Webb Telescope Captures Stunning Image of Helix Nebula

A new image from the James Webb Space Telescope revealed a dramatic close-up of the Helix Nebula, showcasing a dying star shedding its outer layers, according to a report by ESAWebb published in Science Daily on January 26, 2026. The detailed view highlights glowing knots of gas shaped by fast-moving stellar winds colliding with older material.

The image captures changes in color that trace a shift from scorching hot gas near the center to cooler regions farther out. This scene illustrates how stellar death helps supply the building blocks for future worlds, according to Science Daily. The image reveals comet-like knots, fierce stellar winds, and layers of gas shed off by the dying star.

In other news, Northwestern University reported on January 26, 2026, that home fireplaces and wood stoves are quietly driving a large share of winter air pollution. Researchers found that wood smoke accounts for over one-fifth of Americans' winter exposure to dangerous fine particles linked to heart disease and early death, according to Science Daily. The study indicated that much of this pollution drifts into cities, where it disproportionately harms people of color. Reducing wood burning could deliver major public health benefits.

Meanwhile, Nature News highlighted the work of Mohammed Amar, the Indigenous on-site manager of the Socotra endangered-tree project, which is mainly funded by the Franklinia Foundation in Geneva, Switzerland. Amar stated that Socotra, a Yemeni island, has the world's last dragons blood tree (Dracaena cinnabari) forest. He added that the island also has other threatened plants, including cucumber trees (Dendrosicyos socotranus) and Boswellia spp., also known as frankincense trees. Amar has been working with scientists from Mendel University in Brno, Czech Republic, and other European universities for 25 years, acting as the connection between the scientists, Indigenous communities, and local authorities. He also scouts out areas for habitat restoration and works with remote communities to find ways to protect these endangered species.

In the realm of cellular research, Nature News reported on CytoTape, a genetically encoded, modular protein tape recorder for multiplexed and spatiotemporally scalable recording of gene regulation dynamics continuously for up to three weeks, physiologically compatible, with single-cell, minutes-scale resolution. This tool, engineered via computation, tracks multiple-component dynamics with both spatiotemporal resolution and scalability within the same cells.

Finally, Nature News also reported on the observation of a gyroscopic motion of an isolated ferromagnet, an effect first intuited by physicist James Clerk Maxwell in 1861. Researchers observed this quantum spinning effect in a levitating magnet held in a superconducting trap, demonstrating that the microscopic magnet could be made to gyrate like a spinning top.