The James Webb Space Telescope gathered thousands of spectra from distant galaxies — colorful fingerprints of their light. To avoid drowning in this diversity, astronomers tasked a program with sorting through the finds. But it acted like a naturalist on an unfamiliar shore: not knowing beforehand what species might appear, it arranged objects by their outward similarities. Instead of shells, it used spectral patterns. The algorithm itself identified families: the usual spirals and ellipticals, and among them, rare “blue pearls.”

Such an “automated biologist” will speed up archival sorting by hundreds of times and fish out anomalies worth a closer look. And so far, the first catch from Webb proves: even in cosmic routine, wonders are hiding.