Comet 3I/Atlas continues to be full of surprises. As well as being only the third interstellar object ever detected, new analysis shows it is producing hydroxyl (OH) emissions, with these compounds betraying the presence of water on its surface. This discovery was made by a team of researchers at Auburn University in Alabama using NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, and was described in a study published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

Hydroxyl compounds are detectable via the ultraviolet signature they produce. But on Earth, a lot of UV wavelengths are blocked by the atmosphere, which is why the researchers had to use the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory—a space telescope free from interference experienced by observatories on Earth.

Water is present in virtually every comet seen in the solar system, so much so that the chemical and physical reactions of water are used to measure, catalog, and track these celestial objects and how they react to the heat of the sun. Finding it on 3I/ATLAS means being able to study its characteristics using the same scale used for regular comets, and this information could in future be useful data for studying the processes of comets that originate in other star systems as well.

“When we detect water—or even its faint ultraviolet echo, OH—from an interstellar comet, we’re reading a note from another planetary system,” said Dennis Bodewits, an Auburn University physicist who collaborated on the research, in a press statement. “It tells us that the ingredients for life’s chemistry are not unique to our own.”

Comets are frozen hunks of rock, gases, and dust that usually orbit stars (the exceptions being the three interstellar objects found so far). When they’re far away from a star, they’re completely frozen, but as they get closer, solar radiation causes their frozen elements to heat up and sublimate—turn from solid into gas—with some of this material emitted from the comet’s nucleus thanks to the star’s energy, forming a “tail.”

But with 3I/ATLAS, data collected revealed an unexpected detail: OH production by the comet was already happening far away from the sun—when the comet was more than three times farther from the sun than the Earth—in a region of the solar system where temperatures normally aren’t sufficient to easily produce the sublimation of ice. Already at that distance, however, 3I/ATLAS was leaking water at the rate of about 40 kilograms per second, a flow comparable—the study authors explain—to that of a “hydrant at maximum power.”

This detail would seem to indicate a more complex structure than what is usually observed in comets in the solar system. It could, for example, be explained by the presence of small fragments of ice detaching from the comet’s nucleus, and which are then vaporized by the heat of sunlight, going on to feed a gaseous cloud that surrounds the celestial body. This is something that has so far been observed only in a small number of extremely distant comets, and which could provide valuable information about the processes from which 3I/ATLAS originated.

“Every interstellar comet so far has been a surprise,” said Zexi Xing, an Auburn University researcher and coauthor of the discovery, in a press statement. “‘Oumuamua was dry, Borisov was rich in carbon monoxide, and now ATLAS is giving up water at a distance where we didn’t expect it. Each one is rewriting what we thought we knew about how planets and comets form around stars.”

This story originally appeared on WIRED Italia and has been translated from Italian.

Picked up some fun new toys in the last few weeks that you need to keep track of? Amazon currently has Apple AirTags in a four pack marked down to just $65, an excellent price for these easy-to-use location tracking devices.

While there are plenty of similar tracking tags on the market, the Apple AirTags have some unique features that set them apart from the crowd. Probably the most relevant is that they leverage Apple’s entire network of devices for tracking, rather than just your phone, or other users who happen to have the company’s app installed. That means they’re more likely to show up as they get further away from you, and you can set them as lost in the system to notify you when they come within range of an iPhone or iPad.

They’re also extremely easy to set up and pair to your phone, thanks to the close pairing of Apple’s hardware and iOS software. Just tap the AirTag to your phone to connect it to your account, and you’re ready to go. They’re compact enough that they can squeeze into basically anywhere, including on a keychain or tucked into a small purse. You can also share them with up to five family members, in case you need to help your significant other track down their keys.

Apple has put a ton of work into making the AirTag super useful while also keeping an eye on safety and security concerns. Both Apple and Android phones will warn you if an AirTag not linked to your account is following you around, and they’ll even beep occasionally when they aren’t within range of any Apple devices on the Find My network.

The biggest downside to the Apple AirTag is that it doesn’t work with Android devices at all, except for the safety warning. If you aren’t an iPhone owner, make sure to check out our other favorite tracking devices to keep your belongings safe. For everyone else, the AirTag is an excellent option, and for just over $15 a piece, can give you a lot of peace of mind when it comes to your most valued gadgets.

Want a watch strap that’s as comfortable as fabric, as light as rubber, as strong as a metal bracelet and as tactile as a Milanese mesh?

Any watch fan looking to tick all of the above boxes would normally expect to be a dab hand with a spring bar removal tool to experience all the above individually, but a new strap developed by Malaysian independent brand Ming appears to now offer the best of all worlds.

The one strap to rule them all has been dubbed the Polymesh, and is 3D-printed from grade five titanium, and comprises 1,693 interconnected pieces (including the buckle) held together without any pins or screws. The only additional parts requiring assembly are the quick-release spring bars at each end that attach it to the watch—the articulated pin buckle is also formed in the same process.

Ming says that the strap, which is made up from rows of 15 equilateral triangles, meshed together and bookended by larger end pieces, “has more motion engineered into the radial axis than the lateral one,” leading to a supple end result that drapes like fabric yet retains the strength of titanium.

It has taken the company seven years to develop, working with partners Sisma S.p.A in Italy and ProMotion SA in Switzerland. Ming says notable challenges included the risk of components fusing together, and the fact that powdered titanium—the raw material from which the strap is laser sintered—is highly explosive. The straps each take several hours to produce, requiring hundreds of layers of additive manufacturing in an inert gas environment.

The company is not the first to use 3D-printing techniques for final products in watchmaking (as opposed to prototyping), but it is the only one using it for straps or bracelets. British start-up Apiar has debuted a 3D-printed watch case, as has Dutch brand Holthinrichs, which has created versions of its Ornament 1 in both 18k gold as well as stainless steel.

The Case for Straps

To the extent that straps have been an area for innovation in the watch world, recent attention has tended to focus on brands’ development of proprietary mechanisms for swappable straps, to varying degrees of success and popularity. Sustainability programmes that focus on leather alternatives such as reclaimed apple peel or mushroom-based material, or textiles woven from ocean plastic. Some have proven difficult to industrialize, and nearly all have been dogged by accusations of greenwashing.

Rolex’s 2015 Oysterflex strap featured an elastomer virtually indistinguishable from rubber with thin blades of titanium-nickel alloy embedded within it for strength.

Photograph: Stojan & Voumard/ Rolex