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    Rocky planets might have been able to form in the early universe

    Rocky planets might have been forming since the beginning of the universe. A stellar nursery in a neighboring galaxy has the right materials for such planet formation, researchers report April 24 in Nature Astronomy.

    The overall chemical makeup of the tiny galaxy, called the Small Magellanic Cloud, is akin to that of the early universe. The finding suggests that rocky planets might have been able to develop in the relatively pristine chemical environment that pervaded the cosmos just a couple billion years after the Big Bang.

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    The Small Magellanic Cloud is one of the Milky Way’s nearest galactic neighbors, though it’s very different from our galaxy. The tiny galaxy has a much lower abundance of heavy metal elements — such as iron, magnesium and aluminum — which are all crucial to the formation of rocky planets. This low-metal environment also mimics that of the early universe, an epoch before stars had enough time to forge the heavy elements and blow them out into space.

    Because of the lack of these elements, astronomers have been unsure if rocky planets are able to form in the Small Magellanic Cloud. And previous telescopes did not have the ability to really probe young stars with a mass less than or equal to that of the sun, so astronomers couldn’t measure the star systems’ dust content, which is needed to infer if planets could be being born. But with the sensitivity of the James Webb Space Telescope, or JWST, astronomers can now gather more light and see smaller, fainter stars in greater detail (SN: 12/7/22).

    Astrophysicist Olivia Jones and colleagues used an infrared camera on JWST to look at a region of the Small Magellanic Cloud called NGC 346, where young stars are forming. “It’s the first time ever we’ve really been able to look at how solar-size stars form in an environment akin to the early universe,” says Jones, of the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh.

    The team detected signatures that suggest that lots of dust is orbiting and falling toward hundreds of stars in the region. As these dust grains orbit, they could begin to stick together and eventually accrete to create rocky planets.

    “One of the things we would love to understand better is how the environmental context impacts star formation and then, later on, the planet-forming populations around those young, forming stars,” says Michael Meyer, an astronomer at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor who was not involved in the research.

    Because the Small Magellanic Cloud is the nearest example of a cosmic region with a much different chemical composition than the Milky Way, he says, it provides the first touchstone to study how star and planet formation depend on the stellar environment.

    The low-metal stellar environment in the Small Magellanic Cloud is comparable to that of faraway galaxies that were developing around 11 billion years ago. During this time, a period called “cosmic noon,” there was a surge of star formation throughout the cosmos. If rocky planets could be accreting around stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud, the researchers suggest, such worlds could have been forming in the early years of the universe as well.

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    The young stars in NGC 346 are also relative lightweights. One reason scientists are interested in studying the possibility of planet formation around low-mass stars is because they are the most common type of stars in the universe and the longest-lived, says Penn State astronomer Kevin Luhman, who was not involved in the research.

    “They offer the longest period of time in which life might form and survive on any planets around them,” Luhman says. “If the most common star in the universe lived for only a million years, then exploded, that would be kind of bad for life.” The fact that these types of stars can potentially form rocky planets, he says, is a good sign for life developing elsewhere in the universe.

    Follow-up research will focus on determining what chemical signatures can be found developing around the stars, Jones says. This could clue the researchers in to what the chemical elements are that make up any rocky planets. More

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    People in China are the least likely to report being left-handed

    Around 1 in 10 people are left-handedEva-Katalin/Getty Images
    Fewer than 3 per cent of people in China report being left-handed, despite the global average being closer to 10 per cent. Researchers think the difference is probably due to a continuing cultural stigma against left-handedness, which is less of an issue elsewhere, rather than genetics.
    Hugo Spiers at University College London and his colleagues are overseeing a long-running study that assesses people’s ability to navigate using the mobile phone game Sea Hero Quest.
    As part of this research, more than 400,000 … More

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    What is really going on when we microwave our food?

    Nataliia Suietska/shutterstock
    I LIVED happily without a microwave for 10 years, but, since acquiring one when I moved house last year, I have come to appreciate what a useful gadget it is. I have also realised that much of what I thought I knew about microwaves wasn’t quite right.
    Microwave ovens work using electromagnetic waves, also called microwaves, with wavelengths of 12 centimetres or so – much longer than visible light, but shorter than most radio waves. Microwaves create an oscillating magnetic field that puts certain molecules in a spin: namely, molecules like water, which have positively and negatively charged portions. Anything … More

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    Saturn’s icy rings are probably heating its atmosphere, giving it an ultraviolet glow

    The rings that make Saturn such a spectacle are probably heating its atmosphere and making it glow at ultraviolet wavelengths.

    Researchers detected an excess of ultraviolet emission in Saturn’s northern hemisphere that comes from hydrogen atoms. The emission, known as Lyman-alpha radiation, is probably the result of water ice, which contains hydrogen, falling into the atmosphere from the planet’s rings, the researchers propose March 30 in the Planetary Science Journal.

    The detection of similar emission from a distant world could someday lead to the discovery of a Saturn-like planet orbiting another star.

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    The key to the discovery came after two spacecraft — the Hubble Space Telescope and Cassini — observed Saturn simultaneously in 2017, right before Cassini plunged into the planet’s atmosphere, says Lotfi Ben-Jaffel, an astrophysicist at the Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris.

    This allowed Ben-Jaffel and colleagues to calibrate the ultraviolet detectors on those spacecraft as well as detectors on Voyager 1 and 2, which flew past Saturn in 1980 and 1981, and the International Ultraviolet Explorer, an Earth-orbiting satellite that also observed Saturn. Comparing these ultraviolet observations revealed a band of excess Lyman-alpha radiation spanning 5° to 35° N latitude on Saturn.

    The researchers’ explanation for the extra ultraviolet glow is plausible, says Paul Estrada, a planetary scientist at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., who was not involved with the new work.

    “We know material is falling in from the rings,” he says, because Cassini detected it during the spacecraft’s spiral into Saturn (SN: 12/14/17). “The rings are predominantly water ice. It may be the source of the atomic hydrogen” emitting the Lyman-alpha radiation that the researchers have detected, he says.

    When icy ring particles fall into Saturn’s atmosphere, they carry kinetic energy with them. “They have to release that energy to the surrounding gas,” Ben-Jaffel says, and that energy heats up the atmosphere. When the icy particles vaporize, they release additional energy, further heating the atmosphere and making it glow at UV wavelengths. The researchers suspect that the emission also appears in the planet’s southern hemisphere.

    All the giant planets of our solar system have rings, but only Saturn’s are so bright and beautiful. Astronomers don’t yet know whether any of the thousands of worlds found orbiting other stars have rings that are equally magnificent.

    The new discovery may help astronomers identify those spectacularly ringed worlds, if they exist. Future planet hunters could look for the telltale ultraviolet glow of the Lyman-alpha radiation, Ben-Jaffel says, and then further observations could confirm the rings’ existence. More

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    Bone fragment reveals humans wore leather clothes 39,000 years ago

    This piece of bone from 39,600 years ago has multiple puncture marks on it that seem to have been made by puncturing leatherF. d'Errico and L. Doyon
    An analysis of a 39,600-year-old bone containing strange indentations claims it was used as a punch board for making holes in leather, revealing how Homo sapiens in Europe made clothes to help them survive cold climates at that time.
    “We do not have much information about clothes because they’re perishable,” says Luc Doyon at the University of Bordeaux, France, who led the study. “They are an early technology we’re in the dark about.”
    The bone, from the hip of a large mammal such as a horse or bison, was discovered at a site called Terrasses de la Riera dels Canyars near Barcelona, Spain. It has 28 puncture marks on its flat surface, including a linear sequence of 10 holes about 5 millimetres apart from each other, as well as other holes in more random positions.Advertisement

    This pattern was “highly intriguing”, says Doyon, because it didn’t appear to be a decoration or to represent a counting tally – the usual explanations for deliberate patterns of lines or dots on prehistoric objects. Microscopic analysis revealed that the line of 10 indents was made by one tool and the other dots were made at different times by five different tools. “Why do we have different types of arrangements on the same bone?” says Doyon.
    The researchers used an approach called experimental archaeology, in which you try out different ancient tools to see how marks were made. “We’re attempting to replicate the gestures that were used by prehistoric people to produce a specific modification on the bone,” says Doyon.
    They found that the only way to recreate the type of indents on the Canyars bone was to knock a chisel-like stone tool called a burin through a thick hide, a technique called indirect percussion. The same method is still used by modern-day cobblers and in traditional societies to pierce leather.
    The most likely explanation for the indents is that they were made during the manufacture or repair of leather items, say the researchers. After punching a hole in the animal hide, a thread could be pushed through the material with a pointed tool to make a tight seam, says Doyon.
    “It’s a very significant discovery,” says Ian Gilligan at the University of Sydney, Australia. “We have no direct evidence for clothes in the Pleistocene, so finding any indirect evidence is valuable. The oldest surviving fragments of cloth in the world date from around 10,000 years ago.”
    This discovery helps solve a mystery about the emergence of fitted clothing. Homo sapiens reached Europe around 42,000 years ago, yet eyed needles haven’t been found in this region from earlier than around 26,000 years ago and these aren’t strong enough to repeatedly puncture thick leather – raising the question of how these ancient people managed to make garments to fit them.

    “The knowledge about making fitting clothing without bone needles is something we didn’t have access to before,” says Doyon.
    “The location and date are interesting: southern Europe nearly 40,000 years ago,” says Gilligan. “That’s quite soon after the arrival of Homo sapiens, during some rapid cold swings in the climate. It’s when and where we’d expect our ancestors to need good clothes for protection.”
    Doyon and his colleagues argue that this punch board marks a crucial cultural adaptation to climate change that helped modern humans expand to new regions.
    The punch board was one of six artefacts found at the Canyars site, they say, and could have been part of a repair kit.

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    The Smithsonian’s ‘Lights Out’ inspires visitors to save the fading night sky

    Bright, artificial lights are drowning out the night sky’s natural glow. Now, an exhibition is highlighting some of the consequences of a fading starry night — and how people can help restore it.

    “Lights Out,” open through 2025 at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., illuminates how light pollution is affecting astronomy, natural ecosystems and human cultures around the world. “We want people to understand that it’s a global problem, and it’s having broad impact,” says Jill Johnson, an exhibit developer at the museum.

    Upon entering the exhibition, the dimly lit space resets the mood for nighttime exploration. The exhibition spans a long hallway that can be entered from either end. One entrance quickly draws in visitors with a personal connection. An interactive display invites you to experience your own night sky, whether in a city, suburb or remote location. Three tactile panels feature raised elements, including dots representing light pollution and crosses indicating visible stars. The more populated a place, the more dots are smattered across the panel.

    Visitors can also listen to the artificial light and starlight in each sky through data that have been translated into sound. The multisensory experience is especially engaging for visitors who may not be able to experience the exhibition visually.

    The other entrance offers a more didactic introduction to the exhibition. A timeline presents a brief history of human-made light, from fire-lit torches to today’s LEDs, and then segues to astronomy (SN: 1/19/23). Space scientists rely on light, both visible and not, to understand celestial bodies. And their views of the universe have become increasingly obstructed by artificial light.

    “Astronomers were some of the first folks to sound the alarm on light pollution,” says Ryan Lavery, a public affairs specialist at the museum.

    Astronomers aren’t the only scientists who have noticed the repercussions. Biologists have observed light pollution’s toll on plants and animals, whether harming corals’ moonlight-triggered reproduction or bats’ ability to pollinate flowers. Here, much of the evidence on display is visual. Photographs and specimens demonstrate the variety of critters that are active at night, while a glass case of preserved birds presents the grim consequences of light pollution. All of these birds died from striking buildings in Washington, D.C., or Baltimore after being disoriented by the bright cityscapes.

    Losing dark, starry nights also affects human cultures. Another area of the exhibition presents people’s ancient and modern-day connections to the night sky through photographs, stories and cultural items. A glistening beadwork depicting the Milky Way was crafted specially for “Lights Out” by Gwich’in artist Margaret Nazon, who grew up staring at the stars in Canada’s Northwest Territories.

    Our connections under a shared sky are emphasized in the exhibition’s small central theater. It replicates a starry night over Coudersport, Pa., through speckled lighting and walls bearing illustrations of trees and hills. A short film describes the star cluster Messier 45, also known as the Pleiades, and explains the stars’ origins according to tales from three cultures — the ancient Greeks, the Ainu in Japan and the Māori in New Zealand.

    “Cultures all over the world have a deep relationship to the night sky,” says Stephen Loring, cocurator of the exhibition and an archaeologist at the museum. “If we lose the night sky, we lose an avenue to our understanding of what it is to be a human being.”

    But the exhibition isn’t all bleak. Sprinkled throughout it are success stories of how people are reducing light pollution, from France’s outdoor lighting curfews to beach communities that have altered their lighting systems to avoid drawing hatchling sea turtles away from the ocean. And visitors may be heartened to learn about simple but meaningful actions that they can take, such as aiming outdoor lights downward and using the dimmest settings.

    Overall, “Lights Out” instills a sense of hope and a desire to reconnect with the night sky. “This is an optimistic exhibition,” Loring says. “We can solve this problem.” More

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    Famous Benin Bronzes from West Africa used metal sourced in Germany

    A detail of the Benin Bronzes displayed at the British Museum Shutterstock / Mltz
    The world-famous Benin Bronze artworks created by African metalsmiths between the 16th and 19th centuries were made of brass rings produced in Germany’s Rhineland region. These rings were used as currency in the transatlantic slave trade.
    The Edo people in what is now modern-day Nigeria created the Benin Bronzes in the shape of heads, plaques, figurines and other objects by combining metal components with carved ivory or wood. Researchers had previously suspected that Edo metalsmiths used metals from manillas – horseshoe-shaped brass rings produced by Europeans specifically for trade in Africa – but had no definitive proof until now.
    Tobias Skowronek at the Georg Agricola University of Applied Sciences in Germany and his colleagues performed a chemical analysis of 67 manillas discovered in five Atlantic shipwreck sites – including those off Cape Cod near Massachusetts and the English Channel – along with several land-based archaeological sources in Sweden, Ghana and Sierra Leona.Advertisement
    The researchers measured the amount of trace elements and the ratio of lead isotopes in the manillas and compared them with those of the Benin Bronzes and the ores used by the German Rhineland’s brass industry. They found a strong similarity between all the metals, indicating that African metalsmiths probably used manillas obtained from European traders as a key source of material for the Benin Bronzes.

    The findings align with historical sources, such as a 1548 contract between a German merchant family and the Portuguese king relating to the production of manillas for trade in West Africa. Other written sources have documented contracts between slave-trading countries of the time, including Portugal and the Netherlands, and the German brass industry located between the cities of Cologne and Aachen.
    This new evidence could reshape the story of Germany’s involvement with the Benin Bronzes, says Cresa Pugh at The New School in New York. Much of the focus has typically been on the later colonial period and the Berlin Conference in 1884-1885, when European powers convened to divide up Africa into so-called spheres of influence for colonisation and exploitation.
    Thousands of Benin Bronzes were looted by a British military expedition in 1897 and distributed or sold to various European museums, with many ending up in German museums.
    “We understand Germany’s role during the colonial period as these artifacts were being looted and circulated following the Berlin Conference, but we really didn’t have a sense of what was happening before the colonial period during the period of slavery,” says Pugh. “And so I think this really does provide a kind of missing link between those periods.”
    Starting in 2022, Germany began returning some of the Benin Bronzes to Nigeria as part of a broader international discussion about cultural restitution and decolonisation.

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    A stream of cold gas is unexpectedly feeding the far-off Anthill Galaxy

    A long, cold stream of gas is feeding a very distant galaxy like a vast bendy straw. The finding suggests a new way for galaxies to grow in the early universe, researchers report in the March 31 Science.

    Computer simulations predicted that streams of gas should connect galaxies to the cosmic web (SN: 3/6/23). But astronomers expected that gas to be warm, making it unsuitable for star-forming fuel and galaxy growth.

    So astronomer Bjorn Emonts and his colleagues were surprised to see a stream of cold, star-forming gas leading into the Anthill Galaxy, a massive galaxy whose light takes 12 billion years to reach Earth.

    The team spotted the stream while mapping cold gas in the galaxy’s neighborhood using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, or ALMA, in Chile. Emonts was particularly interested in radio wavelengths of light that carbon atoms emit when the temperature is between about -260° and -160° Celsius.

    “People didn’t think that these streams could get so cold,” says Emonts, of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Charlottesville, Va.

    But there, in the data, a frigid stream stretched at least 325,000 light-years away from the galaxy. The stream carries the mass of 70 billion suns and deposits the equivalent of about 450 suns in cold gas onto the galaxy every year, the team calculated. That’s enough to double the galaxy’s mass within a billion years.

    Emonts thinks that no one had seen such a stream before because his team used ALMA in an unusual configuration, with its telescopes arranged as close together as possible. That gave the observatory lower resolution, but a wider field of view.

    “People don’t normally do that,” Emonts says. “We basically defocused ALMA to the worst possible extent.”

    If other galaxies are fed by similar structures, it could mean that early galaxies grew mostly by drinking directly from the cosmic streams, rather than by the leading hypothesis — violent galaxy mergers (SN: 6/28/19). More