NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has helped scientists discover a new moon orbiting Uranus, bringing the planet’s total to 29. The small moon was spotted on February 2, 2025, by a team from the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI).
Scientists found the tiny moon in ten long-exposure images taken by NASA’s Webb Telescope. Though small, it’s a significant find, one that Voyager 2 missed when it flew past Uranus nearly 40 years ago.
The new moon is incredibly small, only about six miles (10 kilometers) wide, based on how reflective it seems compared to Uranus’s other moons. Its tiny size likely made it too faint for Voyager 2 or earlier telescopes to detect, hiding in plain sight for decades.
Matthew Tiscareno of the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California, a member of the research team, said, “No other planet has as many small inner moons as Uranus, and their complex inter-relationships with the rings hint at a chaotic history that blurs the boundary between a ring system and a system of moons.”
“Moreover, the new moon is smaller and much fainter than the smallest of the previously known inner moons, making it likely that even more complexity remains to be discovered.”
The newly discovered moon is the 14th in Uranus’s tightly packed group of small inner moons, orbiting closer to the planet than its five major moons—Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, and Oberon. (Fun fact: all Uranian moons are named after characters from Shakespeare and Alexander Pope.)
This tiny moon circles Uranus about 35,000 miles (56,000 kilometers) from its center, gliding between the orbits of Ophelia and Bianca. Its nearly perfect circular path hints that it likely formed right where it is, quietly holding its place in the planet’s complex lunar ballet.
El Moutamid said, “Through this and other programs, Webb is providing a new eye on the outer solar system. This discovery comes as part of Webb’s General Observer program, which allows scientists worldwide to propose investigations using the telescope’s cutting-edge instruments. The NIRCam instrument’s high resolution and infrared sensitivity make it especially adept at detecting faint, distant objects that were beyond the reach of previous observatories.”
Looking forward, the discovery of this moon underscores how modern astronomy continues to build upon the legacy of missions like Voyager 2, which flew past Uranus on January 24, 1986, and gave humanity its first close-up look at this mysterious world. Now, nearly four decades later, the James Webb Space Telescope is pushing that frontier even farther.”
The biological cycle of our existence seems relatively straightforward: we’re born, we live, we die. The end.
But when you examine existence at the cellular level, things get a bit more interesting. You, me, and all of the 108 billion or so Homo sapiens who’ve ever walked the Earth have all been our own constellation of some 30 trillion cells. Each of our bodies is a collective organism of living human cells and microbes working in cooperation to create what our minds view as “life.” However, a growing number of new studies have found that, at least for some cells, death isn’t the end. Instead, it’s possibly the beginning of something new and wholly unexpected.
A growing snowball of research concerning a new class of AI-designed multicellular organisms known as “xenobots” is gaining scientific attention for their apparent autonomy. In September 2024, Peter Noble, Ph.D., a microbiologist from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, along with Alex Pozhitkov, Ph.D., a bioinformatics researcher at the City of Hope cancer center, detailed this research on the website The Conversation.
Xenobots are cells that form new roles beyond their original biological function—for example, using hairlike cilia for locomotion rather than transporting mucus. Because they appear to reassemble into this new form and function, the authors argue that xenobots form a kind of “third state” of life, wherein cells can reorganize after the death of an organism to form something new. These forms likely wouldn’t materialize in nature, but xenobots show that cells have a surprising ability to adapt to changes in their environment. Experiments with human cells, or “anthrobots,” exhibit this behavior, too.
“Taken together, these findings … challenge the idea that cells and organisms can evolve only in predetermined ways,” the authors write in The Conversation. “The third state suggests that [an organism’s] death may play a significant role in how life transforms over time.”
The implications for these cellular robots, or biobots, are pretty big—imagine tailor-made medicines crafted from your own tissues to avoid a dangerous immune response. But they also form a complicated picture of what a cell actually is. At least, that’s what evolutionary biologist and physician William Miller thinks. He’s the co-author of the 2023 book The Sentient Cell, which explores ideas found in the Cellular Basis of Consciousness (CBC) theory suggesting that cells retain a kind of consciousness. Miller believes that xenobots are just another example of how we don’t give credit to the inherent cognitive—or even conscious—abilities of the cells that make up our bodies.
“The organism as a whole no longer responds as it had, but subsets of cells are active, decision-making, and problem-solving,” Miller says. “So this fundamentally reconstitutes how we see the living frame … the fundamental unit of biological agency is the conscious cell.”
Consciousness is a notoriously slippery term, and one whose definition can change based on fields of a study, context, or even across time. Famously, the 17th century philosopher, mathematician, scientist, and all-around smart guy René Descartes thought only the human mind was conscious (which led to some inhumane experiments). Thankfully, today science recognizes various types of consciousness throughout the animal kingdom, but when it comes to forms of life fundamentally unlike us, human biases of what can be conscious or intelligent slowly creep in.
“We, as humans, have very limited capacity and finely honed ability to see intelligence in medium-sized objects moving at medium speeds through three-dimensional space,” says Tufts University developmental and synthetic biologist Michael Levin, Ph.D., in a video exploring cellular intelligence. His lab constructed xenobots, and he says human beings are bad at recognizing intelligence when it’s “extremely small or extremely large.”
For Miller, the concept of a sentient cell is a fundamental sea change in biology that challenges some Neo-Darwinian ideas like “survival of the fittest.” Because cells must work in concert to be successful, a more accurate microbial catchphrase might be “I serve myself best by serving others,” Miller says.
Putting the intelligent cell at the center of biology “spills out an entirely new biological narrative where genes are not controlling, genes are tools. In which we understand why organisms choose to stick together in their trillions, to solve problems, [for] decision-making, mutual support, partnerships, synergies, co-dependencies, collaboration—it’s not survival of the fittest,” Miller says.
Many scientists aren’t sold on this brave new future for biology. A 2024 letter published in the journal EMBO Reports describes CBC theory as “merely an intellectual exercise without empirical evidence” and the authors remain equally skeptical of consciousness claims regarding xenobots or other “third state” organisms.
“It’s been known for maybe 75 years or more that cells can be induced to develop abnormally when taken out of context and cultured in vitro. This is nothing new,” University of California, Santa Cruz plant biologist Lincoln Taiz, Ph.D. and co-author of the letter, said in an email. “When an insect herbivore secretes hormones into plant leaves, causing the leaves to form galls [abnormal growths] that serve as houses for the insect, is that a ‘third state’ of life?” Taiz has also tackled what he describes as “myths” surrounding plant consciousness and co-authored a review in 2019 titled “Plants Neither Possess nor Require Consciousness.”
And for Wendy Ann Peer, Ph.D., a biologist at the University of Maryland who also served as co-author of the dissenting CBC letter, the idea of cellular consciousness simply lacks the scientific rigor necessary to be considered a theory. “With the scientific method, there has to be a control and a hypothesis that’s clearly tested,” Peer says. “And the key for your hypothesis is that it has to be falsifiable.”
When cells are taken out of context and are no longer exchanging information or signals from nearby cells, different genes can be expressed than what’s normal, Peer says. Simply put, the xenobots are an advanced version of “animal caps,” a well-known technique in developmental biology in which cells retain the ability to differentiate into other cells.
While some experts say cells are more than just automatons following strict genetic orders, scientists still overwhelmingly define consciousness as pertaining to something with a nervous system and a brain capable of yielding a subjective point of view. However, despite this disagreement, both groups agree on at least one important point—understanding cells and exploring their many capabilities is a huge opportunity. Taiz compares the potential use of anthrobots in medicine to humans behaving as their own “gall-forming insects in plants,” via altering the development of stem cells to create particular cell behaviors.
Meanwhile, Miller agrees. “Levin’s work is a good example of trying to discern how to partner with cells to create living forms to help humans,” he says. “We’re learning to do what cells do, and we’re going to partner with them if we’re smart.”
Conscious or not, it looks like cells will undoubtedly play a starring role in the unfolding future of human health.
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Darren lives in Portland, has a cat, and writes/edits about sci-fi and how our world works. You can find his previous stuff at Gizmodo and Paste if you look hard enough.
Image of a coronal mass ejection captured by SOHO (Image source: NASA, GSFC, SOHO, and ESA; cropped)
A Caltech professor and his former graduate student have successfully created miniature solar flares in a lab. The researchers discovered and mathematically modeled a new, stable double-helix structure that explains plasma behavior from small lab scales to giant nebulae.
A duo of Caltech scientists investigating the structures of the solar corona has discovered and replicated a stable equilibrium state for the twisted tubes of plasma which make up solar flares. They published their findings in Physical Review Letters, revealing how these braided magnetic structures hold their form. The findings also show that their behavior is consistent across varying scales.
The team created solar flare replicas up to 50 centimeters long using a vacuum chamber in a laboratory. The magnetized plasma they created in their experiment automatically formed a braided structure of two “flux ropes” wrapping around each other, forming a stable double helix structure.
The study provided answers to a long-standing puzzle. Before now, scientists thought the parallel electrical currents found in such braided ropes should pull them together until they merge. These Caltech researchers have now demonstrated that while the currents flowing along the length of the ropes cause them to attract, the components of the currents flowing in the wrapping direction repel as they are antiparallel. At a “critical helical angle” — the point at which the opposing magnetic forces find balance — a stable, low-energy equilibrium is created.
To demonstrate the scalability of their results, the researchers created a mathematical model that not only predicted the behavior of these structures in their lab, but also accurately described the structure of the Double Helix Nebula. The Double Helix Nebula is a 70-light-year-wide plasma formation located 25,000 light-years from Earth. Using just the observable diameter and twist of the nebula, the model correctly predicted its stable structure.
Chibuike Okpara – Tech Writer – 138 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2024
I have always been fascinated by technology and digital devices my entire life and even got addicted to it. I have always marveled at the intricacy of even the simplest digital devices and systems around us. I have been writing and publishing articles online for about 6 years now, just about a year ago, I found myself lost in the marvel of smartphones and laptops we have in our hands every day. I developed a passion for learning about new devices and technologies that come with them and at some point, I asked myself, “Why not get into writing tech articles?” It is useless to say I followed up the idea — it is evident. I am an open-minded individual who derives an infinite amount of joy from researching and discovering new information, I believe there is so much to learn and such a short life to live, so I put my time to good use — learning new things. I am a ‘bookworm’ of the internet and digital devices. When I am not writing, you will find me on my devices still, I do explore and admire the beauty of nature and creatures. I am a fast learner and quickly adapt to changes, always looking forward to new adventures.
NASA analysis reveals asteroid Bennu born from stardust and water
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) analyses the samples from asteroid Bennu, unveiling a complex history of transformation and a surprisingly diverse origin.
On the return of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission, the administration shared the findings, releasing three new scientific papers.
It has been discovered that the asteroid is composed of materials forged both near the Sun and in interstellar space, all of which have been altered by water and billions of years of exposure in space.
The analysis highlights that the asteroid was formed from the fragments of a much larger parent asteroid that was destroyed in a collision.
The parent asteroid is claimed to be a cosmic mosaic that accumulates from different parts of the early solar system.
Scientists also found presolar dust in the composition of the asteroid, alongside organic matter likely formed in interstellar space, and minerals of high temperature likely to have originated near the Sun.
Ann Nguyen of NASA’s Johnson Space Center stated, “We found stardust grains with compositions that predate the solar system, organic matter that likely formed in interstellar space, and high temperature minerals that formed closer to the Sun. All of these constituents were transported great distances to the region that Bennu’s parent asteroid formed.”
Although these ancient materials survived, the asteroid underwent intense changes. Minerals are dissolved and reformed in the Bennu after repeated interactions with water. The study found that 80% of the sample consists of water-bearing minerals.
There are multiple scars seen on the surface of the asteroid resulting from a relentless bombardment by micrometeorites. This process is also known as space weathering, which occurs much faster than previously thought.
These findings are highly significant as they aid in revealing mysteries of asteroid formation that survive violent trips through Earth’s atmosphere.
Astronomers have now combined radio data with X-ray images to produce a stunning new view of the pulsar B1509-58 surrounded by its nebula, which appears to resemble a giant hand reaching for the pulsar.
NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory first released an image of this unusual nebula in 2009, sparking years of continued observation. The latest composite combines Chandra’s X-ray data with radio data from the Australian Telescope Compact Array (ATCA), providing fresh context and perspective on the nebula’s distinctive shape.
B1509-58
The pulsar at the center of the image measures just 12 miles across, yet it powers the vast MSH 15-52 nebula, which stretches some 900 trillion miles. From Earth’s vantage point, the nebula appears to take the form of a human hand, with the palm facing us and the fingers extending upward toward B1509-58.
The composite assigns ATCA’s radio data in red, while Chandra’s X-ray emissions appear in blue, orange, and yellow. Optical hydrogen gas imagery is shown in gold, with overlapping radio and X-ray regions displayed in purple. Background star field data complete the image, along with the visible remains of the supernova remnant RCW 89, which gave birth to the pulsar. Researchers released two versions of the image: a clear composite and a labeled version identifying its key features.
The labeled version of the composite image prepared by researchers. Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Univ. of Hong Kong/S. Zhang et al.; Radio: ATNF/CSIRO/ATCA; H-alpha: UK STFC/Royal Observatory Edinburgh; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/N. Wolk
The Composite Image
The pulsar formed when a massive star exhausted its nuclear fuel and collapsed, triggering a supernova that ejected its outer layers into space. B1509-58’s magnetic field is estimated to be 15 trillion times stronger than Earth’s, making it one of the galaxy’s most powerful electromagnetic objects. This immense force propels electrons and other energetic particles outward, creating the MSH 15-52 nebula. The pulsar itself rotates nearly seven times per second.
The new composite reveals intricate details of the nebula, including filaments aligned with its magnetic field. These filaments, highlighted in a supplementary image as short white lines, may be the result of the pulsar’s particle wind colliding with supernova debris.
Suplementary image indicatinging the complex filaments. Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Univ. of Hong Kong/S. Zhang et al.; Radio: ATNF/CSIRO/ATCA; H-alpha: UK STFC/Royal Observatory Edinburgh; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/N. Wolk
By comparing the radio and X-ray data, astronomers noted key differences. Radio waves fail to capture several prominent X-ray features, including the inner parts of the nebula’s “fingers” and a jet at the bottom of the image. This discrepancy suggests that highly energetic particles may be leaking from a shockwave near the pulsar and streaming along magnetic field lines, producing the structures in a way akin to a sonic boom.
The radio data also extend beyond the X-ray emissions and appear in irregular clumps, possibly signaling interactions with dense hydrogen gas clouds. However, not all features are easily explained. In the upper-right portion of the image, X-ray emissions form a sharp boundary with no corresponding radio signal—an anomaly, since supernova blast waves typically glow brightly in both.
An Unusual Cosmic Structure
The nebula and supernova are both behaving strangely, displaying features not typically seen in such young sources. Researchers still have many questions about how these unusual structures initially formed and evolved into the ones we observe today.
The complex relationship between he pulsar and supernova debris will require extensive work to unravel and develop a complete understanding of what is occurring.
The paper, “High-resolution Radio Study of Pulsar Wind Nebula MSH 15–52 and Supernova Remnant RCW 89,” appeared in The Astrophysical Journal on August 20, 2025.
Ryan Whalen covers science and technology for The Debrief. He holds an MA in History and a Master of Library and Information Science with a certificate in Data Science. He can be contacted at ryan@thedebrief.org, and follow him on Twitter @mdntwvlf.
NOTRE DAME, Ind., August 23, 2025 (Newswire.com)
– For the first time, researchers have presented a unified mathematical formulation that compactly brings together the known fundamental interactions of nature.
The Equation of Forces (EoF) condenses gravity, electromagnetism, and the weak and strong nuclear forces into a single coherent structure. This unification is achieved not by extra spatial dimensions or speculative constructs, but within a four-dimensional, renormalization-group consistent framework, allowing predictive connections across energy scales.
Building on this foundation, the Equation of Everything (EoE) extends the principle: it integrates not only the four forces but also cosmological dynamics, quantum structure, and information flow into a single overarching framework. This represents a step beyond force unification – toward a description of physical law that spans quarks to cosmos, entropy to spacetime.
Why This Matters
For over a century, unification has been the “holy grail” of theoretical physics. Newton revealed one law for apples and planets. Maxwell bound electricity and magnetism. Einstein unified space and time, matter and geometry. Now, for the first time, all four forces are written in one equation that remains mathematically consistent up to the Planck scale.
Unlike previous approaches such as string theory or loop quantum gravity, this framework:
Requires no extra dimensions.
Reduces free parameters, with masses and mixing angles predicted from a single organizing principle.
Bridges micro and macro, showing how the same flow governs proton decay rates, neutrino oscillations, dark matter relics, and inflationary dynamics.
Potential Impact
If borne out, the EoF and EoE could:
Unlock deep puzzles: shedding light on black holes, dark energy, and the arrow of time.
Redefine the role of information: treating entropy and quantum coherence as fundamental ingredients of physics, not emergent byproducts.
Guide next-generation experiments: predicting linked signals – proton decay, neutrino parameters, inflationary spectra – where one test can confirm or falsify the entire framework.
Inspire new technologies: from quantum computing architectures grounded in unified principles, to energy models informed by higher-order curvature terms.
A Call to Action
This is not a final Theory of Everything. It is a framework – an organizing script that appears mathematically self-consistent and testable. Its fate will depend on the scrutiny of the global scientific community.
If validated, this achievement would stand beside Newton, Maxwell, and Einstein – as a new pillar in humanity’s quest to understand reality.
Disclaimer: This perspective is provided for informational purposes only. It is not presented as, and does not purport to be, a proven truth. It is a structured lens for inquiry, subject to the full scrutiny of the scientific method. While efforts have been made to ensure accuracy and completion, the author(s) make no guarantees and accept no liability whatsoever for any errors, omissions, or outcomes arising from the contents herein and/or its use, and expressly disclaim any such liability. This work does not constitute medical, legal, accounting or other professional advice.s
What do solar flares, lab-grown plasma, and a nebula 25,000 light-years away have in common? A cosmic twist, literally.
In a breakthrough that braids together the Sun’s outer atmosphere and the heart of the Milky Way, Caltech physicist Paul Bellan and NASA postdoctoral fellow Yang Zhang have uncovered a new equilibrium state in magnetized plasma: a double helix structure that holds steady under cosmic tension.
The solar corona, an ethereal halo of plasma that’s a million degrees hotter than the Sun’s surface, is home to magnetic flux ropes: twisted tubes of plasma that behave like electrified garden hoses. These ropes, charged and frozen into magnetic fields, are the engines behind solar flares and coronal mass ejections. But until now, scientists didn’t fully understand what happens when these ropes braid together.
Using a vacuum chamber and a pair of electrodes, Bellan and Zhang recreated miniature solar flares in the lab, just 10 to 50 centimeters long. What emerged was a stable double helix: two flux ropes spiraling around each other in perfect magnetic balance.
“We have two electrodes inside the vacuum chamber, which have coils producing a magnetic field spanning the electrodes. Then we apply high voltage across the electrodes to ionize initially neutral gas to form a plasma. The resulting magnetized plasma configuration automatically forms a braided structure,” Zhang explains.
And unlike previous assumptions, the ropes didn’t merge or collapse; they held their shape without tending to twist tighter or untwist.
In their new study, Zhang and Bellan show that the double-helix structure formed by braided magnetic flux ropes can reach a stable balance, and that this balance can be predicted using math.
Four braided structures. (a) astrophysical jet M-87, 3000 light years long; (b) Double Helix Nebula, 70 light years long; (c) solar prominence, 3000 kilometers long; (d) solar loop manufactured in Bellan lab at Caltech, 3 centimeters long.
Credit: (a) Passeto et al., Sophia Dagnello, NRAO/AUI/NSF; (b) NASA/JPL-Caltech/M. Morris (UCLA); (c) High Altitude Observatory Archives; (d) Yang Zhang, Caltech Bellan Plasma Lab
While scientists already understand single flux ropes well, braided ones, especially when both strands carry electric current in the same direction—have been more mysterious. Most models focused on the opposite case, where currents flow in opposite directions, but that setup is rare in nature.
The same-direction current setup is crucial because it’s prone to twisting and expanding due to magnetic forces, a behavior seen in both solar flares and lab experiments. These effects don’t happen when the currents cancel each other out, as in the opposite-direction case.
Scientists used to think that when two braided magnetic flux ropes carry current in the same direction, they’d naturally merge, because parallel currents attract each other magnetically. But in 2010, researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory discovered something surprising: instead of merging, these flux ropes actually bounce off each other when they get close.
“There was clearly something more complicated going on when the flux ropes are braided, and now we have shown what that is. Suppose you have electrical currents flowing along two helical wires that wrap around each other to form a braided structure, as seen in our lab. In that case, the components of the two currents flowing along the length of the two wires are parallel and attract, but the components of the two currents flowing in the wrapping direction are anti-parallel and repel.”
“This combination of both attractive and repulsive forces means there will be a critical helical angle at which these opposing forces balance, producing an equilibrium. If the helical flux ropes twist tighter, there will be too much magnetic repulsion; if they twist more loosely, there will be too much magnetic attraction. At the critical angle of twist, the helical structure arrives at its lowest energy state, or equilibrium.”
To crack the mystery of how braided flux ropes behave, Zhang took on the challenge of building a mathematical model, something no one had done before. Using what Bellan calls “brute force mathematics,” Zhang developed equations that work across different flux tube setups, including the tricky double-helix braids. His model revealed that these ropes can reach a stable state where magnetic attraction and repulsion perfectly balance out.
And there was a bonus: Zhang’s equations didn’t just predict equilibrium, they also mapped out the magnetic fields inside and outside the ropes, along with the current and pressure within. As Bellan put it, this gave scientists a complete picture of how these twisted plasma structures behave.
A powerful plasma rope found in the Universe
To test the model’s reach, Zhang applied it to the Double Helix Nebula, a massive plasma formation stretching 70 light-years across, located 25,000 light-years from Earth. The goal? To see if the math held up not just in the lab, but in the vastness of space. Spoiler: it did.
“What was rather amazing about this calculation is that Yang didn’t really need to know much about the nebula,” Bellan says. “Just knowing the diameter of the strands and the periodicity of the twist, numbers that can be observed astronomically, Yang was able to predict the angle of twist that yielded an equilibrium structure, and that was consistent with observations of this nebula.”
“One of the most exciting aspects of this research is that magnetohydrodynamics, the theory of magnetized plasmas, turns out to be fantastically scalable. When I first started looking into this, I thought the phenomena of magnetic structures at different scales were qualitatively similar. Still, because their sizes are so different, they couldn’t be described by the same equations. It turns out that this is not so. What we see in lab experiments and in solar and astrophysical observations is governed by the same equations.”
Journal Reference:
Yang Zhang and Paul M. Bellan. Magnetic Double Helix. Phys. Rev. Lett. DOI: 10.1103/sz9k-6l22
When people think about climate change, carbon dioxide and melting ice usually come to mind. But there’s another, less obvious factor at play: iron in the ocean.
A new study from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa shows how the supply of iron in the South Pacific shifted over the last 93 million years.
The shift in iron changed how marine life grew and how carbon dioxide moved in and out of the atmosphere.
Why ocean iron matters
Iron feeds phytoplankton, the tiny plants floating in seawater. When they grow, they pull carbon dioxide out of the air. Without enough iron, phytoplankton struggle, and less carbon dioxide gets absorbed.
Today we know this link well, but the UH Mānoa team wanted to know how iron shaped oceans in the distant past. To investigate, the researchers studied deep-sea sediment cores collected far from any continent.
Changing iron in ocean
Study lead author Logan Tegler is a postdoctoral researcher in the UH Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology.
“Over the past 93 million years, we found that five primary sources of iron have influenced the South Pacific Ocean: dust, iron from far off ocean sources, two distinct hydrothermal sources, and a volcanic ash,” explained Tegler.
“These sources shifted over time as the sites gradually migrated away from mid-ocean ridges.”
At first, most iron came from underwater hydrothermal vents. Later, dust carried by wind slowly became more important. Around 30 million years ago, it took over as the main source.
Climate shifts and dust
The study connects shifts in iron supply directly to major climate events in Earth’s history.
During warmer greenhouse periods, when the planet lacked polar ice, volcanic ash and seafloor hydrothermal vents acted as the main suppliers of iron to the ocean. These sources provided a steady flow of nutrients, helping sustain marine productivity.
Later, as Earth cooled and Antarctica developed permanent ice sheets, the dynamics changed. Stronger winds began carrying larger amounts of continental dust into the South Pacific.
The dust became a dominant source of iron, replacing volcanic and hydrothermal inputs. The change mattered because not all iron sources are equal. Some forms are more accessible to microbes, while others are harder to use.
These differences influenced which organisms could thrive, altering marine food webs and carbon uptake. By linking climate transitions with nutrient supply, the study shows how even small elements can reshape the global carbon cycle.
Ocean life under low iron
“Understanding this historical context helps us comprehend how iron has shaped ecosystems,” said Tegler.
“It also raises questions about how the iron cycle might have favored certain microbes over others – an ecosystem with persistently low iron could favor microbes adapted to survive under iron-limited conditions, such as diatoms.”
In large parts of the Pacific, the amount of available iron still sets the limit on how much phytoplankton can grow. Fewer phytoplankton mean less carbon dioxide leaves the air.
Today’s unusual pattern
“Modern dust deposition in the South Pacific is extremely low,” said Tegler. “However, our findings surprisingly suggest that the South Pacific is currently receiving more dust than it has at any point in the last 90 million years, which is remarkable given its current reputation as an iron poor region!”
This isn’t just random. Rising dust relates to shifts in climate and geology. Drying in Australia, uplift of landmasses, altered wind paths, human-driven changes, and broader atmospheric circulation patterns all play a part. Compared to the deep past, today’s South Pacific is in an unusual state.
Ocean changes due to iron
“As human activities increase iron input to the oceans through industrial emissions and biomass burning, understanding past perturbations of the iron cycle is crucial for predicting and mitigating adverse effects,” noted Tegler.
Iron’s history shows how one nutrient can shift ecosystems and climate. By studying how iron availability changed over millions of years, scientists gain insight into today’s environmental challenges.
Ultimately, the research helps predict future impacts on Earth’s carbon balance, marine life, and overall climate resilience.
The study is published in the journal Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology.
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Where it lives: Steppes and high-elevation grasslands in Central Asia, particularly Mongolia and China
What it eats: Small rodents, including gerbils, hamsters and pikas, small lizards and birds
Pallas’s cat, also known as a manul, is a feline from Central Asia that yelps like a small dog and has such short legs that it sometimes struggles to run after prey. Researchers think it is one of the oldest living cat species in the world, having diverged 5.2 million years ago from a leopard ancestor.
Although it looks stocky, Pallas’s cat isn’t actually much bigger than a domestic cat beneath its long, dense fur. This thick coat provides insulation against its environment, the freezing cold of Central Asia’s steppe and high-altitude grassland ecosystems. The species is rarely seen because it is solitary and very secretive, spending the daytime in rock crevices and marmot burrows.
Pallas’s cat comes out at dusk to hunt and stays out until dawn. It is an ambush predator, meaning it waits at the exits of rodent burrows until its prey appears — although some cats also stick their paws in to scoop out a meal, according to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute.
Even if Pallas’s cat is active during the day, the feline is hard to spot. Its coat is usually gray or light tan, but it can change color with the seasons to better blend into the local landscape, according to the National Zoo. Most of the hairs also have white tips, giving the cat a mottled or frosted appearance that is difficult to distinguish from rocks and shrubs in its natural surroundings.
Pallas’s cats are well camouflaged in their natural environment. (Image credit: Antagain/Getty Images)
For even more camouflage, Pallas’s cat has rounded ears set so low on its head that it can peer over rocks without its ears peeking out. The only part of its body that protrudes is its bushy tail, which is about half as long as the head and body combined, according to the Felidae Conservation Fund.
Unlike other small cats, which have slit-like pupils, Pallas’s cat has rounded pupils that are good for judging distances. The cat also yelps when it is scared or excited, which makes it sound more like a small dog than a feline, according to the National Zoo — but the species purrs and growls like any other small cat.
In the wild, Pallas’s cat typically lives eight to nine years, according to the National Zoo. The cat uses scent to mark its territory, which is unusually large for such a small feline, with a range typically covering 3.5 to 7 square miles (9 to 18 square kilometers).
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Pallas’s cats are known to keep their paws warm by standing on their own tail, according to Edinburgh Zoo, but it’s unclear whether a cold climate explains the feline’s grumpy appearance.
For the average overnight stargazer and astrophotographer prioritizing compact and lightweight gear for their trek, the new Backpacker from Colorado-based Sky View Tents may be exactly what you need.
The Backpacker is a purpose-built, three-season stargazing tent that offers a huge, lay-on-your-back panoramic view of the night sky that is perfect for first-timers or seasoned sky watchers. With some minor drawbacks if you get caught in a storm, and a major trade-off in privacy, the Backpacker provides a quick setup shelter ideal for two people, or a solo trek with ample equipment for a night of astrophotography.
As is any evening planned for staring up at the night sky, weather is a major factor in this tent’s functionality. An easy-to-deploy interior rainfly helps with those unexpected downpours, but it’s just short of completely waterproof, and a thin blanket of condensation can build up in the mornings when waking up in more humid, dewy climates.
Sky View Backpacker stargazing tent review
The mesh of the Sky View Tents Backpacker is nearly invisible against the night sky. (Image credit: Space.com / Josh Dinner)
Sky View Tents Backpacker: Design
Small and lightweight
Quick-deploy interior rainfly
Mesh ceiling
The Sky View Tents Backpacker features a ceiling made of a fine mesh that almost completely disappears against the night sky. The view through the top of the tent is virtually unobstructed across the 180-degree view, save the thin line across the center that supports the rainfly when deployed.
The Backpacker’s simple double A-frame/arched pole structure creates a modestly sized 52-inch by 80-inch rectangular base, with a triangular frame peaking at 42-inches tall. When packaged, the 4.6 pounds of tent, poles, stakes and carrying bag compresses to a six-by-six-inch bread loaf-sized 20-inch tube.
The Sky View Tents Backpacker folded and rolled into its carrying bag with tent poles and stakes. (Image credit: Space.com / Josh Dinner)
When pitched, the tent features one primary door for entry and exit, and a smaller hatch flap on the opposite side that opens underneath a low overhang canopy staked to the ground as a “dry storage” area for shoes or a small bag.
Low-profile, rounded-edged stakes secure each corner of the tent to the ground. Guidewires stretch to stakes on either end of the Backpacker tent help support the structure, but be careful not to trip on them when getting in and out.
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Inside, there is a single cell phone-sized pocked to keep some small personal items you don’t want rolling around, but that is it as far as interior amenities. The tent’s material feels thin, but seems sturdy. Without a tarp underneath, it felt like spikes of dry grass might be enough to poke through the bottom, but none were successful. Sky View Tents sells the Backpacker Footprint for an extra base layer of protection.
A total of seven stakes secure the Backpacker to the ground: One at each corner, two nailing down the lines extending from the top of either end of the frame, and one keeping taught the mini overhang for the tent’s “dry-storage” area. (Image credit: Space.com / Josh Dinner)
Dimensions: Floor area of 1.32 meters by 2.03 meters, interior height of 1.07 meters
From the outside, the Backpacker can be hard to see at night, so use a flashlight or good headlamp when walking around outside to keep from tripping over it. On the inside, the tent’s ultra-fine mesh ceiling remains largely invisible as you gaze at the stars, though some wrinkles in the material here and there can give it away.
At the far end of the tent’s interior, a thin pocket drapes over the frame, fastened closed with plastic hooks. Scrunched inside that pocket flap, the unfurlable rainfly that extends across the top center line at the ceiling and secured on the other side with six hooks. Near the bottom, along the seam on either side where the ceiling mesh meets the nylon, long parallel pockets held up taught by sets of bottom hooks on the rainfly serve as gutters for guiding runoff water down through the mesh and outside, rather than into the tent’s interior.
Sky View Backpacker: Performance
Hooks secure the rainfly inside a pocket flap across the top of the far end of the Sky View Backpacker when stowed. (Image credit: Space.com / Josh Dinner)
Easy, intuitive setup
Quick-deploy rainfly, but gets muggy fast
Mesh is an afterthought while stargazing
First, and maybe most importantly, is the ability of the Sky View Backpacker to live up to its name, and it certainly does. Laying down in this tent is virtually the same as laying down in an open field to look at the night sky. Though obvious on camera, the few wrinkles on parts of the mesh are much harder to see with the naked eye, and its easy for your brain to ignore the line strung across the top after a few minutes stargazing.
Setting up the tent for the first time took less than 10 minutes, and gets even quicker after you’ve done it once or twice. By virtue of that fast assembly and breakdown, the Backpacker is useful both for camping, and also the quick jaunt out for a few hours sky watching. For particularly buggy nights, for example, someone wanting to shoot some star trails can setup their camera gear outside, then wait unbothered by the insects inside the tent without sacrificing the view.
Fireflies streak by in this night sky view through the mesh roof of the Sky View Backpacker. (Image credit: Space.com / Josh Dinner)
For those opting for overnight outdoor stays, it may be a good idea to deploy the rainfly, at least a little, before going to sleep. Even with fair weather, the inside of the Backpacker isn’t spared from the morning dewfall, and the rainfly goes a long way in deflecting the buildup. As long as it’s not actually raining, though, there isn’t a need to close the overhang all the way, and, in fact, leaving a section uncovered near the main door helps a lot with airflow.
If you do get caught in a quick storm, or even a longer one, the rainfly has been well designed to deflect the downpour. A downside, however, is how muggy the tent can get when this is the case. A fully deployed and secured rainfly cuts off the tent’s ventilation, and with limited space, the air inside gets thick quickly.
The interior rainfly deploys without having to exit the tent, and covers the entire ceiling to prevent rain getting in. (Image credit: Space.com / Josh Dinner)
When it comes to durability, the tent’s material seems just a little thin. Though, through several setups and breakdowns over many nights, the nylon showed no snags or tears. Neither did the mesh, but you should still be careful not to catch it on something sharp. The zippers, too, felt clean and sturdy, and never got caught while opening and closing the different flaps.
If you want to travel even lighter, Sky View designed the Backpacker to be strung up using hiking sticks, letting you leave the tent poles at home. Though we did not have the chance to test that capability during our review, ditching the poles does bring the tent’s weight down to 3.25 pounds (1.5 kilograms).
Guidewires staked to the ground on either end of the Backpacker tent help support its structure, but be careful not to trip on them when getting in and out. (Image credit: Space.com / Josh Dinner)
Should you buy the Sky View Backpacker?
Buy it if:
✅ You want a simple, packable shelter: The Sky View Backpacker tent maximizes visibility for stargazing overnights and extended astrophotography shoots.
✅ You want a fast, repeatable setup: The Backpacker sacrifices complication for simplicity to offer a no-frills “sleep under the stars” experience.
Don’t buy it if:
❌ You often camp in wet climates: This is not the tent for long-term backpacking trips where you expect to run into inclement weather.
❌ You need elbow room for two: The Backpacker can fit up to two occupants, but they’ll need to be very comfortable with one another.
The Backpacker is an easy, pick-up-and-go tent that’s perfect for a pair of stargazers, or a solo camper hauling some camera gear for an astroshoot or just to lay back and look at the night sky. It provides a quick shelter and a lightweight design that easily integrates into a camera bag or camping backpack — hence the name.
The interior rainfly gives it a leg up against other tents with rain guards that attach on the outside of the roof, but as tents go, the Backpacker is built with a singular purpose. This tent is for you if you want to add to your sky watching arsenal to provide some shelter on those longer treks to darker skies. But its convenience and functionality come at a bit of cost. Literally.
If the Sky View Backpacker isn’t for you
Similarly sized tents can be found at some major retailers as cheap as $30, or up to almost $300, depending on their amenities and build quality. The Sky View Backpacker comes with a $350 price tag. Other tents and pop-up shelters built for stargazing range between about $100 and $350.
If you want a more rugged tent for a longer camping trip, something a little more robust may be what you’re looking for. If space is your main deterrence to the Backpacker, Sky View Tents does offer a larger XL Stargazing Tent built to fit three people.
