. By providing grants to top research institutions, like NSO, it ensures that emerging talented scientists receive the necessary resources and institutional support to push the boundaries of their fields. As Jamie Bender, Senior Program Officer at the Foundation, stated: “We support early-career scientists who challenge conventional wisdom with innovative ideas. By investing in ambitious research, we aim to foster discoveries that have a lasting impact on our understanding of the universe.”

Partnerships like this allow NSO to increase its reach in studying the Sun, its activity, and its effects on Earth. The fellowship is co-sponsored by NSO via research funds allocated to the NSF Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope. Dr. Dave Boboltz, NSO Associate Director at the Inouye, highlighted the importance of supporting early-career scientists in solar research: “The NSF Inouye Solar Telescope enables groundbreaking discoveries about the Sun’s complex behavior. The Brinson Postdoctoral Fellowship ensures that talented scientists like Dr. Dash and Dr. French have the opportunity to harness these capabilities at NSO to further our understanding of solar physics.”

The Science Ahead

During his tenure at NSO, Dr. Dash will focus on studying the Sun’s upper atmosphere through unique observations from both the Inouye and space-based missions, such as Solar Orbiter and the Parker Solar Probe. Special emphasis will be placed on experiments conducted during the April 8, 2024, total solar eclipse, when the elusive corona was visible to millions in the continental U.S. for a few minutes. 

Dr. Schad underscored the significance of these observations: “The Sun’s mysteriously hot corona forms the launch point of the dynamic space environment that interacts with Earth. The new capabilities offered by the Inouye, combined with coordinated eclipse experiments, open an exciting frontier for the next generation of solar physicists.”

A Successful First Experience

Dr. French joined as the first Brinson Postdoctoral Fellow at NSO in 2022 after earning his PhD at the UCL Mullard Space Science Laboratory in the UK. His research at NSO has focused on the study of solar flares, explosive events in the Sun’s atmosphere that release massive amounts of energy and influence space weather.

Before his departure, Dr. French reflected on his tenure at NSO: “The Brinson Postdoctoral Fellowship has been a fantastic opportunity to lead my own research in solar physics. Furthermore, The Brinson Foundation provided many professional development opportunities, including in data visualization, science communication, and media training.” Beyond his scientific achievements, Dr. French is an experienced science communicator and author, and received the 2024 Solar Physics Division of the American Astronomical Society Popular Media Award.

Dr. Maria Kazachenko, NSO Scientist and University of Colorado Boulder (CU) Assistant Professor, emphasized Dr. French’s impact on her team: “Thanks to The Brinson Postdoctoral Fellowship, my research group at NSO was able to hire a rising star of solar physics. As a Brinson Fellow, Dr. French led several studies on solar flares, supervised students, taught undergraduate courses, and participated in outreach eclipse trips in Texas.”

The Brinson Postdoctoral Fellowship continues to be a catalyst for pioneering research in solar physics at NSO. As fellows like Dr. Dash, and before him, Dr. French keep pushing the boundaries of our understanding of solar phenomena, their contributions will shape the field for years to come.

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About the U.S. NSF National Solar Observatory

The mission of the NSF National Solar Observatory (NSO) is to advance knowledge of the Sun, both as an astronomical object and as the dominant external influence on Earth, by providing forefront observational opportunities to the research community.

NSO built and operates the world’s most extensive collection of ground-based optical and infrared solar telescopes and auxiliary instrumentation— including the NSF GONG network of six stations around the world, and the world’s largest solar telescope, the NSF Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope—allowing solar physicists to probe all aspects of the Sun, from the deep solar interior to the photosphere, chromosphere, the outer corona, and out into the interplanetary medium. These assets also provide data for heliospheric modeling, space weather forecasting, and stellar astrophysics research, putting our Sun in the context of other stars and their environments.

Besides the operation of cutting-edge facilities, the mission includes the continued development of advanced instrumentation both in-house and through partnerships, conducting solar research, and educational and public outreach. NSO is managed by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. (AURA) under a cooperative agreement with NSF. For more information, visit nso.edu.

About The Brinson Foundation

The Brinson Foundation is a family philanthropic organization that promotes liberty, personal initiative, and programs that enable individuals to contribute positively to society. Since it was established in 2001, the Foundation has made grants that prioritize helping people reach their full potential, with a focus on quality education programs and collaborative efforts in Chicago and beyond. The Foundation grounds itself in the importance of reason and applied science to enhance our lives. In addition, the Foundation believes basic scientific research is essential to deepening our understanding of the universe. Its Brinson Postdoctoral Fellowship Programs are awarded to scientists who chase bold ideas through innovative research. Learn more at brinsonfoundation.org.

Contact 

For media inquiries, please contact: 

Evan Pascual
Communications Specialist
U.S. NSF National Solar Observatory
media@nso.edu

 

From glowing mushrooms on forest floors to plankton that light up the sea, nature has long revealed beauty through bioluminescence. These natural spectacles capture human imagination, inspiring ideas of glowing gardens and self-lit cities.

Scientists are now moving closer to that vision, crafting houseplants that radiate their own soft light.

Scientists create glowing plants

In a recent study published in the journal Matter, researchers described glowing succulents that recharge in sunlight and emit colorful afterglows.

By injecting the leaves with special light-storing particles, the plants become capable of radiating light bright enough to rival small night lamps.

“Picture the world of Avatar, where glowing plants light up an entire ecosystem,” said first author Shuting Liu of South China Agricultural University. “We wanted to make that vision possible using materials we already work with in the lab. Imagine glowing trees replacing streetlights.”

Moving past genetic engineering

Earlier attempts at creating luminescent plants relied on genetic engineering. These methods typically produced faint green light and came with challenges: high costs, complex techniques, and risks such as gene drift.

The new approach sidesteps these issues by using inorganic afterglow particles, materials already known for their roles in glowing toys and safety signs. These particles are inexpensive, widely available, and capable of storing light energy efficiently, making them an ideal choice for transforming plants into living light sources.

Unlike genetic methods, which require lengthy cultivation and complex engineering, this strategy allows for quick preparation, reproducibility, and scalability. It opens the door to practical applications in sustainable lighting and everyday decorative uses.

Why micron particles work

The team worked with micron-sized afterglow phosphors. While nanoparticles move more easily through leaves, the larger particles shine with greater brightness.

Traditionally, their size limited plant absorption, but the succulent Echeveria “Mebina” provided the right internal structure to carry them. Its dense but evenly spaced tissue channels enabled rapid diffusion, producing uniform and strong luminescence.

“Smaller, nano-sized particles move easily within the plant but are dimmer,” said Liu. “Larger particles glowed brighter but couldn’t travel far inside the plant.”

Succulents glow better than leafy plants

Unexpectedly, succulents outperformed non-succulents like golden pothos and bok choy. Despite having fewer air pockets than leafy plants, their compact, uniform tissue allowed particles to spread smoothly without clumping.

This created evenly glowing leaves after just minutes of exposure to sunlight or LED light, with brightness lasting for nearly two hours.

“It was really unexpected,” said Liu. “The particles diffused in just seconds, and the entire succulent leaf glowed.”

Stable and safe glow

The particles used were specially coated with phosphate to improve water resistance and ensure biocompatibility inside plant tissues.

Tests showed that plants maintained normal chlorophyll, sugar, and protein levels even after several days, suggesting they can handle the modification without losing vitality.

This stability highlights the protective role of the phosphate layer, ensuring that luminescence persists without harmful side effects.

The results also show that material-engineered plants can retain their natural functions and growth patterns under experimental conditions.

Plants glow in many colors

By mixing different phosphors, researchers created plants that glowed not just green, but also red, blue, and even warm white. The team demonstrated a wall of 56 succulents glowing brightly enough to illuminate books and nearby objects.

Patterns, such as letters or images, could be temporarily written on plant leaves with UV light, hinting at potential uses in decoration and information storage.

“Each plant takes about 10 minutes to prepare and costs a little over 10 yuan (about $1.4), not including labor,” said Liu.

Eco-friendly lighting and architecture

The glow fades over time, but repeated exposure to light recharges it. This low-cost, reproducible method could pave the way for eco-friendly lighting in gardens, pathways, or interior design.

Expanding beyond succulents remains a challenge, but the study shows a path forward. The research offers possibilities for future urban planning, sustainable architecture, and even artistic applications where living plants provide both decoration and functional illumination.

“I just find it incredible that an entirely human-made, micro-scale material can come together so seamlessly with the natural structure of a plant,” said Liu. “The way they integrate is almost magical. It creates a special kind of functionality.”

The study is published in the journal Matter.

Image Credit: Liu et al., Matter

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One of the advantages of having so many telescopes watching large parts of the sky is that, if astronomers find something interesting, there are probably images of it from before it was officially discovered sitting in the data archives of other satellites that noone thought to look at. That has certainly been the case for our newest interstellar visitor, 3I/ATLAS, which, though discovered in early July, had been visible on other telescopes as early as May. We previously reported on Vera Rubin’s detection of 3I/ATLAS well before it was officially found, and now a new paper has found the interstellar object in TESS’s data going back to early May – and it looks like it may have been “active” around that time.

The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) isn’t designed to find interstellar visitors, or anything faint for that matter. As its name implies, it is designed to look at stars (which are bright) and watch exoplanets traverse in front of them, watching the host star’s light curve dip as they do. But, data is data, and since TESS happened to be looking at a part of the sky where 3I/ATLAS was supposed to be earlier this year, researchers Adina Feinstein and Darryl Seligman from Michigan State and John Noonan from Auburn decided to see if they could find any data on it in the telescopes archives.

Turns out they could, going as far back as May 7th, 2025, over the course of two separate observational periods. Since TESS captures an image every 200 seconds, and 3I/ATLAS is moving much more quickly than the traditional stars TESS is designed to look at, the team had to use a technique known as “shift-stacking”. They predicted where the interstellar object (ISO) would be in each picture, shifted the pictures so the ISO would be at the same spot in every picture, and then stacked multiple of the pictures together to get a clear signal of an object that would otherwise be too faint to find in a single picture.

Fraser discusses how 3I/ATLAS is showing signs of emitting lots of another thing it would be expected to – water.

3I/ATLAS started the observational period at about 6.35 AU, and moved to about 5.47 AU by the end of a second window on June 2nd. During that time, its flux increased by a factor of 5, though the decrease in distance would have only accounted for an increased brightness about 1.5

There has already been plenty of speculation about what might be causing some of the more interesting features of 3I/ATLAS, ranging from mistakes in data collection to the object itself being alien technology. However, the authors have a much more mundane explanation for this seemingly bizarre occurrence – the ISO was likely outgassing “hypervolatile” materials like carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. These have a much higher sublimation point than water ice, and can cause a significant increase in brightness, but most of the comets in our own solar system don’t have any hypervolatiles left, so they wouldn’t show the same dramatic increase in brightness that far away from the Sun. To the researchers, this is another data point that comets from other solar systems likely have a very different composition than those bound to ours.

In an effort to find even more differences, they also tried to look at the rotational period of the ISO’s nucleus. However, there wasn’t enough of a clear signal to delineate whether or not the nucleus was actually moving. Most likely this was caused by a coma obscuring any noticeable features, making it hard for TESS to detect any changes in brightness caused by its rotation.

Fraser discusses 3I/ATLAS more generally when it was first discovered.

As we continue to study every new interstellar object that comes across our path, we’ll begin to find out more and more about them. This paper adds to that corpus of knowledge, and there will undoubtedly be more to come as astronomers start sifting through old data on every telescope they can find trying to unlock the mysteries of our enigmatic visitors.

Learn More:

A. Feinstein, J Noonan, & D. Seligman – Precovery Observations of 3I/ATLAS from TESS Suggests Possible Distant Activity

UT – 3I/ATLAS Is Very Actively Releasing Water

UT – Apparently Vera Rubin Captured Images Of 3I/ATLAS Before It Was Even Discovered

UT – Tracking the Interstellar Objects 1I/’Oumuamua, 2I/Borisov, and 3I/Atlas to their Source

A tiny fossil of a sea creature that lived more than half a billion years ago sheds new light on the evolution of arthropods, the most species-rich and successful group of animals to inhabit the Earth, according to a study published in Nature Communications. One of the last remaining enigmas surrounding arthropod evolution has been the split of the tree of life separating the two largest groups of arthropods: mandibulates, the group including insects, crustaceans, millipedes and centipedes; and chelicerates, the group that includes spiders, scorpions and their kin. New analyses of fossils of an extinct segmented creature known as Jiangfengia multisegmentalis reveal that the specimen is crucial in separating the earliest mandibulates from chelicerates.

Led by Nicholas Strausfeld at the University of Arizona’s Department of Neuroscience, a team has revealed minute details of the fossilized brain of Jiangfengia that places it squarely in the ancestry of mandibulates, not chelicerates, as had been previously assumed. Jiangfengia’s classification as an ancestral chelicerate had been based on its paired grasping appendages that extend from its head. That feture had placed it into an assemblage of extinct creatures known as megacheirans — Greek for “large hands.” Two of the most exquisitely preserved megacheiran specimens that lived about 525 million years ago were Jianfengia which alsohad compound eyes and Alalcomenaeu which had fewer segments and two pairs of single lens eyes. Both had been traditionally lumped together as megacheirans with the assumption that their head appendages are the precursors of what became fangs in spiders and their relatives.

According to the research team, the story is more nuanced and complicated. Strausfeld, a Regents Professor at the University of Arizona and a Royal Society Fellow, called their discovery a possible game changer. “These megacheirans didn’t have antennules, which are antenna-like appendages that are common to crustaceans, insects and centipedes,” Strausfeld said. “Instead we see these strange, quite sturdy head appendages that were specialized for reaching and clasping things.”

Paleontologists refer to these hallmark structures of megacheiran fossils as “great appendages.” Their pincer-like ends suggested their similarity with the clasping appendages of Limulus, commonly known as the horseshoe crab, Strausfeld added. Accordingly, the Megacheira were classified as chelicerates, to which Limulus and arachnids also belong.

The research revealed that the fossilized brains of Jianfengia and Alalcomenaeus were in fact not only morphologically distinct from each other but that they typified ancestors of two major arthropod groups, not just one.

Jianfengia’s tiny head, measuring only two millimeters across, is defined by a short, shell-like covering from which extend its pair of “great appendages.” Just in front of these are paired eyestalks, one on each side of the head, which are capped by a small but obvious compound eye like those of insects and crustaceans. The front of Jianfengia‘s head also had at least three single lens “eyes” much like the simple eyes found in many insects and crustaceans.

When Strausfeld’s team reconstructed the fossilized remains of Jianfengia’s nervous system in four fossil specimens, it found a brain, the shape of which corresponds to that of a modern shrimp or crayfish. In addition, it showed elements of the simpler arrangements seen in small freshwater crustaceans such as brine shrimps, also known as “Sea Monkeys,” popular pets that have provided many a child with their first view of a real live crustacean. Taken together, these findings led the researchers to conclude that Jianfengia had previously been misclassified as an early chelicerate, whereas Alalcomennaeus had already been shown to have a Limulus-like brain.

“Our results demonstrate that close examination of fossilized neural remains can provide powerful data indicating evolutionary relationships impossible to obtain just from features of the exoskeleton,” Strausfeld said. “One needs to know what to look for in the fossil brain because it tells us a lot about a fossil’s identity.”

Frank Hirth, a co-author and professor at the University of London’s King’s College, emphasized a crucial aspect of these fossils: “The organization of their fossilized brains perfectly aligns with that of living arthropods, suggesting that their ancient genetic and developmental constituents are extraordinarily robust, yet diverse, which may explain why arthropods are the most successful inhabitants of this planet.”

Co-author Xianguang Hou, professor at the Yunnan Key Laboratory for Palaeobiology of Yunnan University in Kunming, China discovered the first fossil of Jianfengia in 1984. One of the most famous fossil beds documenting life in the Cambrian period, which lasted from about 540 to 480 million years ago, the area in the vicinity of Kunming in China’s Yunnan province was once a shallow sea. Its bounty of ancient life forms very rarely shows evidence of soft tissues, especially neural remains. Since then, about a dozen additional specimens have been found.

Strausfeld pointed out that a fossil’s neural traces can be very subtle, but can be amplified by enhancing the contrast and width of the darkest deposits standing out against the gray granular rock in which the fossil was embedded.

“What we saw was unexpected: the brain looks really modern, comparable to that of a living crustacean,” he said. “In one specimen we even could peer into the compound eyes and look down some of its facets to see fossilized ‘cone cells’ that supported the photoreceptors.”

To further confirm the evolutionary position of Jianfengia, co-author David Andrew of Lycoming College in Williamsport, Pennsylvania used statistical methods to construct so-called phylogenetic trees — essentially family trees — based on neuronal traits, to determine where in the tree of life Jianfengia should be placed.

“Many repeats of these comparisons revealed that in the arthropod tree of life, Jianfengia sat at or near the root of all mandibulates, whereas its putative cousin, Alalcomenaeus, has the same status, but within the chelicerate branch of the tree of life,” Andrew said.

The team concluded that the “great appendages” belonging to Jianfengia later became modified as antennules typifying today’s mandibulates, whereas the “great appendages” of Alalcomenaeus later became modified as the pincer-like fangs typical of today’s chelicerates.

“In chelicerates, these ‘great appendages’ shrunk, so they eventually became the spider fangs,” Strausfeld said. “In mandibulates, evolution modified them into segmented antennules.”

According to Strausfeld, living support for this view comes from the living ostracods, small marine crustaceans sporting antennules tipped with claspers. “It appears that the ’great appendages‘ that we see in our fossils from more than a half billion years ago weren’t completely lost.”

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Journal

Nature Communications

Method of Research

Data/statistical analysis

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Brain anatomy of the Cambrian fossil Jianfengia multisegmentalis informs euarthropod phylogeny

Article Publication Date

28-Aug-2025