El reciente análisis de polvo interestelar en la galaxia enana Sextans A ha obligado a los astrónomos a replantearse la historia de la formación de materia sólida en el universo temprano. El uso del telescopio espacial James Webb permitió detectar granos de hierro metálico y carburo de silicio en un entorno químicamente primitivo, según detallaron investigadoras del Instituto de Ciencia del Telescopio Espacial en una conferencia en Phoenix.

Sextans A, ubicada a unos cuatro millones de años luz, posee apenas entre el 3 % y el 7 % del contenido metálico del Sol. Esta escasez de elementos pesados la convierte en un análogo casi perfecto de las primeras galaxias formadas tras el Big Bang, cuando el universo era dominado por hidrógeno y helio.

La debilidad gravitatoria de Sextans A impide que retenga elementos como el hierro y el oxígeno, por lo que los astrónomos suponían que sus estrellas apenas lograrían fabricar polvo.

Sin embargo, el Webb desmontó esa hipótesis. “Sextans A nos proporciona un modelo de las primeras galaxias polvorientas”, explicó Elizabeth Tarantino, investigadora postdoctoral del Instituto de Ciencia del Telescopio Espacial y autora principal de los resultados de uno de los dos estudios presentados en una conferencia de prensa durante la 247.ª reunión de la Sociedad Astronómica Americana en Phoenix.

Los resultados permiten “interpretar las galaxias más distantes captadas por el telescopio Webb y comprender qué estaba construyendo el universo con sus primeros componentes”.

Uno de los estudios publicados en The Astrophysical Journal analizó con el espectrómetro MIRI a media docena de estrellas en una fase avanzada, conocidas como estrellas de la Rama Asintótica Gigante.

“Una de estas estrellas se encuentra en el extremo de alta masa del rango AGB, y estrellas como esta suelen producir polvo de silicato. Sin embargo, con una metalicidad tan baja, esperamos que estas estrellas estén prácticamente libres de polvo”, relató Martha Boyer, astrónoma asociada del Instituto de Ciencia del Telescopio Espacial y autora principal del estudio. Contra todo pronóstico, el Webb identificó una estrella que “forja granos de polvo compuestos casi en su totalidad de hierro”, un fenómeno inédito en objetos semejantes.

Las condiciones químicas en Sextans A se asemejan a una “cocina cósmica” con casi todos los ingredientes esenciales ausentes. “Sería como intentar hornear galletas en una cocina sin harina, azúcar ni mantequilla”, comparó Boyer. No obstante, las estrellas hallaron una “receta completamente diferente” para producir polvo, demostrando que la carencia de silicio y magnesio no impidió la formación de carburo de silicio ni de hierro puro.

Boyer destacó una diferencia clave respecto al polvo actual: “El polvo del universo primitivo podría haber tenido un aspecto muy diferente al de los granos de silicato que vemos hoy”. Según la astrónoma, los granos de hierro “absorben la luz eficientemente, pero no dejan huellas espectrales nítidas y pueden contribuir a los grandes depósitos de polvo observados en galaxias lejanas detectadas por el Webb”.

Por otro lado, un estudio complementario publicado en arXiv detectó hidrocarburos aromáticos policíclicos (HAP), moléculas complejas de carbono, en pequeñas bolsas de gas denso dentro de la galaxia. Es la primera vez que se encuentran HAP en una galaxia con tan baja metalicidad. “Webb muestra que los HAP pueden formarse y sobrevivir incluso en las galaxias más carentes de metales, pero sólo en pequeñas islas protegidas de gas denso”, indicó Tarantino.

Estos cúmulos de moléculas resuelven un viejo enigma sobre la aparente ausencia de HAP en galaxias pobres en metales y abren la puerta a nuevos estudios con espectroscopia de alta resolución, ya aprobados para el Webb.

Los hallazgos demuestran que la variedad de procesos para la creación de polvo en el universo temprano era mucho mayor de lo que se pensaba. “Cada descubrimiento en Sextans A nos recuerda que el universo primitivo fue más ingenioso de lo que imaginábamos”, concluyó Boyer.

Para la astrónoma, resulta evidente que “las estrellas encontraron la manera de formar los componentes básicos de los planetas mucho antes de que existieran galaxias como la nuestra”.

The Trump administration’s plans to revitalize the Venezuelan oil market puts the United States at an advantage over Canada and serves to weaken China, according to energy experts.  

Conservative politicians, including the leader of Canada’s conservative opposition party, are calling on Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to approve a new Pacific coast pipeline to help aid the country’s oil exports to overseas markets, amid fears that the United States’ involvement in Venezuela’s market will significantly impact the competitiveness of Canadian oil. Canadian lawmakers are concerned that increased oil exports from Venezuela to the United States, which is Canada’s largest oil purchaser, will displace oil from Canada, forcing the country to drop its prices in order to stay competitive. 

Meanwhile, experts have added that the U.S. involvement in Venezuela’s oil market will also serve to weaken China. 

«This is going to be bad for all petrostates, and Canada is basically a petrostate,» Energy and Environment Legal Institute’s Steve Milloy, a former fossil fuel industry lobbyist, told Fox News Digital. 

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A «petrostate» is a term used to describe a nation whose government and economy heavily rely on revenue from oil and natural gas exports. 

«Canada, like all petrostates — Iran, all of OPEC, all those people — are going to be at our mercy,» Milloy added. 

The leader of Canada’s conservative opposition party, Pierre Poilievre, said in a letter to Carney Tuesday, that the country needs to «move millions of barrels a day to overseas markets» in order to reduce Canada’s «dependence» on the United States’ oil market. 

«Venezuela’s re-entry to American markets means time is running out,» Poilievre told Carney in his letter, arguing «our sovereignty depends» on buffering the Canadian oil markets from the United States’ influence amid its plans to go into Venezuela and overhaul its oil. 

«Recent events surrounding Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro emphasize the importance that we expedite the development of pipelines to diversify our oil export markets, including a new Indigenous co-owned bitumen pipeline to BC’s northwest coast to reach Asian markets,» Alberta Premier Danielle Smith also said Monday.

But, according to Carney, Canadian oil will remain «competitive,» citing its «clearly low risk» and «low cost» due to the country’s stable governance, Reuters reported Tuesday. «That makes Canadian oil competitive for the medium and long term,» Carney said. «We welcome the prospect of greater prosperity in Venezuela, but we also see the competitiveness of Canadian oil.»

President Donald Trump meets with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in the Oval Office of the White House, on Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025, in Washington. (Evan Vucci/The Associated Press)

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However, Milloy argued that if Canada is «forced to sell cheaper oil» it will significantly impact the country’s ability to generate revenue. But, Milloy also noted, it is also slightly «premature to say what’s going to happen just yet» as it will take time for the impact of the United States’ intervention in Venezuela’s oil market to take shape.

«There’s a lot yet to be worked out,» Milloy said.   

In addition to Canada, Milloy suggested that President Donald Trump’s decision to go into Venezuela and take over its oil market also helps the United States’ leverage over China.

«Another important factor is that a lot of Venezuelan oil went to China,» he pointed out. 

«China is basically oil poor, and that’s why China has been trying to electrify everything. They have a lot of nuclear power there, they’re running as much solar and wind as they can because they’re oil poor, they don’t have natural gas and and they need to insulate themselves when they do something stupid like invade Taiwan,» Milloy said. «If they’re dependent on oil and gas, the global market will just shut down. There will be an embargo, and they’ll be screwed. So they’re trying to electrify everything as much as possible — the trucks, the cars, just everything. And this is just another lever on China … They were buying their oil from Venezuela, probably at a cut-price, and that’s going to end. Trump said he would sell oil in China, but it’s not going to be a cut-price.»

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That sentiment was also echoed by U.S. Oil and Gas Association President Tim Stewart.

«Long term, what this does now, is it puts 40% of the entire production in the world under the U.S. security umbrella — that’s from Alberta to Argentina. And it completely resets the global geopolitical world in terms of the U.S.’s ability to project its interests across the world. We can do things internationally without having an immediate price spike in crude,» Stewart told Fox News. 

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, right, meets with Qi Xiaoqi, Special Envoy of President Xi Jinping, in Caracas, Venezuela, Jan. 2, 2026.  (Presidency of Venezuela/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)

«Venezuela is the poster child for the Belt and Road Initiative. The numbers I saw with Venezuela now is about $20 billion to China over just the course of the last few years, and that’s largely backed by crude shipments,» Stewart continued. «What this says to China is ‘I’m sorry, but your failure to plan with good borrowing partners does not constitute our financial obligation.’ It also sends a message to China, ‘Hey get out of our hemisphere.’ …  (China) takes about 80% of Venezuela’s crude right now so it’s going to have a big impact on them.»      

In the aftermath of Nicolás Maduro’s capture by United States forces, paramilitary groups tied to the Venezuelan leader’s regime have initiated an aggressive campaign to maintain control over the country.

Mobs of motorcycle-riding civilians often armed with assault rifles, known as colectivos, have been conducting intrusive searches and establishing checkpoints to identify and punish anyone showing support for Maduro’s removal from power, Reuters reported.

The National Union of Press Workers of Venezuela reported that armed forces briefly detained fourteen journalists during Monday’s induction of Vice President Delcy Rodríguez as the country’s interim leader. Residents have also reported that some Venezuelans have been afraid to leave their homes, fearing that armed forces would seize and scour their phones for signs of dissent, The Telegraph said.

«The future is uncertain, the Colectivos have weapons, the Colombian guerrilla is already here in Venezuela, so we don’t know what’s going to happen, time will tell,» Oswaldo, a 69-year-old Venezuelan shop owner, told The Telegraph.

The colectivos are largely controlled by Nicolás Maduro’s close ally, Diosdado Cabello, who has a $25 million bounty from the U.S. State Department largely for his role in corruption and drug trafficking.

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Cabello, who serves as the state’s Minister of Interior, Justice and Peace, is widely known for suppressing political dissent in Venezuela. The presence of colectivos, who often serve as an unofficial arm of state repression, suggests that Maduro loyalists are desperately trying to maintain their grip on the country.

The reported crackdown began with a government directive to root out dissent against the Venezuelan regime. According to Reuters, a state of emergency decree published on Monday ordered police to «immediately begin the national search and capture of everyone involved in the promotion or support of the armed attack by the United States.»

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Nicolás Maduro (C) waves a national flag at the Balcón del Pueblo of the Miraflores Government Palace on Jan. 23, 2019, in Caracas, Venezuela. (Edilzon Gamez/Getty Images)

As someone who conducts state-run domestic espionage through widespread coordination of surveillance and counterintelligence agencies, Cabello remains a major unpredictable and dangerous figure in the wake of Maduro’s capture, Reuters reported.

«The focus is now on Diosdado Cabello,» Venezuelan military strategist Jose Garcia told the outlet. «Because he is the most ideological, violent and unpredictable element of the Venezuelan regime.»

A U.S. State Department «wanted» poster for senior Venezuelan regime figure Diosdado Cabello, whom U.S. authorities have accused of corruption and ties to narcotics trafficking. (U.S. State Department )

Reuters reported that the former military officer was also recently spotted patrolling Venezuelan streets with security forces.

In a social media post by the Venezuelan government, footage reportedly showed Cabello posing with a crowd of armed militia as they shouted, «Always loyal, never traitors.»

Reuters added that in recent weeks, Cabello was also seen on television ordering Venezuela’s military counterintelligence agency to «go and get the terrorists» and warning «whoever strays, we will know.»

Paramilitary members known as colectivos flood the streets of Caracas, Venezuela, on Jan. 4, 2026. (Andrea Hernández Briceño/Washington Post)

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He reportedly repeated the same rhetoric in a state television appearance Saturday, wearing a flak jacket and helmet and surrounded by heavily armed guards.

Despite the removal of Maduro, the loyalist crackdown on dissent and the media suggests that the ruling party has no intention of relinquishing its grip on power.

Reuters contributed to this report.