Here are today’s most important updates from the realm of Science and Space.
Using the Webb telescope, astronomers have detected the chemical composition and origin of ultra-hot exoplanet WASP-121b. The study suggests that it formed in a cool zone of its natal disc, comparable to the region of gas and ice giants in our Solar System. These insights stem from the detection of multiple key molecules: water vapor, carbon monoxide, silicon monoxide, and methane. Silicon was detected as silicon monoxide (SiO) gas, but originally entered the planet via rocky material such as quartz stored in planetesimals—essentially asteroids—after acquiring most of its gaseous envelope. The planet exhibits two distinct hemispheres: one that always faces the host star, Temperatures on the dayside reach 3000°C, while on the nightside they drop to 1500°C. The planet is located 881 light years from Earth in the constellation Scutum, orbits its star every 1.3 days, and is approximately 1.87 times larger than Jupiter.
New class of transient events found thanks to Gaia and ZTF: Extreme Nuclear Transients or ENTs! These events are the most energetic explosions in the universe known. They are powered by massive stars being torn apart by supermassive black holes. More details:… pic.twitter.com/RDt9mAGPk9
— ESA Gaia (@ESAGaia) June 4, 2025
(Credit: X/@ESAGaia)
Astronomers have discovered the most energetic cosmic explosions yet discovered, naming the new class of events "extreme nuclear transients" (ENTs). These extraordinary phenomena occur when massive stars—at least three times heavier than our sun—are torn apart after wandering too close to a supermassive black hole. Their disruption releases vast amounts of energy visible across enormous distances. ENTs provide a valuable new tool for studying massive black holes in distant galaxies. Because they're so bright, scientists can see them across vast cosmic distances—and in astronomy, looking far away means looking back in time.
The phenomenon of having a word “on the tip of the tongue” is equally fascinating and frustrating. Now, scientists have uncovered some intriguing insights about what happens in the brain during these moments. Three regions in brain play key roles: the anterior cingulate cortex, the prefrontal cortex and the insula. These regions collaborate like colleagues tackling a tough problem, pooling their efforts to find the missing word. The anterior cingulate cortex acts like a supervisor, signaling that there's a conflict: “I know this word, but I can't retrieve it!” Meanwhile, the prefrontal cortex evaluates and verifies the information that surfaces during the search, ensuring that what is retrieved matches what you're looking for. The insula contributes to phonological retrieval–helping access the sounds that make up words. The anterior cingulate cortex and the prefrontal cortex perform complementary roles when a word is elusive.
(Credit: NASA)
After capturing an image of the iconic Sombrero galaxy at mid-infrared wavelengths, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has followed up with an observation in the near-infrared. In the newest image, the Sombrero galaxy’s huge bulge, the tightly packed group of stars at the galaxy’s center, is illuminated. Studying galaxies like the Sombrero at different wavelengths helps astronomers understand how this complex system of stars, dust, and gas formed and evolved, along with the interplay of that material. The Sombrero galaxy is located about 30 million light-years away from Earth at the edge of the Virgo galaxy cluster, and has a mass equal to about 800 billion Suns. This galaxy sits “edge on” to us, meaning we see it from its side. The Sombrero is home to roughly 2,000 globular clusters, or collections of hundreds of thousands of old stars held together by gravity.
