February 23, 2023: Water's cosmic voyage in the universe, in-depth study of chronic fatigue syndrome and the U.S. finally returns to the moon. —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor | | | Water has existed in the universe since a few hundred million years after the big bang, chiefly in giant molecular clouds that act as nurseries for newborn stars and planets. But precisely how all that water made its way into rocky, Earth-like worlds has been hazy. Now, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is giving astronomers an unprecedented view of water's cosmic voyage, from natal clouds to protoplanetary disks and the worlds forming within them.
What they found: JWST's observations have opened the floodgates, revealing water in unexpected amounts and locations inside a diverse assortment of protoplanetary disks. The results suggest that water can migrate throughout the disks and can somehow survive the intense radiation of the disk's central star. Water's durability means many worlds beyond Earth may harbor oceans—and also hints that the origin story of our own planet's seas is more complex than previously appreciated.
What the experts say: Karin Öberg, an astronomer at Harvard University, plans to build a cosmic map of water around young protoplanetary disks to see where it is readily available to feed any forming worlds. "We are really in a new era with JWST," says Sierra Grant, an astronomer at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching, Germany. "It's remarkable that we could detect things that we couldn't detect before." | | | New Insights into Chronic Fatigue | Scientists have completed perhaps the most comprehensive study of chronic fatigue syndrome, also called myalgic encephalomyelitis, to date. People with the debilitating disorder experience overwhelming fatigue and other symptoms like memory loss, brain fog and light sensitivity. Researchers found that patients with ME/CFS had "exhausted" T cells and less activity in their right temporal-parietal junction, a brain region involved in self-agency.
Why this matters: People with ME/CFS often report that their doctors don't believe them, tell them their symptoms are "in their head," or they're depressed. These dismissive views have held back ME/CFS research, and scientists have made little progress on diagnostic tools, therapies, or even an understanding of what's causing the condition.
What the experts say: The emergence of long COVID has added credence to the existence of ME/CFS, especially since ME/CFS can set in after an infection. These new findings show that "the immune system in effect burns out, becomes exhausted and can no longer respond to infectious triggers," says Katharine Seton, an immunologist researching ME/CFS at the Quadram Institute. | | | • Nearly 15 percent of the U.S. public rejects the reality of climate change. Echo chambers of climate denial on social media are strongest in the U.S. Midwest and South and in states that depend heavily on fossil fuels. | 3 min read | | | A view of the moon's near side, beamed back by Intuitive Machines' Odysseus lander (partially visible in the foreground) following its arrival in lunar orbit on February 21, 2024. Credit: Intuitive Machines/Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) | | | • Elected officials and poll workers are frequently targets of intimidation and violence. One survey found that a substantial number of poll workers leave their posts out of fear for their safety. The government should do more to protect political spaces, writes Tim Carey, a law and policy advisor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. A good first step, he says, would be to "prohibit civilian possession of firearms in locations essential to political participation, such as polling places and legislative buildings, as well as at protests, to protect the core functions of government." | 4 min read | | | MOST-READ STORIES OF THE WEEK | | | Why Writing by Hand Is Better for Memory and Learning | 5 min read | How Did an Aquarium Stingray Get Pregnant without a Mate?| 3 min read | Europe's Oldest Human-Made 'Megastructure' Discovered under Baltic Sea | 5 min read | | | Humans are biased creatures and prefer to get information from sources they trust and who they view as part of their "in-group." Social media companies know this (make no mistake) and exploit this tendency to feed users more of the content they already believe, no matter if it's true or not. What to do? Research has shown that improving your "media literacy" can help you spot misleading, false or fake news. But most important is to pause before sharing something if you're not sure of its validity. Misinformation can spread like wildfire. | Thanks for writing to me this week, I'm grateful to be part of such an engaged and science-loving community. The lines are always open: newsletters@sciam.com. Wishing you a restful weekend! | —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor | | Subscribe to this and all of our newsletters . | | | | Scientific American
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