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This week's magazine

17 June 2023

Issue 3443

New Scientist issue 3443 cover
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What looks much like craggy mountains on a moonlit evening is actually the edge of a nearby, young, star-forming region NGC 3324 in the Carina Nebula. Captured in infrared light by the Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) on NASA???s James Webb Space Telescope, this image reveals previously obscured areas of star birth. Called the Cosmic Cliffs, the region is actually the edge of a gigantic, gaseous cavity within NGC 3324, roughly 7,600 light-years away. The cavernous area has been carved from the nebula by the intense ultraviolet radiation and stellar winds from extremely massive, hot, young stars located in the center of the bubble, above the area shown in this image. The high-energy radiation from these stars is sculpting the nebula???s wall by slowly eroding it away. NIRCam ??? with its crisp resolution and unparalleled sensitivity ??? unveils hundreds of previously hidden stars, and even numerous background galaxies. Several prominent features in this image are described below. ??? The ???steam??? that appears to rise from the celestial ???mountains??? is actually hot, ionized gas and hot dust streaming away from the nebula due to intense, ultraviolet radiation. ??? Dramatic pillars rise above the glowing wall of gas, resisting the blistering ultraviolet radiation from the young stars. ??? Bubbles and cavities are being blown by the intense radiation and stellar winds of newborn stars. ??? Protostellar jets and outflows, which appear in gold, shoot from dust-enshrouded, nascent stars. ??? A ???blow-out??? erupts at the top-center of the ridge, spewing gas and dust into the interstellar medium. ??? An unusual ???arch??? appears, looking like a bent-over cylinder. This period of very early star formation is difficult to capture because, for an individual star, it lasts only about 50,000 to 100,000 years ??? but Webb???s extreme sensitivity and exquisite spatial resolution have chronicled this rare event. Located roughly 7,600 light-years away, NGC 3324 was first cat

Space

The JWST is already delivering on its promise to transform cosmology

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How ultrasound therapy could treat everything from ageing to cancer

Health

How ultrasound therapy could treat everything from ageing to cancer

Features
What the huge young galaxies seen by JWST tell us about the universe

Space

What the huge young galaxies seen by JWST tell us about the universe

Features
Women and children of the Chiman ethnic group participate in a protest march to Yucumo, September 16, 2011. The Amazonian ethnic groups which live in the Isiboro Secure territory, known by its Spanish acronym TIPNIS, are completing a 370 miles (595 km) march from Trinidad, in the northern Beni province, to La Paz to protest against a projected 185 mile (298 km) long highway that bisects the protected park in the Amazon forest, activists leading the march said. The protesters, who have a list of demands apart from their rejection of the highway project being financed by Brazil, are entering a rural region with strong sentiments for President Evo Morales, raising the possibility of confrontations on their way to La Paz. REUTERS/David Mercado (BOLIVIA - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS ENVIRONMENT) - GM1E79H0SU101

Humans

The unique, vanishing languages that hold secrets about how we think

Features

Table of contents

Leaders

What looks much like craggy mountains on a moonlit evening is actually the edge of a nearby, young, star-forming region NGC 3324 in the Carina Nebula. Captured in infrared light by the Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) on NASA???s James Webb Space Telescope, this image reveals previously obscured areas of star birth. Called the Cosmic Cliffs, the region is actually the edge of a gigantic, gaseous cavity within NGC 3324, roughly 7,600 light-years away. The cavernous area has been carved from the nebula by the intense ultraviolet radiation and stellar winds from extremely massive, hot, young stars located in the center of the bubble, above the area shown in this image. The high-energy radiation from these stars is sculpting the nebula???s wall by slowly eroding it away. NIRCam ??? with its crisp resolution and unparalleled sensitivity ??? unveils hundreds of previously hidden stars, and even numerous background galaxies. Several prominent features in this image are described below. ??? The ???steam??? that appears to rise from the celestial ???mountains??? is actually hot, ionized gas and hot dust streaming away from the nebula due to intense, ultraviolet radiation. ??? Dramatic pillars rise above the glowing wall of gas, resisting the blistering ultraviolet radiation from the young stars. ??? Bubbles and cavities are being blown by the intense radiation and stellar winds of newborn stars. ??? Protostellar jets and outflows, which appear in gold, shoot from dust-enshrouded, nascent stars. ??? A ???blow-out??? erupts at the top-center of the ridge, spewing gas and dust into the interstellar medium. ??? An unusual ???arch??? appears, looking like a bent-over cylinder. This period of very early star formation is difficult to capture because, for an individual star, it lasts only about 50,000 to 100,000 years ??? but Webb???s extreme sensitivity and exquisite spatial resolution have chronicled this rare event. Located roughly 7,600 light-years away, NGC 3324 was first cat

Space

The JWST is already delivering on its promise to transform cosmology

Almost a year after its first images were released, the James Webb Space Telescope is living up to the hype, and its price tag, by revolutionising our understanding of the universe

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Technology

DeepMind AI's new way to sort objects could speed up global computing

Sorting algorithms are basic functions used constantly by computers around the world, so an improved one created by an artificial intelligence could make millions of programs run faster

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Health

Experimental treatment could work against prion diseases like CJD

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Physics

Extremely cold drop of helium can be levitated forever

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Life

One-off injection may provide lifetime contraception for female cats

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Mind

How your brain stays focused on conversations in a noisy room

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Life

Crocodiles can reproduce without males – and maybe dinosaurs could too

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Mind

We know now what happens in our brain to make us scared of heights

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Mind

Could your gut bacteria influence how intelligent you are?

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Earth

Dried-up lake may explain why California is 'overdue' major earthquake

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Life

1.6-billion-year-old steroids may be traces of earliest complex life

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Life

Male masturbation in primates evolved to cut chance of catching STIs

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Health

We finally know what causes morning sickness during pregnancy

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Life

Octopuses edit their own genetic code to adapt to colder water

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Physics

Sound-based quantum computers could be built using chip-sized device

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Life

Alligators create hotspots for life by digging holes with their snouts

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Technology

Robot gardener grows plants as well as humans do but uses less water

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Health

Taurine supplements extend lifespan and health in old age in mammals

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Life

Life-extending parasite makes ants live at least three times longer

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Life

Losing a leg in youth changes how male harvestmen woo females

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Technology

Couples collide with fewer people on walks than pairs of friends do

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Space

Astronomers are using a new supernova to search for alien signals

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Health

Diabetes drug metformin may cut the risk of long covid by 41 per cent

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Life

Male harbour seals may learn vocalisations years before they need them

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Space

Fast-growing galaxy seen by JWST offers window on the early universe

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Analysis

LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 30: A pair of 1X androids are displayed at the International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) at ExCel on May 30, 2023 in London, England. The event is the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society's flagship conference and a forum for robotics researchers to present and discuss their work. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)

Technology

Robotics gets less attention than it should given its potential impact

From self-driving cars to humanoid robots, the world of robotics is a long way from talk of artificial intelligence causing human extinction. It's a breath of fresh air, says Alex Wilkins

Comment

Environment

Concern about dirty air can galvanise the fight against climate change

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Aperture

See some of the images up for the Earth Photo 2023 competition

Earth

See some of the images up for the Earth Photo 2023 competition

From a photograph of algae choking an Indian river to a shocking depiction of the wearing away of the UK coast, these are some of the pictures in the running for the contest

Regulars

Features

How ultrasound therapy could treat everything from ageing to cancer

Health

How ultrasound therapy could treat everything from ageing to cancer

Ultrasound is most familiar to us as a non-invasive imaging technology used during pregnancy – now it is in clinical trials as a powerful new tool for treating all sorts of medical conditions

Features

Humans

The unique, vanishing languages that hold secrets about how we think

Features

Space

What the huge young galaxies seen by JWST tell us about the universe

Features

Culture

Group of young skateboarders sitting in discussion with mature skateboarder in neighborhood skate park

Comment

Generations review: Zoomer, boomer, millennial – what's your tribe?

For good or ill, dividing people up along generational lines with names and traits to fit seems hard to resist. What's going on, asks a new book that sets out to find the real differences

Culture

Comment

The Universe in a Box review: Why all cosmic quests start on laptops

Culture

Comment

51¶¯Âþ recommends: Troll sculptures at Atlanta Botanical Garden

Culture

Comment

Wild life review: The couple who bought up Chile to conserve it

Culture

More

R126CH Unrecognisable woman in casual clothing holding a box of used coffee ground to use as compost in her garden.

Life

Why used coffee grounds may be doing your plants more harm than good

We are often told to add used coffee grounds to garden soil to perk up plants. But the science doesn’t support this, says James Wong

Regulars

Puzzle #226: Can you decipher the substitution cipher?

Regulars

Tom Gauld on a professor in disguise

Regulars

Twisteddoodles on inventing a new type of washing pod

Regulars

Regulars

An intellectually delicious recipe for electric meringue

An intellectually delicious recipe for electric meringue

Feedback explores a feat of dessert-based engineering cooked up by researchers in South Korea and the US, and ponders the true meaning of public relations

Regulars

Regulars

Letters

Regulars

The last word

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