Science Illustrated Issue 93

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The first images from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope made the headlines last month, including its first ‘deep field’ scan, revealing the faintest objects ever observed. The second batch included this extraordinary image of the ‘Cosmic Cliffs’ bordering a nearby young star-forming region roughly 7600 light-years away: NGC 3324 in the Carina Nebula, which is visible from our Southern Hemisphere. The image shows previously invisible areas of star birth in the gigantic gaseous cavity above the Cliffs, the highest ‘peaks’ of which reach some seven light-years in height.…

GEOLOGY A megaquake is the most powerful type of earthquake on Earth. Also called a megathrust quake, this type of severe tremor originates at the meeting places of Earth’s tectonic plates. When one plate is forced under another, intense forces can be released, often powerful enough to trigger a tsunami wave. A megaquake is defined as higher than 9 on the ‘moment magnitude’ scale (which replaced the Richter scale). The biggest megaquake in the last 20 years scored a 9.1 – the Tohoku earthquake in 2011, the tsunami from which led to the nuclear accident at Fukushima, Japan. Now scientists have identified a massive megaquake that caused a tsunami thousands of miles long and may have driven people from the region for 1000 years. In a new study published in the…

ANIMALS New dog owners are often advised to think carefully about the best breed of dog for their situation before letting a new four-legged friend into their homes. There are books and online guides offering a wealth of advice (and prejudices) regarding how unpredictable, aggressive or obedient any particular dog breed may be. But according to a new study, the breed may reveal far less about a dog’s probable behaviour than we used to think. A group of scientists from the US University of Massachusetts analysed data from more than 18,000 dogs and combined it with genetic studies. They collected saliva and blood samples from a total of 2155 dogs and sequenced the pets’ DNA to find special variations that related to their personality. Finally they combined their findings with questionnaires to…

PREHISTORIC ANIMALS One very special tooth might prove to belong to the biggest carnivorous sea monster that ever existed. Scientists think the tooth belongs to a perhaps-unknown ichthyosaur (or ‘fish lizard’) weighing more than 100 tonnes, patrolling the darkest and deepest regions of the oceans some 205 million years ago. Even though significant parts of the tooth’s top have disappeared, scientists estimate that the root is twice as big as any other ichthyosaur tooth ever found. The tooth ended up a long way from today’s oceans, having been excavated in the mountains of the Swiss Alps in 1990, and recently re-examined by scientists. The area in which the tooth was discovered is now at an altitude of 2800 metres above sea level, but more than 200 million years ago, it would…

1: 5. The top number divided by the two bottom ones combined equals 4, 5, 6, 7, and then 8. For instance 52 / (6+ 7) = 4. And 63 / (5+ 4) = 7. 2: 10 of hearts. In the top row, the system is +3, -5, +7, -9. So, the fifth card must be 10. In the bottom row, 4 is added to the card above. The suits change from left to right according to the following system: spades – clubs – diamonds – hearts – hearts – diamonds – clubs – spades – spades – clubs. So, it’s the 10 of hearts. 3: 1900. The distances are 100 times the alphabetical position of the first letter of each city. Darwin starts with a D, so that’s 400, etc. Sydney…