January 7, 2025: Today we're covering a hypervelocity star system, the rise of a common but lesser-known human virus and a new way to spur climate action. —Robin Lloyd, Contributing Editor | | | Researchers transplanted algae chloroplasts into cells from a Chinese hamster (Cricetulus griseus). Juniors Bildarchiv GmbH/Alamy Stock Photo | | | The Milky Way's galactic bulge is dense with stars. NASA, ESA, Tom M. Brown | | | A planetary system orbiting the Milky Way's galactic center has clocked in at 541 kilometers per second, making it the fastest known system with a planet and possibly a rare "hypervelocity star system," reports freelance journalist Jonathan O'Callaghan. For comparison, our solar system orbits at less than half that velocity—240 kilometers per second. Hypervelocity systems' immense speeds may come from encounters with the gravity of other stars or even a slingshot ejection from a supermassive black hole, such as the one at the center of our galaxy. The newly discovered system is thought to include a gas giant planet, about 29 times Earth's mass, circling a red dwarf star.
How they did it: Astronomers first detected the red dwarf and its planetary companion following a 2011 micro-lensing event when the system passed in front of and warped the light of a background star. Follow-up observations made 10 years later by the W.M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii helped the team map the system's location over time, yielding the estimate of its screaming velocity.
What the experts say: It now appears that planets can survive extreme accelerations of their stars, and the finding "might open up a new study of the origin and evolution of planets around very high-velocity stars," says astrophysicist Sean Terry, lead author of the study. | | | Lesser-known Virus on the Rise | | | Cases of a common but lesser-known respiratory virus called human metapneumovirus, or HMPV, are on the rise in China, India, Malaysia and Kazakhstan, reports Scientific American editor Lauren J. Young. Cases also have ticked up slightly in the U.S., but HMPV is not expected to become a global health threat. As with other cold-weather bugs like influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), HMPV poses a risk primarily to infants, older people and people with compromised immune systems.
What the experts say: "I don't think this is something we should be alarmed about. It's certainly nothing nefarious….I'm more concerned for the U.S. population now with influenza, which has rocketed up over the past several weeks, and our hospitals and emergency rooms are just chock-full of people who are really miserable and quite sick with influenza," says pediatrician and infectious diseases professor John Williams.
What to do: Symptoms resemble those of a common cold—congestion, a sore throat or a cough. People who feel ill should stay home. In crowded, indoor settings, it's wise to wear a mask. Social distancing is advised for people with weaker immune systems. And remember to wash your hands frequently. | | | • A stronger recognition of women's rights, labor and knowledge, as well as prioritizing women's employment, are among the pillars of a new report that advocates for a "feminist climate justice" framework to advance climate action. A gender focus can "help unite a common understanding of the urgency and direction of necessary action" to advocate more effectively for a more sustainable future, write researchers Laura Turquet and Silke Staab, both at U.N. Women. | 5 min read | | | With chilly to frigid weather prevailing today in much of the U.S., our thoughts might turn to penguins and other species that seem to shrug off colder climes. Here's a penguin video that might make your heart explode. For recent images of penguins in the wild, I recommend science writer and birder Ryan Mandelbaum's recent posts, such as this one showing king penguins at South Georgia, an island in the South Atlantic Ocean. Colder days also can steer a person's thoughts to napping. And it turns out that some penguins take thousands of micronaps daily. | —Robin Lloyd, Contributing Editor | | Subscribe to this and all of our newsletters . | | | | Scientific American
One New York Plaza, New York, NY, 10004 | | | | | | Support our mission, subscribe to Scientific American | | | | | | | | | |
