In a preprint paper describing their investigation of 3I/ATLAS, a team of astronomers that observed the comet with the JWST explains that studying comets like this from other star systems helps to study what conditions were like in those systems as they were forming. Those results can then be compared to what scientists have learned about the conditions around the sun 4.6 billion years ago, when the planets, asteroids, and comets of the solar system were forming.

When comets approach the sun and are warmed by its heat, frozen materials within them are transformed from solids straight into gases. This results in gases escaping, a process called "outgassing," creating the characteristic tail and halo, or "coma," of a comet.

As expected, 3I/ATLAS is outgassing as it approaches the sun, and astronomers have used the JWST and its NIRSpec instrument to identify carbon dioxide, water, water ice, carbon monoxide, and the smelly gas carbonyl sulfide in its coma.

What wasn't expected, however, was the highest ratio of carbon dioxide to water ever observed in a comet. This could reveal more about the conditions in which 3I/ATLAS formed.

Light sails are a promising method for traveling through space - indeed, Breakthrough Starshot proposed a laser driven version could reach nearby stars. But the exorbitant costs and engineering challenges of such a proposal have stymied its realization. What if there was a way of using the Sun - no lasers required - but keeping our dream of interstellar travel in tact? Introducing TARS.

This video is based on published research

JWST's Fantastic Four! 4️⃣

Webb has now captured images of all four gas giants in our solar system: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. These images are the first of their kind, and they offer a new and unprecedented view of these distant worlds.

The JWST's image of Jupiter is particularly stunning. The telescope's infrared vision allows us to see through Jupiter's thick clouds, revealing the planet's swirling atmosphere and its Great Red Spot. The planet's haze and auroras steal the show.

The JWST's images of Saturn are also remarkable. The telescope's sharp vision allows us to see the planet's rings in great detail. They appear as vibrant, thick bands glowing with a snowy hue, effortlessly upstaging the muted Saturn lurking in the background. The image also shows Saturn's atmosphere, which is a swirling mass of clouds and storms.

Next, we have the images of Uranus and Neptune. The telescope's infrared vision allows us to see these planets' atmospheres in great detail. We can see the clouds and storms that swirl around these planets, as well as the different colors of their atmospheres. Uranus and Neptune are the least explored planets in the solar system, with Voyager 2 being the only spacecraft to have visited them in the 1980s.

Scientists have found that twisting structures in DNA long mistaken for knots are actually something else entirely.

Inside cells, DNA gets twisted, copied, and pulled apart. The twists can influence how genes function, affecting which are switched on and when. Studying how DNA responds to stress can help scientists better understand how genes are controlled, how the molecule is organized, and how problems with these processes might contribute to disease.

For years, researchers have been using nanopores — tiny holes just wide enough for a single DNA strand to slip through — to read DNA sequences quickly and inexpensively. These systems work by measuring the electrical current flowing through the nanopore. When a DNA molecule passes through, it disrupts that current in a distinct way that corresponds with each of the four "letters" that make up DNA's code: A, T, C and G.

Unexpected slowdowns or spikes in this signal were often interpreted as knots in DNA. But now, a new study published Aug. 12 in the journal Physics Review X finds that these signal changes can also signify plectonemes, which are natural coils that form when DNA twists under stress.

Scientists have developed a better model to understand "steam worlds," which are planets smaller than Neptune and larger than Earth that are too hot to have liquid water at their surface and thus have atmospheres filled with water vapor. Though steam worlds are unlikely to harbor life, modeling them more precisely could help scientists better comprehend ocean planets better, which in turn would aid in directing our search for life beyond the solar system.

A political scientist came across the Civic Online Reasoning curriculum, developed by the research group I used to lead at Stanford University. The curriculum, which is freely available to anyone, teaches a set of strategies based on how professional fact-checkers evaluate online information.

In fall 2021, he reached out with a question: Could aspects of the curriculum be incorporated into American Government 1101 without turning the whole course on its head?

My team and I thought so.

Did you know the Moon quakes? Apollo seismometers recorded thousands of vibrations. Now, scientists are using Apollo samples and data from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter to forecast moonquakes and help keep future Artemis astronauts safe. https://t.co/uUKkMhtCsX

In a new experiment, scientists used virtual reality to show that the brain can sense virtual infection to trigger the body’s immune system, before the first microbe ever makes contact.

The immune system detects and responds to the presence of a pathogen to eliminate or counteract its toxic effects. However, the delay in this process might weaken its efficacy. A recent report in Nature Neuroscience shows how the neural system primes the immune response in anticipation of a potential infectious threat, even without actual pathogen.