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Wiggly atom helps measure its buddy
IN BRIEF
GEORGETTE DOUWMA/NATUREPL.COM
THE fin fanning of damselfish in the Red Sea helps boost the rate of photosynthesis of the algae that live inside corals. We already knew that the damselfish (Dascyllus marginatus) lives in symbiosis with the coral Stylophora pistillata. The fish use coral branches as shelters and nests, and in return they remove sediment from the coral surface and excrete nutrients. But it turns out there is more to the relationship. Nur Garcia-Herrera at the Alfred-Wegener Institute in Germany and colleagues measured oxygen levels inside the branches of coral kept in tanks either with or without fish. They found that photosynthesis rates were higher during the day in tanks containing fish, probably helped by the fish’s fin strokes wafting away water containing high levels of oxygen. The presence of fish increased photosynthesis by 22 per cent. “This is the first evidence of positive effects by a coral-associated fish on coral photosynthesis,” says Garcia-Herrera. The effect is probably smaller in the wild, she says, as the fish spend only about a third of their time in coral reefs, according to her team’s field observations. Even so, it may boost the coral’s photosynthesis by up to 6 per cent (Journal of Experimental Biology, DOI: 10.1242/jeb.161760).
18 | NewScientist | 20 May 2017
Exoplanet’s watery atmosphere points at unusual origin OBSERVATIONS of a Neptune-like exoplanet show that it has a watery atmosphere – suggesting it formed closer to its star than did the gas giants in our solar system. Hannah Wakeford at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and her colleagues used the Hubble Space Telescope to look at HAT-P26b, a planet about 440 light years away from us. It has a similar mass to Neptune, and a relatively thin but extensive atmosphere. As the world passed in front of its star, they saw distinct signatures of water in its atmosphere.
“Seeing this beautiful signature of water in the atmosphere was perfect for us,” says Wakeford. Because oxygen is heavier than helium – which astronomers consider the cut-off for so-called heavy elements – and water has oxygen in it, the researchers could use the water signal to determine the abundance of heavy elements in the atmosphere of HAT-P-26b. The team found fewer heavy elements than they had expected, given data from the few other gas giants inside or outside our solar system with atmospheres
we have already probed. If HAT-P-26b is unusual now, it has probably always been strange. When planetary atmospheres are formed from a star’s disc of dust and gas, they acquire their heavy elements from pockets of ice and debris. These are more common farther from the star. HAT-P-26b’s relative lack of heavy elements may indicate that it formed closer to its star than gas giants like Neptune or Jupiter. This could point to diversity in how and where giant gassy planets like this come into being. CAMBRIDGE CONSULTANTS
Fish boost coral photosynthesis
For new stories every day, visit newscientist.com/news
Wiggly atom helps measure its buddy WHEN I move, you move. By pairing the vibrations of a charged molecule and a charged atom, researchers can use the atom as a probe to observe and control the more complex molecule without disturbing it. When an atomic ion and a molecular ion are trapped together, they repel one another. The repulsion acts as a sort of spring connecting the two, so that when one particle moves, the other does as well. Dietrich Leibfried at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Maryland and his colleagues used this relationship to determine and control the quantum state of a molecule, including its vibration, location and rotation. “If the molecular ion starts to wiggle, the atomic ion will also start to wiggle, and we can detect that wiggle,” says Leibfried. That means researchers can measure the atomic ion’s movement to determine the state of the molecule without disrupting it (Nature, doi.org/b62n). The technique could allow researchers to examine some of the most fundamental constants in physics.
X-ray specs help surgeons to operate DOCTORS could soon peer inside a patient without needing to make a large incision, helping them to carry out keyhole surgery more easily. An experimental augmented reality headset shows a virtual 3D map of a patient’s internal organs, created using data from MRI and CAT scans and overlaid on the body. Surgeons can tag virtual organs with notes before an operation to help guide them, says Simon Karger, who led the team developing the tech at Cambridge Consultants in Boston, Massachusetts. He thinks the system could help less
specialist surgeons perform complicated procedures. But Shafi Ahmed, a surgeon at the Royal London Hospital who live-streamed an operation in virtual reality last year, doesn’t think that augmented reality can replace the hands-on experience of a specialist surgeon. He believes, however, that it could be a precursor to fully automated surgical systems. Karger says it may be decades before the tech is deemed safe enough to use with real patients. “The world of surgery is quite a conservative one,” he says.
GEORGETTE DOUWMA/NATUREPL.COM
THE fin fanning of damselfish in the Red Sea helps boost the rate of photosynthesis of the algae that live inside corals. We already knew that the damselfish (Dascyllus marginatus) lives in symbiosis with the coral Stylophora pistillata. The fish use coral branches as shelters and nests, and in return they remove sediment from the coral surface and excrete nutrients. But it turns out there is more to the relationship. Nur Garcia-Herrera at the Alfred-Wegener Institute in Germany and colleagues measured oxygen levels inside the branches of coral kept in tanks either with or without fish. They found that photosynthesis rates were higher during the day in tanks containing fish, probably helped by the fish’s fin strokes wafting away water containing high levels of oxygen. The presence of fish increased photosynthesis by 22 per cent. “This is the first evidence of positive effects by a coral-associated fish on coral photosynthesis,” says Garcia-Herrera. The effect is probably smaller in the wild, she says, as the fish spend only about a third of their time in coral reefs, according to her team’s field observations. Even so, it may boost the coral’s photosynthesis by up to 6 per cent (Journal of Experimental Biology, DOI: 10.1242/jeb.161760).
18 | NewScientist | 20 May 2017
Exoplanet’s watery atmosphere points at unusual origin OBSERVATIONS of a Neptune-like exoplanet show that it has a watery atmosphere – suggesting it formed closer to its star than did the gas giants in our solar system. Hannah Wakeford at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and her colleagues used the Hubble Space Telescope to look at HAT-P26b, a planet about 440 light years away from us. It has a similar mass to Neptune, and a relatively thin but extensive atmosphere. As the world passed in front of its star, they saw distinct signatures of water in its atmosphere.
“Seeing this beautiful signature of water in the atmosphere was perfect for us,” says Wakeford. Because oxygen is heavier than helium – which astronomers consider the cut-off for so-called heavy elements – and water has oxygen in it, the researchers could use the water signal to determine the abundance of heavy elements in the atmosphere of HAT-P-26b. The team found fewer heavy elements than they had expected, given data from the few other gas giants inside or outside our solar system with atmospheres
we have already probed. If HAT-P-26b is unusual now, it has probably always been strange. When planetary atmospheres are formed from a star’s disc of dust and gas, they acquire their heavy elements from pockets of ice and debris. These are more common farther from the star. HAT-P-26b’s relative lack of heavy elements may indicate that it formed closer to its star than gas giants like Neptune or Jupiter. This could point to diversity in how and where giant gassy planets like this come into being. CAMBRIDGE CONSULTANTS
Fish boost coral photosynthesis
For new stories every day, visit newscientist.com/news
Wiggly atom helps measure its buddy WHEN I move, you move. By pairing the vibrations of a charged molecule and a charged atom, researchers can use the atom as a probe to observe and control the more complex molecule without disturbing it. When an atomic ion and a molecular ion are trapped together, they repel one another. The repulsion acts as a sort of spring connecting the two, so that when one particle moves, the other does as well. Dietrich Leibfried at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Maryland and his colleagues used this relationship to determine and control the quantum state of a molecule, including its vibration, location and rotation. “If the molecular ion starts to wiggle, the atomic ion will also start to wiggle, and we can detect that wiggle,” says Leibfried. That means researchers can measure the atomic ion’s movement to determine the state of the molecule without disrupting it (Nature, doi.org/b62n). The technique could allow researchers to examine some of the most fundamental constants in physics.
X-ray specs help surgeons to operate DOCTORS could soon peer inside a patient without needing to make a large incision, helping them to carry out keyhole surgery more easily. An experimental augmented reality headset shows a virtual 3D map of a patient’s internal organs, created using data from MRI and CAT scans and overlaid on the body. Surgeons can tag virtual organs with notes before an operation to help guide them, says Simon Karger, who led the team developing the tech at Cambridge Consultants in Boston, Massachusetts. He thinks the system could help less
specialist surgeons perform complicated procedures. But Shafi Ahmed, a surgeon at the Royal London Hospital who live-streamed an operation in virtual reality last year, doesn’t think that augmented reality can replace the hands-on experience of a specialist surgeon. He believes, however, that it could be a precursor to fully automated surgical systems. Karger says it may be decades before the tech is deemed safe enough to use with real patients. “The world of surgery is quite a conservative one,” he says.