编译 | 冯维维

Nature, Volume 636 Issue 8042, 12 December 2024

《自然》第636卷，8042期，2024年12月12日

物理学Physics

Formation of a low-mass galaxy from star clusters in a 600-million-year-old Universe

“萤光”闪烁揭示早期星系形成

▲ 作者：Lamiya Mowla, Kartheik Iyer, Yoshihisa Asada, Guillaume Desprez, Vivian Yun Yan Tan, Nicholas Martis, Ghassan Sarrouh, Victoria Strait, Roberto Abraham, Marusa BradaC, Gabriel Brammer, Adam Muzzin, Camilla Pacifici, Swara Ravindranath, Marcin Sawicki, Chris Willott, Vince Estrada-Carpenter, Nusrath Jahan, Ga?l Noirot, Jasleen Matharu, Gregor Rihtar?i? & Johannes Zabl

▲ 链接：https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08293-0

▲摘要：美国科学家基于韦布空间望远镜的观测数据，发现在宇宙约6亿年时形成的小质量星系——“萤火虫闪烁”的详细观测数据，有助于为早期星系形成提供新知，增进人们对银河系演化的理解。

人类能探测到的最遥远的星系来自宇宙只有当前年龄约5%的时候。不过，这些星系的质量只有银河系的约万分之一，而且这么小的质量使它们很难被观测到。“萤火虫闪烁”星系最早由哈勃空间望远镜发现。现在，研究者报道了韦布观测到的新细节，带来了对该星系形成过程的新认知。利用光谱学和引力透镜，该星系的红移值据估为8.3，诞生于宇宙生命最初的6亿年。

研究者还观测到了两个相邻星系，并将其命名为“萤火虫的好友”以及“萤火虫的新好友”。这两个星系分别距离“萤火虫闪烁”6000光年和4万光年，比当前的银河系要小。他们推断，“萤火虫闪烁”在其早期形成阶段或许是一个年轻、有大量气体的星系。“萤火虫闪烁”的质量集中在10个恒星簇，其总质量大约是太阳质量的1000万倍。这使得“萤火虫闪烁”成为在宇宙早期（星系刚开始形成的时期）观测到的分解成恒星簇的最小质量星系之一，其质量与原生银河系相似。

美国宇航局戈达德太空飞行中心的Brian Welch在一篇同期发表的新闻观点文章中表示，“虽然这些数据无法确定萤火虫和它的好友们的命运，但研究这些银河系的可能前身为理解银河星的形成过程提供了线索。”

▲ Abstract：The most distant galaxies detected were seen when the Universe was a scant 5% of its current age. At these times, progenitors of galaxies such as the Milky Way were about 10,000 times less massive. Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) combined with magnification from gravitational lensing, these low-mass galaxies can not only be detected but also be studied in detail. Here we present JWST observations of a strongly lensed galaxy at zspec = 8.296 ± 0.001, showing massive star clusters (the Firefly Sparkle) cocooned in a diffuse arc in the Canadian Unbiased Cluster Survey (CANUCS)1. The Firefly Sparkle exhibits traits of a young, gas-rich galaxy in its early formation stage. The mass of the galaxy is concentrated in 10 star clusters (49–57% of total mass), with individual masses ranging from 105M⊙ to 106M⊙. These unresolved clusters have high surface densities (>103M⊙ pc-2), exceeding those of Milky Way globular clusters and young star clusters in nearby galaxies. The central cluster shows a nebular-dominated spectrum, low metallicity, high gas density and high electron temperature, hinting at a top-heavy initial mass function. These observations provide our first spectrophotometric view of a typical galaxy in its early stages, in a 600-million-year-old Universe.

Strong-field quantum control in the extreme ultraviolet domain using pulse shaping

使用脉冲整形的极紫外域强场量子控制

▲ 作者：Fabian Richter, Ulf Saalmann, Enrico Allaria, Matthias Wollenhaupt, Benedetto Ardini, Alexander Brynes, Carlo Callegari, Giulio Cerullo, Miltcho Danailov, Alexander Demidovich, Katrin Dulitz, Raimund Feifel, Michele Di Fraia, Sarang Dev Ganeshamandiram, Luca Giannessi, Nicolai G?lz, Sebastian Hartweg, Bernd von Issendorff, Tim Laarmann, Friedemann Landmesser, Yilin Li, Michele Manfredda, Cristian Manzoni, Moritz Michelbach, Lukas Bruder

▲ 链接：https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08209-y

▲摘要：在强耦合状态下量身定制的光-物质相互作用能够以高达单位效率的方式操纵和控制量子系统，其应用范围从量子信息到光化学。虽然使用长波辐射很容易在价电子水平上诱导强烈的光-物质相互作用，但直到最近才用短波观察到类似的现象，从而获得高度激发的多电子态和内壳电子态。

然而，到目前为止，由于缺乏极紫外（XUV）和X射线域的脉冲整形技术，短波长的强场过程的量子控制还不可能。

利用种子自由电子激光FERMI的脉冲整形，研究者以高保真度展示了氦原子中超快拉比动力学的强场量子控制。他们的方法揭示了电离连续体的强烈修饰，否则实验观测难以捉摸。后者被用来实现对总电离率的控制，在许多XUV和软X射线实验中具有潜在的应用前景。

利用最近在几飞秒到阿秒的强XUV到软X射线光源方面的进展，研究结果为实时有效地操纵和选择性控制核心电子过程和电子相关现象开辟了一条道路。

▲ Abstract：Tailored light–matter interactions in the strong coupling regime enable the manipulation and control of quantum systems with up to unit efficiency, with applications ranging from quantum information to photochemistry. Although strong light–matter interactions are readily induced at the valence electron level using long-wavelength radiation8, comparable phenomena have been only recently observed with short wavelengths, accessing highly excited multi-electron and inner-shell electron states. However, the quantum control of strong-field processes at short wavelengths has not been possible, so far, because of the lack of pulse-shaping technologies in the extreme ultraviolet (XUV) and X-ray domain. Here, exploiting pulse shaping of the seeded free-electron laser (FEL) FERMI, we demonstrate the strong-field quantum control of ultrafast Rabi dynamics in helium atoms with high fidelity. Our approach reveals a strong dressing of the ionization continuum, otherwise elusive to experimental observables. The latter is exploited to achieve control of the total ionization rate, with prospective applications in many XUV and soft X-ray experiments. Leveraging recent advances in intense few-femtosecond to attosecond XUV to soft X-ray light sources, our results open an avenue to the efficient manipulation and selective control of core electron processes and electron correlation phenomena in real time.

化学Chemistry

Continuous collective analysis of chemical reactions

连续化学反应的集体分析

▲ 作者：Maowei Hu, Lei Yang, Nathaniel Twarog, Jason Ochoada, Yong Li, Eirinaios I. Vrettos, Arnaldo X. Torres-Hernandez, James B. Martinez, Jiya Bhatia, Brandon M. Young, Jeanine Price, Kevin McGowan, Theresa H. Nguyen, Zhe Shi, Matthew Anyanwu, Mary Ashley Rimmer, Shea Mercer, Zoran Rankovic, Anang A. Shelat & Daniel J. Blair

▲ 链接：https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08211-4

▲摘要：从模块化构建块中自动合成小有机分子有可能改变人们创造药物和材料的能力。这种分子构建策略的破坏性加速广泛地释放了其功能潜力，并需要整合许多新的组装化学物质。尽管高通量化学的最新进展可以加速适当合成方法的开发，例如，从大量潜在选项中选择适当的化学反应条件，但仍需要等效的高通量分析方法。

研究者报告了一种简化的方法，用于快速、定量分析化学反应的质谱。化学构建块固有的碎片化特征概括了化学反应的分析，允许亚秒读出反应结果。这一进步的核心是确定起始材料碎片模式作为下游产品质谱分析的通用条形码。

将这些特征与声滴喷射质谱相结合，可以消除缓慢的色谱步骤，并以多路格式连续评估化学反应。这使得从超高通量化学合成实验中得到的分子的反应条件分配成为可能。更一般地说，这些结果表明，化学合成固有的碎片化特征可以使快速数据丰富的实验成为可能。

▲ Abstract：The automated synthesis of small organic molecules from modular building blocks has the potential to transform our capacity to create medicines and materials. Disruptive acceleration of this molecule-building strategy broadly unlocks its functional potential and requires the integration of many new assembly chemistries. Although recent advances in high-throughput chemistry can speed up the development of appropriate synthetic methods, for example, in selecting appropriate chemical reaction conditions from the vast range of potential options, equivalent high-throughput analytical methods are needed. Here we report a streamlined approach for the rapid, quantitative analysis of chemical reactions by mass spectrometry. The intrinsic fragmentation features of chemical building blocks generalize the analyses of chemical reactions, allowing sub-second readouts of reaction outcomes. Central to this advance was identifying that starting material fragmentation patterns function as universal barcodes for downstream product analysis by mass spectrometry. Combining these features with acoustic droplet ejection mass spectrometry we could eliminate slow chromatographic steps and continuously evaluate chemical reactions in multiplexed formats. This enabled the assignment of reaction conditions to molecules derived from ultrahigh-throughput chemical synthesis experiments. More generally, these results indicate that fragmentation features inherent to chemical synthesis can empower rapid data-rich experimentation.

Nanoscale imaging and control of altermagnetism in MnTeMnTe

中纳米级电磁成像与控制

▲ 作者：O. J. Amin, A. Dal Din, E. Golias, Y. Niu, A. Zakharov, S. C. Fromage, C. J. B. Fields, S. L. Heywood, R. B. Cousins, F. Maccherozzi, J. Krempasky, J. H. Dil, D. Kriegner, B. Kiraly, R. P. Campion, A. W. Rushforth, K. W. Edmonds, S. S. Dhesi, L. ?mejkal, T. Jungwirth & P. Wadley

▲ 链接：https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08234-x

▲摘要：纳米尺度的探测和磁秩序的控制是凝聚态物质研究和涉及磁性的设备功能的基础。涉及的关键原理是时间反转对称性的打破，这在铁磁体中是由内部磁化产生的。然而，净磁化的存在限制了器件的可扩展性和与相的兼容性，如超导体和拓扑绝缘体。

最近，人们提出了一种解决这些限制的方法，因为它具有铁磁性的时间逆对称破缺特性，并结合了反铁磁性的消失净磁化。到目前为止，从空间平均探针可以推断出电磁有序。

研究者展示了从100纳米尺度的涡流和畴壁到10微米尺度的碲化锰（MnTe）的单畴状态的纳米级成像。他们将X射线磁圆二色的时间逆对称性破缺灵敏度与磁线性二色和光电电子显微镜相结合，以获得局部变磁有序矢量图。

利用微结构图像化和磁场中的热循环，施加了多种自旋构型。该研究为未来的实验研究铺平了道路，包括非常规的自旋极化现象、电磁与超导和拓扑相的相互作用，以及高度可扩展的数字和神经形态自旋电子器件。

▲ Abstract：Nanoscale detection and control of the magnetic order underpins a spectrum of condensed-matter research and device functionalities involving magnetism. The key principle involved is the breaking of time-reversal symmetry, which in ferromagnets is generated by an internal magnetization. However, the presence of a net magnetization limits device scalability and compatibility with phases, such as superconductors and topological insulators. Recently, altermagnetism has been proposed as a solution to these restrictions, as it shares the enabling time-reversal-symmetry-breaking characteristic of ferromagnetism, combined with the antiferromagnetic-like vanishing net magnetization. So far, altermagnetic ordering has been inferred from spatially averaged probes. Here we demonstrate nanoscale imaging of altermagnetic states from 100-nanometre-scale vortices and domain walls to 10-micrometre-scale single-domain states in manganese telluride (MnTe). We combine the time-reversal-symmetry-breaking sensitivity of X-ray magnetic circular dichroism12 with magnetic linear dichroism and photoemission electron microscopy to achieve maps of the local altermagnetic ordering vector. A variety of spin configurations are imposed using microstructure patterning and thermal cycling in magnetic fields. The demonstrated detection and controlled formation of altermagnetic spin configurations paves the way for future experimental studies across the theoretically predicted research landscape of altermagnetism, including unconventional spin-polarization phenomena, the interplay of altermagnetism with superconducting and topological phases, and highly scalable digital and neuromorphic spintronic devices.

生物学和古生物学Biology & Paleontology

Digestive contents and food webs record the advent of dinosaur supremacy

消化内容物和食物网记录了恐龙霸权的到来

▲ 作者：Martin Qvarnstr?m, Joel Vikberg Wernstr?m, Zuzanna Wawrzyniak, Maria Barbacka, Grzegorz Pacyna, Artur Górecki, Jadwiga Ziaja, Agata Jarzynka, Krzysztof Owocki, Tomasz Sulej, Leszek Marynowski, Grzegorz Pieńkowski, Per E. Ahlberg & Grzegorz Nied?wiedzki

▲ 链接：https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08265-4

▲摘要：恐龙的早期辐射仍然是一个复杂的、人们知之甚少的进化事件。研究者使用了数百块具有直接证据的化石，来比较中欧波兰盆地三叠纪-侏罗纪演代中记录这一事件的五种脊椎动物组合的营养动力学。

化石消化产物溴石的大小和多样性在整个间隔中增加，表明出现了具有新的进食模式的大型恐龙动物群。保存良好的食物残渣和溴酸盐-分类群的关联可以对营养相互作用进行广泛的推断。

结合气候和植物数据，研究结果表明，该地区的恐龙多样性和生态空间占用正在逐步增加。这包括非恐龙行会成员被机会主义和杂食性恐龙的前身取代，随后出现了以昆虫和鱼类为食的兽脚亚目恐龙和小型杂食性恐龙。

三叠纪晚期的气候变化导致了大量的植被变化，为草食动物生态空间的扩大铺平了道路，并为大型蜥脚类动物和早期鸟臀目动物取代了假类和兽头目食草动物，这些动物摄入的食物范围更广，甚至包括燃烧过的植物。

最后，兽脚亚目恐龙迅速进化并发展出巨大的体型，以应对新的食草动物群体的出现。研究者认为，波兰数据显示的过程可能解释全球模式，为恐龙统治和巨人症的出现提供了新的思路，这种现象一直持续到白垩纪末期的大灭绝。

▲ Abstract：The early radiation of dinosaurs remains a complex and poorly understood evolutionary event. Here we use hundreds of fossils with direct evidence of feeding to compare trophic dynamics across five vertebrate assemblages that record this event in the Triassic–Jurassic succession of the Polish Basin (central Europe). Bromalites, fossil digestive products, increase in size and diversity across the interval, indicating the emergence of larger dinosaur faunas with new feeding patterns. Well-preserved food residues and bromalite-taxon associations enable broad inferences of trophic interactions. Our results, integrated with climate and plant data, indicate a stepwise increase of dinosaur diversity and ecospace occupancy in the area. This involved (1) a replacement of non-dinosaur guild members by opportunistic and omnivorous dinosaur precursors, followed by (2) the emergence of insect and fish-eating theropods and small omnivorous dinosaurs. Climate change in the latest Triassic5,6,7 resulted in substantial vegetation changes that paved the way for ((3) and (4)) an expansion of herbivore ecospace and the replacement of pseudosuchian and therapsid herbivores by large sauropodomorphs and early ornithischians that ingested food of a broader range, even including burnt plants. Finally, (5) theropods rapidly evolved and developed enormous sizes in response to the appearance of the new herbivore guild. We suggest that the processes shown by the Polish data may explain global patterns, shedding new light on the environmentally governed emergence of dinosaur dominance and gigantism that endured until the end-Cretaceous mass extinction.

Migrating is not enough for modern planktonic foraminifera in a changing ocean

迁徙对现代浮游有孔虫来说是不够的

▲ 作者：Sonia Chaabane, Thibault de Garidel-Thoron, Julie Meilland, Olivier Sulpis, Thomas B. Chalk, Geert-Jan A. Brummer, P. Graham Mortyn, Xavier Giraud, Hélène Howa, Nicolas Casajus, Azumi Kuroyanagi, Gregory Beaugrand & Ralf Schiebel

▲ 链接：https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08191-5

▲ 摘要：不断上升的二氧化碳排放正在引发海洋变暖和酸化，改变了浮游生物的栖息地，并威胁到钙化生物，如浮游有孔虫（PF）。PF是否能够通过横向迁移和垂直迁移来应对这些前所未有的环境变化速度，目前还没有解决。

研究者利用一个世纪以来收集的FORCIS4全球人口普查数据表明，浮游生物正在表现出明显的向极地迁移行为，增加了它们在中高纬度地区的多样性，在过去的80年中，有孔虫的总体丰度下降了24.2±0.1%。

除了横向迁移，研究还揭示了有孔虫物种之间复杂的垂直迁移模式，对它们的适应策略有了细致的了解。在2050年和2100年预测的温度和方解石饱和状态下，低纬度有孔虫物种将面临超过其当前生态耐受的物理化学环境。

这些物种可能通过向极地移动取代高纬度物种，这将减少低纬度有孔虫的多样性。对有孔虫在人类世期间适应的见解表明，迁徙不足以确保生存。研究者表示，这强调了迫切需要了解气候变化、海洋酸化和其他压力因素的相互作用将如何影响大部分海洋领域的生存能力。

▲ Abstract：Rising carbon dioxide emissions are provoking ocean warming and acidification, altering plankton habitats and threatening calcifying organisms, such as the planktonic foraminifera (PF). Whether the PF can cope with these unprecedented rates of environmental change, through lateral migrations and vertical displacements, is unresolved. Here we show, using data collected over the course of a century as FORCIS4 global census counts, that the PF are displaying evident poleward migratory behaviours, increasing their diversity at mid- to high latitudes and, for some species, descending in the water column. Overall foraminiferal abundances have decreased by 24.2 ± 0.1% over the past eight decades. Beyond lateral migrations5, our study has uncovered intricate vertical migration patterns among foraminiferal species, presenting a nuanced understanding of their adaptive strategies. In the temperature and calcite saturation states projected for 2050 and 2100, low-latitude foraminiferal species will face physicochemical environments that surpass their current ecological tolerances. These species may replace higher-latitude species through poleward shifts, which would reduce low-latitude foraminiferal diversity. Our insights into the adaptation of foraminifera during the Anthropocene suggest that migration will not be enough to ensure survival. This underscores the urgent need for us to understand how the interplay of climate change, ocean acidification and other stressors will impact the survivability of large parts of the marine realm.