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Scientists Uncover the Mystery of Early Massive Galaxies That Strangely Ran Out of Fuel

This composite image of galaxy cluster MACSJ 0138 shows data from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. The magnified section shows a bright orange/red dot, which traces cold dust observed in radio using ALMA. This cold dust helps scientists to understand, by inference, the amount of cold hydrogen gas—required for the formation of stars—present in the galaxies in the cluster. Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/S. Dagnello (NRAO), STScI, K. Whitaker et al. New study reveals that early galaxies have no fuel, and something is stopping them from refilling the tank. Early massive galaxies—those that formed in the…

Scientists Discover New Method From Nature for Installing Sulphur Into Complex Molecules

Lead image: Scientists working in the lab of Ben Shen, PhD, at Scripps Research, Florida have found a new family of sulfur-installing enzymes by mining the genomes of bacteria in their microbial strain collection. Credit: Scott Wiseman for Scripps Research Advance provides new tools for synthetic chemists and biologists looking to probe and modify sulfur-based biochemistry. A group of highly reactive compounds called persulfides have provoked great curiosity among biochemists, because of their role in nature, and how they interact with proteins to change their structure and function, affecting health, aging, and disease processes. Studying persulfides and their effects has…

New research finds first clear detection of circumplanetary disk surrounding an exoplanet

Lead image: zoomed out and close-up views of PDS 70c’s moon-forming disc as seen with ALMA. The bright colouring surrounding PDS 70c is dust in the planet’s CPD Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/Benisty et al. In recently published research using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), astronomers announced that they had found the first clear detection of a circumplanetary, moon-forming disk surrounding the exoplanet PDS 70c — a first in astrophysics. The circumplanetary disk, or CPD, has been seen in past research from other groups. However, due to the inability to tell the disk apart from its surrounding environment, the presence of…

Researchers Discover Evidence of a Major Coronavirus Epidemic 20,000 Years Ago

Studying the genomes of modern humans from 26 worldwide populations, researchers discovered the genetic “footprint” of an ancient coronavirus outbreak. Studies like this one could help identify viruses that have caused epidemics in the distant past and may do so in the future. A new study co-authored by a University of Arizona researcher has discovered a coronavirus epidemic broke out in the East Asia region more than 20,000 years ago, with traces of the outbreak evident in the genetic makeup of people from that area. In a paper published in Current Biology, researchers analyzed the genomes of more than 2,500 modern humans…

NASA Confirms Roman Space Telescope Mission’s Flight Design in Milestone Review

Lead image: NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Credit: NASA NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope has successfully passed its critical design review, signaling that all design and developmental engineering work is now complete. “After seeing our extensive hardware testing and sophisticated modeling, an independent review panel has confirmed that the observatory we have designed will work,” said Julie McEnery, the Roman Space Telescope senior project scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “We know what it will look like and what it will be capable of. Now that the groundwork is laid, the team is thrilled…