Today in Science: Heads-Up! Tornadoes expected this weekend

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May 16, 2025—Twinkle, twinkle, little star, bending light is what you are. Plus, will we soon hear supersonic booms overhead? And why the best birdwatching is done without your phone.    —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor TODAY'S NEWS The supersonic Concorde, seen above as it is returned to the Intrepid Museum last year, was last in commercial operation in 2003. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images Lawmakers are seeking to repeal a 50-year-old regulation that prevents civilian aircraft from traveling faster than the speed of sound (supersonically) over the U.S. | 3 min read KJ Muldoon, a baby born with a genetic disease that affected his ability to metabolize proteins, has become the first person to receive a bespoke CRISPR treatment. | 3 min read The universe will likely end sooner than previously predicted, according to a new study. But fear not, the new demise date is 10 to the power of 78 years from now (that is, 1 with 78 zeros behind it). | 3 min read RFK, Jr. is dead wrong about autism, experts say. Here's what the science says. | 7 min read Fossilized claw tracks discovered in Australia show that the animal group that includes reptiles, mammals and birds formed 35 million years earlier than expected. | 3 min read Tornadoes are expected to strike across at least seven states this weekend. We're in the middle of one of the worst tornado seasons this decade. | 3 min read More News TOP STORIES How I Wonder What You Are  Why do stars twinkle? It's technically called scintillation, from the Latin for "sparkle," and is the apparent coming-and-going of a star's light, the shifting in colors and brightness. "While it is admittedly lovely, it's still the bane of astronomers across the world," writes astronomer and columnist Phil Plait.     How it works: The light from the stars gets refracted as it passes through different air densities in our atmosphere. Refraction bends light and splits it apart into its different wavelengths (different wavelengths each bend differently). Meanwhile air in our atmosphere is constantly moving, and different dense spots continuously form and shift. So twinkling is really the constant bending of light as it moves through a changing atmosphere. Because a star is so far from Earth, its light is a mere speck in the sky and its light seems to dance as it's distorted. The light from planets, which are much bigger and closer, doesn't twinkle.   What can be done: For astronomers, twinkling is a problem. Creating an image with long exposure time means the light from distant objects gets spread out and the resulting picture is blurry. Faint objects appear even fainter because their light is spread all around and diluted. "Adaptive optics" in telescopes quickly detect distortions and adjust pistons behind a deformable mirror to reshape the reflective surface to compensate for the twinkling.

INFOGRAPHIC OF THE DAY Measles, rubella, polio and diphtheria have been virtually eliminated from the U.S. for decades thanks to widespread vaccination. But with a multi-state measles outbreak underway reaching more than 1,000 cases, and without sufficient vaccine uptake, those diseases could come roaring back. "We're right on that knife's edge," says Mathew Kiang, an assistant professor of epidemiology and population health at Stanford University and lead author of a new study that finds even a slight dip in current U.S. childhood vaccination rates could reverse such historic gains. "A little bit more [vaccination coverage] and things could be totally fine; a little less and things are going to be quite bad." Amanda Montañez; Source: "Modeling Reemergence of Vaccine-Eliminated Infectious Diseases under Declining Vaccination in the U.S.," by Matthew V. Kiang et al., in JAMA. Published online April 24, 2025 (data) PLAY NOW How science savvy are you feeling today? Test your knowledge with this week's science quiz. Also check out today's Spellements puzzle. This week, readers James B. and P.E. wrote in to tell us that the word umami was missing from Spellements this week. Umami, also called savoriness, is one of the five basic tastes. Delicious word! More Games EXPERT PERSPECTIVES A Boreal Owl emerges from its roost to begin its evening of hunting activities in Northern Minnesota. The author spotted his first Boreal Owl this past March. Scott Suriano/Getty Images The COVID pandemic caused a surge in interest in bird watching, and plenty of tech tools, from apps to maps, are available to help find, identify and log birds in the wild. "But I wonder whether, by relying on technology to this extent, we are losing out on the most important tool for birding—and perhaps life in general: the power of observation," writes Derek Lovitch, a conservation biologist, bird-watcher and co-owner of Freeport Wild Bird Supply in Maine. "Birding is a chance to turn off our devices and use our senses, to breathe fresh air, to connect with the natural world and immerse ourselves in the now, the moment, the bird," he says. | 5 min read More Opinion MOST POPULAR STORIES OF THE WEEK Linguists Find Proof of Sweeping Language Pattern Once Deemed a 'Hoax' | 4 min read This Strange Mutation Explains the Mystifying Color of Orange Cats | 4 min read Friend or Food: Why Are Iceland's Orcas Taking in Pilot Whales? | 4 min read Stargazing. Bird watching. These stories are music to the ears of  summer-lovers like me. What warm-weather activities are you dreaming about? One of my favorite activities is reading on the beach. This summer, Today in Science will include book recommendations every week, so you'll have plenty of good reads to choose from. If you have any science titles you've been interested in checking out, send them my way and we'll consider reviewing them! Peak bird migration is still underway, so get out this weekend and add some species to your life list. And then tell me all about it: newsletters@sciam.com. See you Monday.   —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor

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