X. Chen

A distant light in the fog looks tiny and reddish: you'd think it's miles away. But then the light shifts sideways, and it becomes clear: it's a cyclist twenty steps away, just with a nearly dead rear light. That's how, in 2025, astronomers stumbled upon 'Capotauro'—a compact red source in images from the James Webb Space Telescope.

A chef prepares a delicate dish where every grain must be in its place. A single stray crumb of an unwanted ingredient can overpower the subtle flavor of the main product. In much the same way, physicists studying the fusion of oxygen nuclei struggle with impurities in their targets. The reaction in which two oxygen-16 nuclei fuse determines the late stages of massive stars.