July 25, 2023: Major firsts in supernova studies, concerning increases in maternal death rates in the US and the physics of Barbie's world. Read it all below! —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor | | | In May, amateur astronomer Koichi Itagaki spotted a supernova erupting just 21 million light-years from Earth in the Pinwheel Galaxy. The star that exploded, a red supergiant known as SN 2023ixf was about 420 times the radius, and 20 times the mass, of our sun.
Why this is so cool: Astronomers used data from the Hubble Telescope to pinpoint the supernova's progenitor star and watch its progression to supernova. It's the first time astronomers have observed pulsating--or large changes in size--in a progenitor star. And it's the earliest-ever observation of how a supernova's ejecta interact with the surrounding cosmic landscape.
What the experts say: "It's telling us how stars lose mass, which has a big influence on how galaxies evolve," says Azalee Bostroem of the University of Arizona, who has led Hubble observations of 2023ixf. Researchers observed that the progenitor star lost less than 1 percent of its mass in the years before the explosion. While seemingly small, that amount is more than expected from a red supergiant. | | | The nearby supernova SN 2023ixf (the bright, bluish burst of light at lower left), as seen nestled in the spiral arms of the Pinwheel Galaxy by the Gemini North telescope. Credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA | | | Maternal mortality—defined as a death during pregnancy or up to a year afterward—more than doubled in the U.S. between 1999 and 2019, according to a new study. Deaths increased among all races and ethnicities, but Native American and Alaska Native communities experienced an alarming surge. While rates of maternal death in other wealthy countries have declined in recent decades, only the U.S. has seen steady increases.
What's causing this: Part of the story is a lack of access to maternal care (especially in Black, Native American and Alaska Native people) and high rates of cesarean section, which increases the chance of the mother dying. A CDC report released last September revealed more than 30 percent of pregnancy-related maternal deaths occur between six weeks and one year after childbirth.
What can be done: Data collection is inconsistent or underfunded, depending on the state. "The more committees reporting their findings, the more prepared we are to prevent maternal deaths," says Lindsay Admon, an obstetrician-gynecologist at the University of Michigan Medical School. Reducing c-section rates also lessens the risk of maternal death, as does ensuring Medicaid coverage for one year after birth.
More on maternal health: –Rates of cesarean section are dangerously high in the U.S., writes Ann Ledbetter, a certified nurse-midwife. Incorporating midwives into healthcare has been shown to reduce c-section rate (and is common at births in many other wealthy nations).
| | | Credit: Amanda Montañez; Source: "Trends in State-Level Maternal Mortality by Racial and Ethnic Group in the United States," by Laura G. Fleszar et al., in JAMA, Vol. 330, No. 1; July 3, 2023 | | | • Motion capture and detailed face scans allow TV and film production teams to replicate an actor's likeness. Generative AI is making the process faster and easier. | 8 min read | | | • Make no mistake, this year's record-breaking heat waves would not be happening without climate change. Such extremes would rarely happen without the excess heat trapped by the gases released from the burning of fossil fuels. | 5 min read | | | • For play and imaginative purposes: What would the physical Barbie world be like? Would it have the same gravitational conditions as Earth? Abigail Tulenko, a Ph.D. student at Harvard University takes on the thought experiment. "There have been countless discussions of Barbie's fashion sense, but scant thought into the workings of her universe. Many have pondered Barbie's iconic makeup but not her universe's physical makeup," she writes. | 6 min read | | | —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor | | Subscribe to this and all of our newsletters . | | | | Scientific American
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