March 10, 2025: The world's smallest pasta, how storytellers get through life, and nine mathematical mysteries. —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor | | | Shatter cones in ancient rocks of the Pilbara, Western Australia. Tim Johnson, Curtin University | | | • The Athena lunar lander has toppled over and been declared dead on the moon. This is the second time in two years a commercial lunar lander built and operated by Intuitive Machines has fallen over on the moon. | 3 min read | | | • The Trump administration may soon drop a federal lawsuit against a Louisiana petrochemical plant to reduce its emissions of chloroprene. Here's a look at the cancer-causing chemical. | 5 min read | | | Researchers used a scanning electron microscope to scan a mat of starch chains with a focused beam of electrons. They created an image based on the pattern of electrons deflected or knocked-off. Each individual strand is too narrow to be clearly captured by any form of visible light camera or microscope. Beatrice Britton/Adam Clancy | How do you make the world's smallest pasta? Researchers created a mixture of flour and formic acid and then "electrospun" the substance—pulling it by an electrical charge—through a hollow needle tip. The charged liquid whipped out of the needle horizontally toward a grounded plate a few centimeters away. As it flew through the air, the acid swiftly dried up, and the remaining starch chains formed solid but invisible threads; their width was only 372 nanometers each, invisible to the naked eye. The researchers called it "nanotini." Why they did this: The scientists weren't intending to make pasta. They are investigating starch nanofibers for their potential as next-generation bandages. Mats of such fibers have pores that allow water through, but are not big enough for bacteria.
What the experts say: Confident that the formic acid had evaporated away, lead experimenter Adam Clancy, a chemist at University College London, sampled a clump of nanotini. "I know you're not meant to self-experiment, but I'd made the world's smallest pasta," he says. "I couldn't resist." The verdict? This mini pasta needs seasoning. | | | Researchers recently conducted five studies with about 800 participants and measured their storytelling ability. They asked people to rate their own storytelling chops, asked those participants' close friends to rate the storytelling skills, had participants rate each other's stories, and had experts evaluate each participant's storytelling skills. They also surveyed the participants about how meaningful they found life and how they approached life. What they found: Good storytellers both have a strong sense of meaning in life and get through life with a mindset focused on the bigger-picture, the "why," (Why does this matters? Why I do things the way I do?) rather than "how" (How do I get this done?). These findings align with previous work that has found that many people make sense of who they are by shaping their life experiences into a story—one that gives their life meaning.
What the experts say: "A strong sense of meaning in life comes with many health benefits, including a longer lifespan," writes Ron Shacha, professor of economics and business at Reichman University in Israel. "Combined with our findings, this suggests that storytelling may also contribute to better health and decreased mortality." | | | If you're enjoying all the science stories we cover in this newsletter, dive deeper with a subscription to Scientific American. You'll have access to all our articles and will be supporting crucial science journalism. | | | • Daylight saving time wastes billions of dollars while causing more car accidents, workplace injuries and health issues, writes Joanna Fong-Isariyawongse an associate professor of neurology at the University of Pittsburgh. Aligning our clocks with the natural sun cycle (and adjusting school schedules to align with children's biology) would save money and increase society's productivity. "Chronic sleep deprivation does more than leave people tired. It costs an estimated $411 billion annually in lost productivity and health care costs," she says. | 5 min read | | | Many scientific studies have found that our attitudes about life directly affect how much meaning or satisfaction we get from living. Seems obvious, right? Perhaps, but shifting how we feel about our daily challenges, achievements and emotions can be difficult. Some research shows that framing the story of your life as a hero's journey (with you as the gallant hero or heroine), can imbue the daily, sleep-deprived grind with more significance and meaning. | Thank you for joining me on this journey of scientific discovery! This newsletter is for you, so please tell me how I'm doing by emailing newsletters@sciam.com. Onward, fearless champions! | —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor | | Subscribe to this and all of our newsletters . | | | | Scientific American
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