快猫短视频

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Editor's picks

GEGPJC XX Chromosome concept. Female Heterogametic Sex. 3d illustration.

Health

Finally wrangling with the complexity of female bodies benefits us all

Health

Women have supercharged immune systems and we now know why

Space

Is a deadly asteroid about to hit Earth? Meet the man who can tell you

Health

Why giving up on goals is good for you, and how to know which to ditch

Technology

AI may blunt our thinking skills 鈥� here鈥檚 what you can do about it

Table of contents

Leaders

GEGPJC XX Chromosome concept. Female Heterogametic Sex. 3d illustration.

Health

Finally wrangling with the complexity of female bodies benefits us all

Medical research has long sought to gloss over the hormonal and chromosomal complications typical of female biology. But embracing this complexity could benefit everyone

快猫短视频

Euclid peers through a dark cloud?s dusty veil This shimmering view of interstellar gas and dust was captured by the European Space Agency?s Euclid space telescope. The nebula is part of a so-called dark cloud, named LDN 1641. It sits at about 1300 light-years from Earth, within a sprawling complex of dusty gas clouds where stars are being formed, in the constellation of Orion. In visible light this region of the sky appears mostly dark, with few stars dotting what seems to be a primarily empty background. But, by imaging the cloud with the infrared eyes of its NISP instrument, Euclid reveals a multitude of stars shining through a tapestry of dust and gas. This is because dust grains block visible light from stars behind them very efficiently but are much less effective at dimming near-infrared light. The nebula is teeming with very young stars. Some of the objects embedded in the dusty surroundings spew out material ? a sign of stars being formed. The outflows appear as magenta-coloured spots and coils when zooming into the image. In the upper left, obstruction by dust diminishes and the view opens toward the more distant Universe with many galaxies lurking beyond the stars of our own galaxy. Euclid observed this region of the sky in September 2023 to fine-tune its pointing ability. For the guiding tests, the operations team required a field of view where only a few stars would be detectable in visible light; this portion of LDN 1641 proved to be the most suitable area of the sky accessible to Euclid at the time. The tests were successful and helped ensure that Euclid could point reliably and very precisely in the desired direction. This ability is key to delivering extremely sharp astronomical images of large patches of sky, at a fast pace. The data for this image, which is about 0.64 square degrees in size ? or more than three times the area of the full Moon on the sky ? were collected in just under five hours of observations. Euclid is surveying the sky to create the most extensive 3D map of the extragalactic Universe ever made. Its main objective is to enable scientists to pin down the mysterious nature of dark matter and dark energy. Yet the mission will also deliver a trove of observations of interesting regions in our galaxy, like this one, as well as countless detailed images of other galaxies, offering new avenues of investigation in many different fields of astronomy. [Technical details: The colour image was created from NISP observations in the Y-, J- and H-bands, rendered blue, green and red, respectively. The size of the image is 11 232 x 12 576 pixels. The jagged boundary is due to the gaps in the array of NISP?s sixteen detectors, and the way the observations were taken with small spatial offsets and rotations to create the whole image. This is a common effect in astronomical wide-field images.] [Image description: The focus of the image is a portion of LDN 1641, an interstellar nebula in the constellation of Orion. In this view, a deep-black background is sprinkled with a multitude of dots (stars) of different sizes and shades of bright white. Across the sea of stars, a web of fuzzy tendrils and ribbons in varying shades of orange and brown rises from the bottom of the image towards the top-right like thin coils of smoke.]

Space

Euclid telescope captures young stars being born inside dark cloud

The European Space Agency telescope used its infrared instruments to see through dark cloud LDN 1641, in the constellation Orion, around 1300 light-years away from Earth

Humans

Mysterious holes in Andean mountain may be an Inca spreadsheet

Space

Odds of asteroid 2024 YR4 hitting the moon may rise to 30 per cent

Health

Covid raises risk of heart issues in children more than vaccination

Health

Falling asleep isn鈥檛 a gradual process 鈥� it happens all of a sudden

Environment

Toxic algae blighting South Australia could pose a global threat

Health

Having children plays a complicated role in the rate we age

Humans

Ancient DNA may rewrite the story of Iceland’s earliest settlers

Space

Caves carved by water on Mars may hold signs of past life

Mathematics

The biggest controversy in maths could be settled by a computer

Space

Enceladus鈥檚 ocean may be even better for life than we realised

Humans

Skeleton with brutal injuries identified as duke assassinated in 1272

Space

We may never figure out where interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS came from

Health

Cavities could be prevented by a gel that restores tooth enamel

Humans

Digital map lets you explore the Roman Empire’s vast road network

Life

Grafting trick could let us gene-edit a huge variety of plants

Life

A three-legged lion has learned to hunt in a completely unexpected way

Technology

Advanced quantum network could be a prototype for the quantum internet

Space

Brightest black hole flare ever caused by huge star being ripped apart

Health

Walking 3000 steps a day seems to slow Alzheimer’s-related decline

Environment

Antarctic glacier’s alarming retreat is the fastest ever seen

Analysis

Environment

Australia is getting free electricity – will other countries follow?

As one of the most advanced solar nations in the world, Australia is well placed to experiment with giving people free power - and if it succeeds, other countries may look to copy its approach

Aperture

Technology

Remarkable robot images provide a vision of the future

These photographs of humanoid robots by Henrik Spohler are part of his project Tomorrow Is the Question

Features

Health

Why giving up on goals is good for you, and how to know which to ditch

We admire grit and perseverance, but surprising research suggests that giving up on ambitions in the right way can actually improve our physical and mental health

Health

Women have supercharged immune systems and we now know why

Space

Is a deadly asteroid about to hit Earth? Meet the man who can tell you

Technology

AI may blunt our thinking skills 鈥� here鈥檚 what you can do about it

Culture

Mandatory credit Watson and Crick, discoverers of the structure of DNA. James Watson (b.1928, left) and Francis Crick (1916-2004), with their model of part of a DNA molecule in 1953. Watson and Crick met at the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge, in 1951. Their work on DNA was performed with a knowledge of Chargaff's ratios of the bases in DNA and access to the X-ray crystallography of Maurice Wilkins and Rosalind Franklin at King's College London. Combining this knowledge led to the deduction that DNA exists as a double helix. Crick, Watson and Wilkins shared the 1962 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine, Franklin having died in 1958. Photographed in the Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, UK, in May 1953.

Life

Surprising new biography of Francis Crick unravels the story of DNA

Francis Crick's biography is full of surprises as author Matthew Cobb reveals the life and work of the co-discoverer of DNA's structure, finds Michael Le Page

Life

Smart new book takes an axe to the myth of human exceptionalism

Life

快猫短视频 recommends this extreme birdwatching documentary

Comment

Breaking Bad showrunner uses sci-fi for smart dive into happiness

More

Life

Sperm are selfish 鈥� and so are we

A new study hammers home how the "survival of the nicest" view makes no sense when it comes to evolution, says Jonathan R. Goodman

Society

Is the future of education outside universities?

Mathematics

The 19th-century maths that can help you deal with horrible coffee

Tom Gauld on the necessity of good supportive evidence

Twisteddoodles on when facial recognition tech goes wrong

Regulars

Comment

Kim Kardashian has wrangled an invite to NASA HQ. Can we get one too?

Reality TV star Kim Kardashian apparently thinks the 1969 moon landing was fake. If Feedback comes up with an equally outlandish conspiracy theory, maybe we can also get a guided tour of NASA

This Week鈥檚 Letters

Must the evolution of any adapted trait in nature reach a limit?

If an antimatter meteor came into our solar system, how would we know?

Should bubble wrap face the inside or outside of the object? Part 2

This week鈥檚 new questions

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