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The JWST’s observations of the galaxy GN-z11 have revealed a clump of helium in the galactic halo that may contain the much-sought first generation of stars.Stars like the Sun contain metals only forged in the last stages of stellar life. These elements come from previous generations of stars that produced these heavier elements as their parting gift to the universe. The Sun is called a Population I star‚ while its immediate predecessors containing lower metal ratios are known as Population II. Some Population II stars can be seen by looking far back in time or finding low mass stars that age slowly.For a long time one of the priorities of astronomy has been to try to find Population III stars‚ those that have no predecessors and formed instead from pristine material left behind by the Big Bang. We’ve yet to do this‚ but may now be getting close.For seven years GN-z11 was the most distant galaxy known‚ having been found by the Hubble space telescope and its distance identified in 2015. The JWST took away that crown – but it has given a lot back to GN-z11’s status‚ revealing the earliest supermassive black hole ever found and nitrogen left behind by so-called “celestial monster” stars 5‚000-10‚000 times the mass of the Sun.Since the greater mass a star has‚ the shorter its lifespan‚ there’s only a short window to catch such an object while it is active. One step on the road is to identify places where pristine gas‚ from which Population III stars might form‚ can be found – and this is what the JWST may now have done.A team led by Professor Roberto Maiolino found a clump of helium in GN-z11’s halo using the JWST’s Near-infrared Spectrograph. “The fact that we don't see anything else beyond helium suggests that this clump must be fairly pristine‚” Maiolino said in a statement. “This is something that was expected by theory and simulations in the vicinity of particularly massive galaxies from these epochs — that there should be pockets of pristine gas surviving in the halo‚ and these may collapse and form Population III star clusters.”Indeed‚ Maiolino thinks Population III stars we have not seen directly may be what are lighting up this gas‚ something hinted by the width of the doubly ionized emission line in the spectrum.Although stars are far brighter than patches of gas lit up second hand‚ they’re also vastly smaller. We’re seeing GN-z11 as it was just 400 million years after the universe formed‚ and the immense distances involved make clusters of stars‚ let alone individual objects‚ exceptionally hard to resolve. Nevertheless‚ the JWST is scheduled to spend even longer on this crucial galaxy‚ building up higher-resolution images. Now they know where to look‚ Maiolino and colleagues hope to use those deeper observations to find stars newly emerged within pristine patches like the one they identified.If the team are right‚ we’re in for a treat‚ with hints the heaviest of the stars they are chasing have masses of at least 500 times that of the Sun. These may not match the “celestial monsters” whose nitrogen legacy was spotted‚ but they’d be more massive than any stars in our own galaxy‚ or anything nearby. Collectively‚ they expect this initial cluster to be releasing around 20 billion times as much light as the Sun.A report on the discovery has been accepted for publication in the journal Astronomy &; Astrophysics‚ and can be seen on ArXiv.org.

An “environmental crisis” is looming in the Red Sea after a cargo ship carrying huge amounts of fertilizer was sunk off the coast of Yemen.Rubymar – a Belize-flagged‚ UK-owned cargo ship carrying approximately 21‚000 metric tons of ammonium phosphate sulfate fertilizer – was sunk in the Red Sea by Houthi forces using an anti-ship ballistic missile on February 18‚ according to US Central Command.Along with the risk of excess fertilizer flooding the surrounding waters‚ environmental groups say there is further danger of leaking oil and chemical pollutants that could impact marine life.“Without immediate action‚ this situation could escalate into a major environmental crisis‚” Julien Jreissati‚ Programme Director at Greenpeace Middle East and North Africa‚ said in a statement. “As well as any further leaks of fuel oil from the engines‚ the sinking of the vessel could further breach the hull‚ allowing water to contact with the thousands of tonnes of fertilizer‚ which could then be released into the Red Sea and disrupt the balance of the marine ecosystems‚ triggering cascading effects throughout the food web‚” he explained.To make matters even more tricky‚ the sinking of the ship was related to the messy conflict in the region‚ which could hamper clean-up efforts.For context‚ the Houthis are an Iranian-backed movement that is currently fighting for control over Yemen against Saudi Arabia. Peace talks are ongoing and there are efforts towards a ceasefire in Yemen. However‚ in response to Israel's ongoing war in Gaza‚ Houthis have also started to attack ships in the Red Sea that are linked to Israel. This includes commercial vessels belonging to the US and UK‚ which are perceived to be powerful backers of Israel. Since the Red Sea acts as a gateway to the Suez Canal‚ a key trade route between Europe and Asia‚ it sees an abundance amount of maritime transit passing through it. Dozens of ships in the Red Sea have been attacked by Houthis since November 2023‚ but the sinking of Rubymar is considered one of the most significant strikes yet – not least because of the environmental risk it poses.All told‚ the conflict has been a humanitarian disaster for the region‚ causing a tragic amount of suffering and death. If a disruption to the ecosystem also strikes‚ environmental groups are warning that it’s only likely to deepen the humanitarian crisis.“This disruption could have far-reaching consequences‚ affecting various species that depend on these ecosystems and‚ in turn‚ potentially impacting the very livelihoods of coastal communities. Immediate access to the shipwreck site is imperative for an expert response team to assess the situation and swiftly devise and implement an emergency plan‚” added Jreissati.

The world is full of spectacular phenomena‚ from those caused by weather patterns‚ to the flora and fauna of the natural world. In the USA‚ the middle of February marks the start of firefall season at Yosemite National Park – and yes‚ it is just as spectacular as it sounds.Shreenivasan Manievannan captured incredible time-lapse footage of the firefall on Thursday‚ February 22. Perfect weather conditions allowed the sun to turn the water flowing over Horsetail Fall off the eastern edge of El Capitan into a stream of golden lava‚ as it cascaded over the 650-meter-high point (2‚130 feet). According to the Yosemite website‚ the original firefall was just that‚ as the owners of a nearby hotel pushed a real bonfire over the edge of Glacier Point within the park in 1872. The practice continued‚ with people coming in to watch the burning embers tumble down the cliff face.Long-exposure photograph of the firefall with real embers.Image credit: Scfry via Wikimedia Commons (public domain)In 1968‚ the practice was ended for safety reasons and concern for the forest by the director of the National Park Service‚ George Hartzog. Fortunately‚ a photographer called Galen Rowell spotted the first natural firefall in Yosemite in 1973‚ and captured a color photograph. While Horsetail Fall is perhaps considered less impressive than some of the more well known parts of the National Park‚ the stream is fed entirely by snowmelt‚ which means the firefall can only be witnessed during February‚ when the ice thaws but before the summer dries up the fall completely. 

It's difficult enough keeping up with regular theories without having to keep up with their weird‚ paranoid cousin the conspiracy theory.For anyone wanting a quick update on the latter‚ there appears to be a new one emerging‚ stating that the Moon is not made of rock after all. The idea‚ if you are willing to call it that‚ is that the Moon is in fact not lit by the Sun‚ but is its own light source.        IFLScience is not responsible for content shared from external sites.        IFLScience is not responsible for content shared from external sites.The idea is an odd one‚ and has to explain a lot of observed phenomena which has proved time and time again that the Moon reflects light from the Sun. The easiest example of this is how the different relative locations of the Sun‚ Moon‚ and Earth can explain the phases we see of the Moon‚ if you accept the fact that we see the Moon because of reflected light from the Sun.      The idea that the Moon reflects light from the Sun actually goes back at least 2‚500 years‚ when Greek philosopher Anaxagoras wrote that "it is the Sun that puts brightness into the Moon"‚ and went on to explain how this caused eclipses and lunar phases.In one particularly obtuse version of the "Moon is not rock" theory‚ people have gone further and made the claim that "rocks don't reflect light" and "neither does the Moon". This is particularly baffling‚ given that all rocks that you see you can see because light is reflected off them and into your eyeballs. A simple test of this theory‚ if you were inclined to do so‚ would be to take an ordinary rock into a room with no windows at night and turn the light off. If you can no longer see the rock‚ that tells you it is because you see it via reflected light‚ how all vision works. Or‚ if you're a conspiracy theorist‚ you probably guess that the rocks know to turn themselves off when it's dark.

Welcome to the ocean‚ home of all manner of creatures: from the cutest dumbo octopus‚ to the predatory power of orcas‚ and everything in between. One creature has captured the imagination of many‚ from stories of ruined ships to giant tentacles emerging from the deep – but what’s really going on with the colossal squid?To start off‚ the colossal squid is more than just a villain from a novel. It is a real species called Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni‚ which lives in the deep sea in the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica. The species is large and especially elusive‚ leading to all the mystery surrounding them. They are so elusive‚ in fact‚ that the Natural History Museum London writes that there are no photographs of a living colossal squid in its wild habitat. Instead‚ everything we know about colossal squid comes from the very few specimens that have ever been seen or caught. The first colossal squid was seen in 1981‚ and the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa in Wellington has three colossal squid specimens in its collection. How big is a colossal squid?The colossal squid is a multiple world record holder‚ taking the title for the world’s largest invertebrate and also having the largest eyes of any species on Earth. A study in 2017 suggested the eyes of the colossal squid are so large – approximately 27 centimeters across (10.6 inches) – and forward-facing to give them much better vision at the 2‚000-meter (6‚562-foot) depth at which they live to spot potential predators‚ such as sperm whales.With tentacles and arms combined‚ the colossal squid is thought to measure 14 meters (46 feet) and weighs at least 500 kilograms (1‚100 pounds)‚ according to Oceana. The largest members of this species are actually the females. This is an artist's impression of what a colossal squid most likely looks like in the wild.Image credit: Sebastian Kaulitzki/Shutterstock.comCompared to the giant squid‚ which has longer arms and tentacles but a shorter body‚ colossal squid still weigh the most‚ but giant squid are longer overall thanks to those big old tentacles. What does a colossal squid eat?All squid species‚ including the colossal squid‚ have a hard beak for eating their prey with. They also have rotating hooks on the ends of their tentacles. It is thought that their diet consists of large fish such as Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides) and sleeper sharks (Somniosus pacificus)‚ as well as other squid species including possible cannibalism‚ writes the IUCN. And sometimes‚ sperm whales are found with unusual marks on their skin that suggest they have been trying to consume a colossal squid. 

For several years‚ NASA has been translating some of the most iconic images taken by its fleet of telescopes into sound. The results are always pretty extraordinary‚ providing a different way to translate the data. NASA is releasing a documentary about the project on its free streaming platform NASA+ and to mark the occasion the agency has released three new sonifications.The first of this trio is a supernova remnant called MSH 11-52. The X-ray observations from NASA’s Chandra and Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) give the impression of a ghostly‚ wispy hand reaching for something. That something is a red and orange web-like structure. The whole ensemble sits over background stars as seen by visible ground-based observatories. The second stunning piece is a sonification of spiral galaxy M74. This galaxy was an early target of JWST and those observations were rendered and processed by several citizen scientists. This sonification used the combined data of Hubble‚ JWST‚ and Chandra – combined‚ they provide a view and a soundscape of a spiral dotted with bright X-ray sources. Another supernova remnant is the third sonification of this release‚ located 5‚000 light-years from Earth. Unlike the first sonification‚ the X-ray emissions (from Chandra and the now-retired German ROSAT mission) come from the outer shell of the nebula. This is combined with radio data from the Very Large Array and optical data. The sound delivers a truly sci-fi feel. The project was started in 2020 as part of Chandra's outreach effort. It was aimed principally at reaching blind and visually impaired audiences – even involving members of the community in making the project better and more effective.“When I first heard a sonification‚ it struck me in a visceral‚ emotional way that I imagine sighted people experience when they look up at the night sky‚” Christine Malec‚ a member of the blind and low-vision community who supports the project‚ said in relation to a previous sonification.“I want to understand every nuance of sound and every instrument choice because this is primarily how I’m experiencing the image or data.”The documentary is available now on NASA+. It shows just how the project came to be in the first place as well as how sonification is created.“We are so excited to partner with NASA+‚ along with her collaborators at SYSTEMS Sounds‚ to help tell the story about NASA’s sonification project‚” Kimberly Arcand‚ Chandra’s Visualization and Emerging Technology Scientist‚ who leads the sonification efforts‚ said in a statement. “It’s wonderful to see how this project has grown and reached so many people.”