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5 min readAstronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have spotted tiny red dots in the early universe that may represent a completely new kind of celestial object: a black hole star. Meanwhile, a large new analysis of exercise and dementia risk has produced a counterintuitive finding—leisure-time physical activity lowers dementia risk, but physical labor on the job does not. And researchers studying the long-clawed shrew have documented a bizarre seasonal trick: the animal shrinks its brain and bones by a quarter each winter, then regrows them in spring.
A brand new object: the black hole star
When the James Webb Space Telescope began sending back images from the very early universe, astronomers noticed something puzzling: a population of small red dots they had never seen before. They could have been galaxies, massive stars, or black holes—nobody knew. A recent study in Nature proposes an answer for at least some of them. Lead author Rohan Naidu of the University of Hawaii describes the objects as black hole stars: a black hole surrounded by a super-dense cloud of gas and dust that functions like a star's atmosphere. But unlike a normal star, which shines because of a fusion reactor at its core, a black hole star has no fusion. Instead, "you had a glowing black hole, a rapidly feeding black hole that was holding up this whole enterprise together," Naidu said.
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What you'll learn
- 1 (00:32) **Welcome & Black Hole Quiz** - Nate and Gina B. welcome Elsa Chang and kick off the science news roundup with a quiz on black hole basics to set the stage for the main story.
- 2 (03:34) **Topic 1: Black Hole Stars - A New Object from JWST** - The James Webb Space Telescope discovered mysterious "little red dots" that may be a never-before-seen object: a black hole star.
- 3 (06:49) **Why Black Hole Stars Matter** - These objects could solve the mystery of how supermassive black holes grow so large, potentially representing their early "birth" or a growth spurt.
- 4 (07:42) **Topic 2: Exercise & Dementia - It's About Why You Move** - A new analysis of 74 studies reveals that the context of exercise matters more than the activity itself for dementia prevention.
- 5 (08:54) **The Unfairness of Work-Related Exercise** - The study highlights inequities: physical labor at work doesn't offer the same dementia protection as leisure exercise, likely due to associated stress and pollution.
- 6 (10:00) **Silver Linings for Dementia & Exercise** - Researchers urge caution and offer hope: the data on work-related exercise is limited, and even a few extra minutes of leisure activity helps.
- 7 (10:34) **Topic 3: Shrinking Shrews - Nature's Winter Survival Trick** - Some shrews, like the long-clawed shrew, shrink their bodies and brains during winter to save energy, then regrow them in spring.
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