Astronomers spot one of the largest spinning structures ever found in the Universe
Peer-Reviewed Publication
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 5-Dec-2025 09:11 ET (5-Dec-2025 14:11 GMT/UTC)
An international team led by the University of Oxford has identified one of the largest rotating structures ever reported: a “razor-thin” string of galaxies embedded in a giant spinning cosmic filament, 140 million light-years away. The findings, published today (4 December) in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, could offer valuable new insights into how galaxies formed in the early Universe.
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Strategically coupling nanoparticle hybrids and internal thermosensitive molecular switches establishes an innovative paradigm for constructing micro/nanoscale-reconfigurable robots, facilitating energy-efficient CO2 management in life-support systems of confined space. Here, a micro/nano-reconfigurable robot is constructed from the CO2 molecular hunters, temperature-sensitive molecular switch, solar photothermal conversion, and magnetically-driven function engines. The molecular hunters within the molecular extension state can capture 6.19 mmol g−1 of CO2 to form carbamic acid and ammonium bicarbonate. Interestingly, the molecular switch of the robot activates a molecular curling state that facilitates CO2 release through nano-reconfiguration, which is mediated by the temperature-sensitive curling of Pluronic F127 molecular chains during the photothermal desorption. Nano-reconfiguration of robot alters the amino microenvironment, including increasing surface electrostatic potential of the amino group and decreasing overall lowest unoccupied molecular orbital energy level. This weakened the nucleophilic attack ability of the amino group toward the adsorption product derivatives, thereby inhibiting the side reactions that generate hard-to-decompose urea structures, achieving the lowest regeneration temperature of 55 °C reported to date. The engine of the robot possesses non-contact magnetically-driven micro-reconfiguration capability to achieve efficient photothermal regeneration while avoiding local overheating. Notably, the robot successfully prolonged the survival time of mice in the sealed container by up to 54.61%, effectively addressing the issue of carbon suffocation in confined spaces. This work significantly enhances life-support systems for deep-space exploration, while stimulating innovations in sustainable carbon management technologies for terrestrial extreme environments.