The brightest take on this week’s science
We’re serving up a range of science snacks this week!
From the potential health perks of a common vitamin to a vast magma reservoir hiding beneath a quiet part of Italy.
Also in this issue:
⭐ A pristine star like no other
🤯 A mind-blowing fact about the Sun
🔬 A microscope mystery
To the science!
LOOK IN
A Vitamin Linked to Alzheimer’s Tangles
(Wildpixel/iStock/Getty Images Plus)
The sunshine vitamin, aka vitamin D, is associated with a hallmark feature of Alzheimer’s disease in mid-life.
A new study has now linked higher levels of vitamin D with a lower risk of the potentially toxic brain ‘tangles’ associated with Alzheimer’s.
At age 39, study participants had their vitamin D levels measured. Then, 16 years later, they had a brain scan.
Many people have plaques and tangles in their brain without showing signs of dementia, but these are thought to be a risk factor.
The findings don’t prove cause and effect, but they suggest that vitamin D may protect the health of the aging brain.
Whether vitamin D supplements do the trick is another matter…
HEADLINES
This Week in Science
LOOK OUT
A Vast Magma Reservoir Hiding in Italy
(© Marco Bottigelli/Moment/Getty Images)
There’s a vast reservoir of magma bubbling beneath the Tuscan soil that scientists have only just mapped.
The sheer immensity of the hidden network is on par with the upper magma chambers of supervolcanoes like Yellowstone.
It may not have erupted yet.
In fact, there isn’t even a volcano to mark the spot.
Scientists discovered the chamber by using a network of over 60 seismometers, which probe the Earth’s subsurface kind of like an X-ray.
What they found was roiling magma and partial melt scarily close to the surface.
ZOOM ZONE
Microscope Mystery: What Do You See?
(tonaquatic/iStock/Getty Images Plus)
A) Coral polyps
B) Tastebuds
C) Fat cells
D) Human testis
Answer at the bottom.
LOOK UP
The Universe’s Most Pristine Ancient Star
An artist's impression of the star's journey from the Large Magellanic Cloud to the Milky Way. (Navid Marvi/Carnegie Science)
We have some very impressive company in our midst.
Our Milky Way galaxy is home to the most pristine ancient star that scientists have ever discovered.
It’s a fossil relic almost completely made of hydrogen and helium.
The metal ‘pollution’ of this star was found to be just 0.005 percent that of our own Sun.
It’s also shockingly low in carbon. Astronomers say this suggests the star was made from but a ‘sprinkling’ of cosmic dust.
We’ve only ever seen something like this once before…
WOW FACTOR
Science Fact of The Week
This is the hot breath of our Sun billowing into the coldness of space.
It contains the closest images ever taken of our Solar System’s resident star.
On 24 December 2024, NASA's Parker Solar Probe flew just 6.1 million kilometers (3.8 million miles) from the Sun’s surface to snap these pics.
DOPAMINE HIT
Before You Go…
Even astronauts have to let off some steam…
(NASA)
Check out NASA’s Tumblr to see more gifs of the Artemis II mission crew having fun!
Microscope answer: Human testis
The formation of sperm happens within the tubules of the testis. Because production takes roughly 70 days, each tubule hosts cells at various stages of sperm maturation, keeping a continuous supply of swimmers ready to go.
That’s all for today… see you next week!
- Carly
