scientific discovery

Astronomers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have discovered unexpectedly thick slabs of high-altitude clouds in the atmosphere of a Jupiter-mass exoplanet in the YSES-1 system. Rather than consisting of water vapor as on Earth, these clouds appear to be made from mineral dust such as magnesium silicates and even metallic iron—droplets that, when the clouds break, could literally “rain” molten iron onto the planet’s surface. The findings, published today in Nature, provide an unprecedented look at atmospheric phenomena during the formative stages of giant planet evolution.

A groundbreaking study led by researchers at Osaka University has revealed that iron deficiency in pregnant mice can disrupt the genetic machinery responsible for male sex determination, resulting in XY offspring developing ovaries—or even a combination of ovarian and testicular tissue. This finding, published in Nature, challenges the long‐held assumption that sex in mammals is dictated solely by chromosomal identity, underscoring the critical interplay between genetics and environmental factors during early embryonic development.

The James Webb Space Telescope (Webb) has once again demonstrated its transformative power by capturing a near-infrared portrait of the Sombrero galaxy (Messier 104). Located approximately 30 million light-years away at the edge of the Virgo Cluster, the Sombrero galaxy’s distinctive shape—an enormous bulge of stars surrounded by a thin, dark dust lane—has long captivated astronomers and stargazers alike. While Hubble’s visible-light images revealed the galaxy’s sweeping, edge-on disk and luminous central bulge, and Webb’s mid-infrared observations in late 2024 showcased the dust glowing warmly, this latest near-infrared image provides fresh insights into the interplay between stars and dust. By examining the galaxy at multiple wavelengths—visible, near-infrared, and mid-infrared—researchers can piece together a more complete narrative of the Sombrero’s formation, evolution, and turbulent history.

For decades, astronomers have described the impending head-on collision between our Milky Way and the neighboring Andromeda galaxy as a foregone conclusion. Early measurements of Andromeda’s motion, combined with gravitational models, suggested the two galaxies would merge in roughly five billion years, triggering spectacular bursts of star formation and fundamentally reshaping the Local Group. However, a new study that synthesizes the latest observational data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Gaia mission finds that a direct collision may be far less certain than previously believed.

Astronomers have uncovered an extraordinary celestial phenomenon: a deep-space object that emits powerful pulses of both radio waves and X-rays for two minutes, then falls silent for 42 minutes, before repeating the cycle. Dubbed ASKAP J1832-0911, this mysterious “long-period radio transient” (LPT) challenges existing theories about the nature of dead stars and the extremes of stellar magnetism.

In an astonishing turn of events, construction work on a new artificial island off the coast of Java, Indonesia, has dredged up a treasure trove of ancient fossils—more than 6,700 specimens in total—from a sunken landscape once known as Sundaland. Among the abundant fish, reptile, and mammal remains, two hominin skull fragments have emerged as the first evidence of Homo erectus beyond Java, reshaping our understanding of early human dispersal in Southeast Asia.

The spiny echidna—one of Australia’s most unique mammals—has long intrigued biologists with its peculiar reproductive strategy. Unlike marsupials such as kangaroos that bear live young into permanent pouches, echidnas lay a single leathery egg and then form a temporary “pseudo-pouch” to carry and nourish the hatching juvenile, known as a puggle. Now, researchers from the University of Adelaide have delved into this pseudo-pouch environment for the first time, revealing how its microbial community shifts dramatically during lactation to protect the vulnerable newborn.

In a groundbreaking discovery that links Britain’s icy past to the future of Earth’s polar regions, scientists have found the first clear evidence that massive icebergs once floated off the coast of Britain during the last ice age. The study, published in Nature Communications, reveals that colossal, flat-topped “tabular” icebergs the size of Cambridge drifted across the North Sea between 18,000 and 20,000 years ago.