Today in Science: The scariest objects in space

A newsletter for unflinching, ever-curious science-lovers. ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­

October 31, 2025—Happy Halloween! Science can get real spooky. We've got dinosaur mummies, zombie cockroaches, horror movie music and more below if you're looking for a thrill.   —Andrea Tamayo, Newsletter Writer TODAY'S NEWS Greater noctule bats prey on and consume passerines in flight. Jorge Sereno A new video captures Europe's largest bat snatching and eating a migrating robin midair, confirming scientists suspicions about the creatures' snacking behavior. | 3 min read  Podcast: A gastroenterologist explains how Halloween candy can either trick–or treat–your gut. | 9 min listen Dinosaur mummies unearthed in Wyoming were thought to have fossilized flesh. Turns out, the flesh isn't skin at all, but clay fashioned by ancient microbes. | 3 min read Jewel wasps inject a concoction of chemicals into cockroach brains, turning them into zombies the wasps manipulate to feed their young. | 3 min read  How do composers make horror movie music so frightening? Psychoacoustics researchers and music producers explain common techniques composers use to terrify, perturb and unsettle audiences. | 5 min read More News Explore the universe and feel the awe of science. Subscribe to Scientific American with a special discount for Today in Science readers.  TOP STORIES Cosmic Scaries Why do some people see animal shapes in the clouds? Or faces in the bark of a tree or a splotch of syrup on the tablecloth? This phenomenon is called pareidolia, the tendency for our brain to see patterns in randomness. The constellations in the night sky are a version of this, and so are other cosmic bodies. Take a tour of some of the scariest objects in space. NASA/GSFC/SDO On October 8, 2014, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory took a picture of the sun. This shot combines two images taken in the extreme ultraviolet—light with far shorter wavelengths than our eyes can see—which highlights magnetic activity. NAIC-Arecibo/NSF In 2015 an asteroid passed just 485,000 kilometers from Earth—on Halloween, no less—and it looks eerily like a human skull. Named 2015 TB145, the asteroid is about 600 meters in diameter and won't pose a potential threat to Earth for 150 years. T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage)/H. Schweiker (WIYN and NOIRLab/NSF/AURA) (CC BY 4.0) This planetary nebula is giving creepy skull. As a star dies it ejects gas into space, where all the elements are superheated by the core of the star. In this image, oxygen close to the core glows blue, and the cavities in it—the "eyes" and "mouth"—are likely sculpted by the interactions of the stellar wind with the environment around the star. The overall "skull" shape arises further away from the star as the oxygen's glow fades. —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor Spiders such as this Argiope bruennichi sometimes adorn webs with zigzagging stabilimenta. Pierluigi Rizzo (member of Aracnofilia - Italian Society of Arachnology) (CC-BY 4.0) Web Decor Spider "web decorations," called stabilimenta, are likely more than mere ornaments. The silk patterns may help spiders detect prey that lands in their webs, a new study finds. Researchers tested this by first taking pictures of different patterns of stabilimenta in the wild. Once photographed, the team simulated the structures on a computer and measured the effect that impacts from different directions had on each web. Webs with a "platform" stabilimenta—a thick and dense network of silk woven in the middle of the web—transmitted vibrations from one side of the web to the other with enough force that a spider might be able to sense it.   Why this is interesting: Arachnologists have debated the function of stabilimenta for decades, hypothesizing that it serves as a shield against harsh ultraviolet rays, a way to convey water for the arachnids to drink, or a way for spiders to hide from predators. The new finding doesn't close that debate, says co-author of the study and bioengineer Gabriele Greco. "On the contrary, I'm opening it yet to another possible function."   What experts say: "This adds one more piece to the puzzle," says Todd Blackledge, a biologist at the University of Akron, who was not involved in the study. But he emphasizes that because the study was based on modeling, we still need to ask, "Does this really apply to real spiders in the real world?"

PLAY NOW Do you know the answer to the first question of today's science quiz? Also, don't miss today's Spellements. If you spot any science words missing from Spellements, email them to games@sciam.com. This week, four readers spotted the work tritium, which is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. Great job, all! EXPERT PERSPECTIVE Why do people love haunted houses and scary movies? Voluntary exposure to horror and scares is rooted deeply in our evolutionary past and can help us overcome fears and learn how to respond to new challenges, Athena Aktipis and Coltan Scrivner—both researchers at Arizona State University—wrote in 2023. "The exaggerated perils of fictional monsters create strong emotional and behavioral responses, familiarizing us with these reactions for when we have to deal with more down-to-earth dangers," they say. | 13 min read MOST POPULAR STORIES OF THE WEEK This New Shape Breaks an 'Unbreakable' 3D Geometry Rule. | 2 min read FDA Warns People Not to Eat Recalled Eggs Contaminated with Salmonella | 3 min read UFOs Are Just One Explanation for Mysterious Patterns in Old Telescope Data. | 7 min read If a horror movie is muted, I can watch it in its entirety. But typically, the petrifying sounds and music steer me away. It was fascinating to learn from today's Science Quickly podcast why the low thrums, long-roiling tracks, and high-pitched screeches of classic frightening films trigger our brains to feel fear.  Thanks for reading. If you wore a fun science-inspired Halloween costume, we would love to see it. Feel free to send pictures, and any comments or feedback to: newsletters@sciam.com.    —Andrea Tamayo, Newsletter Writer

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