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Although they must have once existed, we haven’t yet spotted the first stars .

The very first stars to form in the Universe were different than the stars today: metal-free, extremely massive, and nearly all destined for a supernova surrounded by a cocoon of gas. There was a time, prior to the formation of stars where only clumps of matter, unable to cool and collapse, remained in large, diffuse clouds. It is possible that clouds that grow slowly enough may even persist until very late cosmic times.

Credit : NAOJ

Even at the observational frontiers, stellar populations aren’t pristine .

An illustration of the galaxy CR7, which was originally hoped would house multiple populations of stars of various ages (as illustrated). While we have yet to find an object where the brightest component was pristine, with no heavy elements, we fully expect them to exist, often alongside a later generation of stars that formed earlier. The merging of multiple star clusters is likely how the first galaxies and protogalaxies formed and took shape.

Credit : ESO/M. Kornmesser

They all contain heavy elements, as well as a wide mix of stars.

This plot shows galaxies from the first ~1.5 billion years of cosmic history, color-coded by redshift and plotted by their metallicity (x-axis) as a function of the dust-to-stellar mass ratios (y-axis) found within them. The majority of low-metallicity galaxies are also dust-poor and are known as GELDAs, dominating the very early Universe, while later-time, more dust-rich galaxies are much more enriched in heavy elements. No pristine galaxies or stellar populations have yet been found, as of mid-2026.

Credit : D. Burgarella et al., Astronomy & Astrophysics accepted/arXiv:2504.13118v2, 2025

There could be pristine, Population III stars among them, but that remains unproven .

This graph shows the combination of the Hubble, JWST NIRCam, and JWST NIRSpec data for galaxy RXJ2129-z8HeII. There is an unusually strong, blue tilt to the stellar spectrum of this object, but the evidence for any pristine material amidst the highly enriched gas and stars, with substantial fractions of heavy elements, that are present is too flimsy to make a compelling case for the presence of any pristine, Population III (a.k.a., the “first”) stars. No such population, as of mid-2026, has yet been found.

Credit : X. Wang et al., Astrophysical Journal Letters, 2024

However, evidence of their one-time presence might persist in “relic” galaxies .

This chain of large galaxies is found near the center of the Perseus Cluster of galaxies, with several of these galaxies being typical of the large, bright, evolved galaxies found at the centers of most massive galaxy clusters. For many of these galaxies, the stars found inside of them are primarily older and redder, with only small populations of bluer stars found inside.

Credit : NASA, ESA, and M. Beasley (Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias)

Some galaxies undergo intense star-formation briefly, and then never form stars again .

Galaxy clusters, like Abell S740, are the largest bound structures in the Universe. When spirals merge, for example, a large number of new stars form, but either post-merger or by speeding through the intra-cluster medium, gas can be stripped away, leading to the end of star formation in that galaxy and, eventually, a red-and-dead final structure. It is possible that red-and-dead galaxies can form much earlier in the Universe’s history than current observations indicate, with JWST offering hints that this is the case.

Credit : NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage Team (STScI / AURA); J. Blakeslee

Because they expel or otherwise lose their gas , only their previously-formed stars persist.

Galaxies undergoing massive bursts of star formation expel large quantities of matter at great speeds. They also glow red, covering the whole galaxy, thanks to hydrogen emissions. This particular galaxy, M82, the Cigar Galaxy, is gravitationally interacting with its neighbor, M81, causing this burst of activity. Although the winds and ejecta are copious, this episode is not expected to completely “kill” this particular galaxy, as some gas will still persist after this episode completes.

Credits : NASA, ESA and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA); Acknowledgment: J. Gallagher (University of Wisconsin), M. Mountain (STScI) and P. Puxley (National Science Foundation)

Since brighter, bluer, higher-mass stars have the shortest lifetimes, they all die out.

When stars first form, the color-magnitude diagram (with brightness on the y-axis and color on the x-axis) looks like a curved line, from lower-right to upper-left. As the stars age, the brightest, bluest, most massive ones evolve off of this curve first. Identifying the point at which this “turn-off” occurs enables astronomers to determine the ages of the stellar populations within them, with only the youngest stellar populations containing the most massive stars. Many locations in the Universe have been identified where stars have not formed for 10 billion years or more: mostly globular clusters, but occasionally entire galaxies.

Credit : Ivan Ramirez/Wikimedia Commons

What remains are only the fainter, redder, lower-mass stars.

This is a blink comparison that plots the location of the red stars and blue stars that dominate the globular clusters in galaxies NGC 1277 and NGC 1278. It shows that NGC 1277 is dominated by ancient red globular clusters, but NGC 1278 contains many blue-colored ones. This is evidence that galaxy NGC 1277 stopped making new stars many billions of years ago, compared to NGC 1278, which has more young blue star clusters. The globular clusters located closer to the centers of these galaxies have preferentially higher metal contents, while the most distant ones have lower metal contents.

Credit : NASA, ESA, and Z. Levay (STScI)

This creates “ red-and-dead ” galaxies, with the nearest major one being NGC 1277 .

The ‘red-and-dead’ galaxy NGC 1277 is found inside the Perseus Cluster. While the other galaxies contain a mix of red-and-blue stars, this galaxy hasn’t formed new stars in approximately 10 billion years. Foreground, closer objects, like stars, as well as more distant galaxies, are all ubiquitous throughout this image.

Credit : NASA, ESA, M. Beasley (Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias), and P. Kehusmaa

Located within the Perseus Cluster, this cosmic time capsule resides 240 million light-years away.

This nearby galaxy, NGC 1277, although it may appear similar to other typical galaxies found in the Universe, is remarkable for being composed primarily of older stars. Both its intrinsic stellar population and its globular clusters are all very red in color, indicating that it hasn’t formed new stars in ~10 billion years. When all of the gas within a galaxy is expelled and no new gas enters, that galaxy becomes permanently “red-and-dead,” as no new populations of stars can form within it.

Credit : NASA, ESA, and M. Beasley (Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias)

Astronomers recently imaged it with the EMIR instrument at the Gran Telescopio de Canarias .

Whereas most massive, late-type galaxies in the Universe exhibit a relatively standard abundance of silicon, red-and-dead galaxy NGC 1277, found just 240 million light-years away, has the strongest silicon signature ever observed in any galaxy. Because it has not formed stars in over 10 billion years, astronomers strongly suspect its silicon abundance is a signature left over from the first generation of stars.

Credit : Gabriel Pérez Díaz (IAC)

Inside, they discovered a record-setting amount of silicon .

The high silicon abundance in NGC 1277, relative to the other elements and relative to other late-type galaxies, suggests enrichment from early populations of stars. According to Anna Ferré-Mateu: “NGC 1277 is unique because it formed most of its stars at a very early stage in the history of the Universe and then evolved almost passively. While other normal galaxies have erased their original chemical signatures by mixing with others, NGC 1277 has managed to preserve that excess of silicon intact, acting as the fossil record of the infancy of the Universe.”

Credit : E. Eftekhari et al., Astronomy & Astrophysics accepted/arXiv:2606.17153, 2026

Theoretically, the first stars produced enormous amounts of silicon.

The anatomy of a very massive star throughout its life, culminating in a Type II (core-collapse) supernova when the core runs out of nuclear fuel. The final stage of fusion is typically silicon-burning, producing iron and iron-like elements in the core for only a brief while before a supernova ensues. The most massive stars achieve a core-collapse supernova the fastest, typically resulting in the creation of black holes, while the less massive ones take longer, and create only neutron stars. The first stars, when they die in cataclysms, may produce a greater relative abundance of silicon than is generally found.

Credit : Nicolle Rager Fuller/NSF

The relative silicon abundance only decreases after future stellar generations live-and-die.

The relative abundances of elements in the Solar System has been measured overall, with hydrogen and helium being the most abundant elements, followed by oxygen, carbon, and numerous other elements. However, the compositions of the densest bodies, like the terrestrial planets, are skewed to be a vastly different subset of these elements. Overall, some ~90% of the atoms in the Universe, by number (but only ~70-72%, by mass), are still hydrogen, even after 13+ billion years of star-formation. Silicon remains an abundant element today, but was likely more abundant, relative to the other elements, after only one generation of stars had formed.

Credit : 28bytes/English Wikipedia

Lacking those later generations, NGC 1277 points to early, massive-star chemical enrichment .

Whereas most galaxies don’t just have an initial population of stars, but form stars throughout their history, leading to a mix of stellar populations and an averaged-out abundance of various elements, NGC 1277 may have formed just a few major bursts of stars early on, undergoing core-collapse and Type Ia supernovae afterward, to create its relic stellar population and enhanced silicon abundance today. It could provide a unique window into evidence for the first stars as a result.

Credit : E. Eftekhari et al., Astronomy & Astrophysics accepted/arXiv:2606.17153, 2026

Remnants from the first stars may provide the best explanation.

These six “little red dot” galaxies are examples of objects that, if their brightness was caused by the stars within them alone, could not have grown to such high masses in such short amounts of cosmic time under our currently prevailing cosmological picture. It’s possible that our cosmology is wrong, but it’s also possible, and perhaps more likely, that our naive assumption about the light from these objects being entirely due to stars is wrong. Learning about their silicon abundances could help determine the role that star-formation plays, and has played, within these objects.

Credit : NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Dale Kocevski (Colby College)

Mostly Mute Monday tells an astronomical story in images, visuals, and no more than 200 words.

This article Could nearby relic galaxy NGC 1277 lead to the first stars? is featured on Big Think .

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The central bank for central banks is concerned about the eye-watering sums being invested into AI, and it's raising the specter of a global recession should the bubble burst. In its annual report for 2026, the Bank for International Settlements compared the current craze to historical events, including canal and British railway mania in the 1800s, electrification exuberance of the 1920s, and the dotcom boom of the 1990s. The report states: “all shared one common trait: a genuine technological breakthrough that attracted capital in excess of what commercial returns could ultimately justify. “These episodes ended with an eventual reversal in investment, inducing economy-wide recessions. The scale and pace of the current AI investment boom accompanied by expectations of large productivity payoffs bear resemblance to these precedents, highlighting potential downside risks in the near term.” The Register has already reported that Amazon forecasts capital expenditures of $200 billion for 2026, Microsoft is projecting $190 billion, Google some $180 billon and Meta up to $140 billion. Oracle is also betting big on AI. BIS estimates the five largest hyperscalers are set to spend more than a trillion dollars on AI-related capex in 2026 – and given the inflationary conditions regarding memory and that each rival is trying to outdo each other, that seems plausible. “These commitments are outpacing earnings and the free cash flow of these firms, leading some to issue debt to raise additional financing. This investment race may be partly driven by the perception that only a small number of players with superior technology will ultimately dominate the market shares." Intense competition is leading to the risk of the tech giants overcommitting resources to “investment projects with still uncertain returns, leaving all firms vulnerable to disappointments in AI payoffs.” This is because as competitive pressure drives spending ever higher, the net economic surplus for the tech industry declines and “could turn negative in adverse scenarios.” “Disappointment in returns could trigger a sudden pullback in financing and turn the capex boom into a protracted investment bust with potential knock-on effects on the financial conditions,” the annual report continues. The report also cited concerns about a looming "supply side roadblock" around issues like electricity availability, chip shortages and grid connection bottlenecks. AI datacenters are already putting pressure on energy prices and input costs with “potential spillovers to inflation.” “Looking ahead, these temporary shortages may also amplify over-investment, as firms attempt to lock in future capacity through long-dated contracts that further expose them to any disappointments in demand.” Should inflation spike or AI-led investment collapse, the macroeconomic consequences could be amplified by “existing financial vulnerabilities.” Policy rates being tightened to get a hold on inflation may precipitate a “sharp pullback in asset prices after a prolonged period of exuberant risk-taking, triggering disruptive macro-financial feedback loops.” Given AI companies' “rising leverage” and a “growing footprint in credit markets”, a major change in optimistic sentiments towards these businesses could have serious financial knock-on effects. ”Vulnerabilities extend to their supplier ecosystem, including engineering, procurement and construction contractors whose balance sheets are comparatively weak, leaving them exposed to any Capex pullback by hyperscalers.” The “opacity” of AI-sector financing is compounding vulnerabilities as corporations create a web of private arrangements – circular financing – and the terms of datacenter facility leases are often not fully disclosed, BIS adds. The backdrop to all of this is that, while enterprises running pilots report some efficiency gains at a employee level, few report discernible productivity gains from AI projects that went into production environments at scale. The Register has long discussed concerns about the dynamics of the AI industry, as outlined in the many links in this article above. It now seems that suits in the finance industry are waking up to the potential pitfalls too. ®

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LONDON — The U.S. Embassy’s glitzy summer party celebrating the 250th anniversary of American independence will bring together ministers, military brass, industry titans and ambassadors in London on Tuesday night.

But Britain’s likely next prime minister, Andy Burnham, is sitting this one out.

A spokesperson for Burnham — who is widely expected to become the U.K.’s next prime minister on July 20 — told POLITICO that he had turned down an invite due to a “scheduling clash.”

Speaking to reporters last week, U.S. President Donald Trump dismissed Burnham as the former “mayor of a town” and labeled him as “extremely liberal.”

The Grand American Jubilee is set to attract roughly 2,500 guests to Winfield House, U.S. Ambassador Warren Stephens’ official residence in Regent’s Park, where invitees will squeeze past U.S. Marines and into the gardens.

Stephens has issued fewer invites to the party this year than usual, according to two people familiar with the planning, granted anonymity to speak freely. Up to 4,500 guests have attended in previous years.

Invitations have been sent to every major party leader. Previous attendees include former Prime Minister Liz Truss, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and outgoing U.K. PM Keir Starmer, who attended in 2023 before he entered office.

Guests will be entertained by country music star Tim McGraw — and fireworks so loud that special permission had to be secured after previous year’s explosions unsettled the animals in nearby London Zoo, according to one of the people cited above.

The U.S. Embassy did not respond to a request for comment.

The American bash in Regent’s Park isn’t the only hot diplomatic ticket in London on Tuesday night. The Swiss Embassy’s Soireé Suisse takes place on the same evening at the Victoria & Albert Museum.

The Swiss are pulling out all the stops to try to beat their rivals: a flying buffet, raclette stations, an ice bar, mountains of swiss cheese, and DJ sets inspired by Alpine glaciers. Two U.K-based diplomats said some are plotting a shuttle operation between the two receptions.

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Ford topped JD Power’s mainstream quality study, beating brands like Subaru.

Jim Farley credits a four-year culture shift for the surprise result.

Just three years ago, Ford sat in 15th place among mainstream brands.

Ford chief executive Jim Farley is celebrating the company being named the top mainstream brand in JD Power’s recent Initial Quality Study, and he’s pinning the win on a four-year campaign to fix what was broken.

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The study , which analyzes problems experienced in the first 90 days of ownership of new vehicles, showed that Ford experienced an average of 152 problems per 100 vehicles. Not only was this enough for Ford to beat out the likes of Lexus, Nissan, Buick, Hyundai, and Subaru, but it also represented a massive improvement over 2023, when Ford ranked 15th among mainstream brands.

Read: Ford Went From Recall King To JD Power’s Top Mainstream Brand For Initial Quality

“Oh boy, this is a big day for Ford ,” Farley declared after the results were announced. “We’ve worked really hard for four years to be an overnight success story. It’s been an incredible journey over the last several years. We have completely transformed all of our plants and our quality operating system.”

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Admittedly, the study provides only a snapshot of new vehicle ownership and does not analyze problems owners experience after the first 90 days. In addition, Ford has issued 51 recalls alone this year, more than double any of its competitors. However, Farley told Yahoo! Finance the automaker’s warranty costs fell last year and will continue to decline this year. He also said, “recall costs are going down,” and “this will be a big financial story for the company too.”

Ford Now Obsessed With Quality

Farley said Ford had to change its culture to match the quality of its competitors, particularly those from Japan and Germany. Now, Ford’s workers are “completely obsessed with all the data,” Farley describes, stating that “we look at every defect and understand why it happened.”

Also: Ford Asked AI To Build Better Cars, Then Rehired Humans To Fix What AI Broke

Ford hasn’t been solely focused on improving the quality of its vehicles. During the same interview, Farley spoke about the company’s plans for more affordable models, stating it plans to launch five or six of them, starting with its new electric pickup priced at less than $30,000. He also revealed that Ford can now match BYD on battery cost thanks to the work of its skunkworks team in California.

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