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A star cloaked in an egg-shaped cocoon has been revealed in the first detailed images of a star beyond the Milky Way.

Until now, stars in other galaxies have been visible as little more than points of light, even when observed using telescopes. Now, thanks to the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI), astronomers have captured the first zoomed-in image.

“We discovered an egg-shaped cocoon closely surrounding the star,” said Dr Keiichi Ohnaka, an astrophysicist at the Andrés Bello National University in Chile. “We are excited because this may be related to the drastic ejection of material from the dying star before a supernova explosion.”

The star, called WOH G64, is located 160,000 light years away in the Large Magellanic Cloud, one of the small galaxies that orbits the Milky Way. It is thought to be the largest star in the galaxy, classified as a red supergiant and about 2,000 times the diameter of the sun. Even so, observing the behemoth star in detail still required a resolution equivalent to seeing an astronaut walking on the moon from Earth.

“We’re not able to do that with normal telescopes,” said Dr Jacco van Loon, a reader in astrophysics at Keele University and a co-author of a paper outlining the observations published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.

The images reveal the star is undergoing a dramatic transition and suggest that in the past decade or so it has blown off its outer layer, leaving it surrounded by an egg-shaped cocoon of gas and dust. The elongated shape could be explained by either the star’s rotation or by the influence of a yet-undiscovered companion star…..

www.theguardian.com

First close-up image of a star outside Milky Way shows supergiant in ‘cocoon’

Astrophysicists say material may suggest star is dying and that ejection of matter signals coming supernova
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com

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Artist rendition
Click to expand...
Those other galaxies are weird...
 
Doctors are hailing a new way to treat serious asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease attacks that marks the first breakthrough for 50 years and could be a “gamechanger” for patients.

A trial found offering patients an injection was more effective than the current care of steroid tablets, and cuts the need for further treatment by 30%.

The results, published in the Lancet Respiratory Medicine journal, could be transformative for millions of people with asthma and COPD around the world.


Benralizumab is a monoclonal antibody that targets specific white blood cells, called eosinophils, to reduce lung inflammation. It is used as a repeat treatment for severe asthma at a low dose, but the trial found a higher single dose could be very effective if injected at the time of a flare-up.

Lead investigator Prof Mona Bafadhel, of King’s College London, said: “This could be a gamechanger for people with asthma and COPD. Treatment for asthma and COPD exacerbations have not changed in 50 years, despite causing 3.8m deaths worldwide a year combined.……..

www.theguardian.com

Doctors hail first breakthrough in asthma and COPD treatment in 50 years

Results of trial of benralizumab injection could be ‘gamechanger’ for millions of people around the world
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
 
With a surface hot enough to melt lead and with clouds of sulphuric acid above it, it is a planet often called Earth’s “evil twin” – similar in size, yet worlds apart.

Some scientists have long believed it was once much more hospitable, home to cooler temperatures and oceans of liquid water. But now researchers have dealt a blow to the idea that Venus ever hosted life as we know it.

Scientists say an analysis of the planet’s atmosphere has revealed the interior of Venus is dry, suggesting it has never had the oceans of liquid water traditionally thought necessary for life to begin.

“This doesn’t completely rule out any life. It rules out Earth-like life,” said Tereza Constantinou, first author of the research from the University of Cambridge.

The question of whether Venus has ever been habitable – and might yet host life in its acidic clouds – has long been a hot topic among scientists.

Some believe the planet was once much more like Earth but then underwent a runaway greenhouse effect. Others believe Venus has always been inhospitable.

Constantinou noted that early in the formation of Venus, the planet was covered in a vast sea of magma. If this cooled quickly, water would have condensed and formed water oceans.

However, this process would also have trapped water in the magma as it crystallised, meaning the interior of the planet would be water-rich. As a result, water would be ejected when volcanoes erupt.

“If you look at any photos of volcanism on Earth, you see kind of these large billowing clouds coming out. Most of that is water,” she said…….


www.theguardian.com

Atmospheric analysis shows Venus never had Earth-like life, scientists say

Research indicates planet’s interior is dry in blow to theories that it was previously habitable
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
 
Three years ago, scientists recorded a mysterious repeating radio signal from outer space that couldn't easily be explained.

Now, those same scientists believe they have found a potential source for such strange celestial broadcasts. Spoiler: it's probably not aliens.

Back in 2021, during lockdown, Australian undergraduate astronomer Tyrone O'Doherty spotted an unusual burst of radio waves that repeated every 18 minutes.

Repeating radio signals aren't that weird in the grand scheme of our universe, and usually emanate from rapidly-spinning collapsed stars known as pulsars.

But at the time, scientists had never seen a pulsar repeat as slowly as 18 minutes, and commonly accepted theories of how pulsars work suggested that shouldn't be possible.……

www.independent.co.uk

Astronomers tell how they tracked mystery space radio bursts to a star – not aliens

The answer to the myserious radio signal found by astronomers may lie with two dwarf stars locked together in a dance of mutual gravitation
www.independent.co.uk www.independent.co.uk
 
It measures just 4cm squared but it possesses almost inconceivable speed.

Google has built a computing chip that takes just five minutes to complete tasks that would take 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 years for some of the world’s fastest conventional computers to complete.

That’s 10 septillion years, a number that far exceeds the age of our known universe and has the scientists behind the latest quantum computing breakthrough reaching for a distinctly non-technical term: “mindboggling”.

The new chip, called Willow and made in the California beach town of Santa Barbara, is about the dimensions of an After Eight mint, and could supercharge the creation of new drugs by greatly speeding up the experimental phase of development.

Reports of its performance follow a flurry of results since 2021 that suggest we are only about five years away from quantum computing becoming powerful enough to start transforming humankind’s capabilities to research and develop new materials from drugs to batteries, one independent UK expert said. Governments around the world are pouring tens of billions of dollars into research.

Significantly, Willow is claimed to be far less prone to error than previous versions and could swell the potential of the already fast-developing field of artificial intelligence.

Quantum computing – which harnesses the discovery that matter can exist in multiple states at once – is predicted to have the power to carry out far bigger calculations than previously possible and so hasten the creation of nuclear fusion reactors and accelerate the impact of artificial intelligence, notably in medical science. For example, it could allow MRI scans to be read in atom-level detail, unlocking new caches of data about human bodies and disease for AI to process, Google said.

But there are also fears that without guardrails, the technology has the power to crack even the most sophisticated encryption, undermining computer security.............

www.theguardian.com

Google unveils ‘mindboggling’ quantum computing chip

Chip takes minutes to complete tasks that would otherwise take 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 years
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
 
A sponge made of cotton and squid bone that has absorbed about 99.9% of microplastics in water samples in China could provide an elusive answer to ubiquitous microplastic pollution in water across the globe, a new report suggests.

Just as importantly, the filter’s production appears to be scalable, the University of Wuhan study authors said in the paper, which was peer-reviewed and published in the journal Science Advances.

That would address a problem that has stymied the use of previous microplastic filtration systems that were successful in controlled settings, but could not be scaled up.

If it is successfully deployed on a larger scale in forthcoming research, the filter could change the course of one of the world’s most serious public health crises.

“Microplastic remediation in aquatic bodies is essential for the entire ecosystem, but is challenging to achieve with a universal and efficient strategy,” the study’ authors wrote in the paper.

Microplastics have been detected in water samples around the world at levels that are increasingly worrying researchers as the substance’s health threats become clearer.

By one estimate, the average person ingests about 4,000 plastic particles in drinking water annually, while the substance has been found in clouds above Mount Fuji and in the ocean’s deepest trench.

Microplastic pollution can contain any number of 16,000 plastic chemicals, and often is attached to highly toxic compounds – like PFAS, bisphenol and phthalates – linked to cancer, neurotoxicity, hormone disruption or developmental toxicity.

Microplastics can cross the brain and placentalbarriers, and those who have it in their heart tissue are twice as likely to have a heart attack or stroke during the next several years.

The study tested the material in an irrigation ditch, a lake, seawater and a pond, where it removed up to 99.9% of plastic. It addressed 95%-98% of plastic after five cycles, which the authors say is remarkable reusability………

www.theguardian.com

Cotton-and-squid-bone sponge can soak up 99.9% of microplastics, scientists say

Filter performs well in removing plastic pollution from water and Chinese researchers say it appears to be scalable
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
 

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