It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Evaporation ponds in Atacama’s salt flat, Chile. (Image courtesy of SQM.)
Chile’s Indigenous communities in the lithium-rich Atacama Desert are in talks with two of the nation’s biggest miners to gain more influence over plans to increase extraction of the battery metal, according to the companies and community sources.
The negotiations with Chile’s state-run Codelco, the world’s biggest copper producer, and Chilean lithium producer SQM, come as the companies are close to finalizing a partnership that will mark the state’s entry into production of the metal that is crucial for electric vehicle batteries.
The talks to craft a so-called “governance” plan began in March and are expected to conclude by year-end, Reuters learned exclusively. They follow a dialogue begun last year in which the companies explained the joint venture, and community representatives laid out their concerns.
Both sides say their goal is to create a model that will give Indigenous Atacama groups, also known as Lickanantay, an active role in the new venture in a salt flat that sweeps across one of the planet’s driest places, where people have lived for thousands of years.
“We have invited them to work together on a governance model that effectively recognizes and considers the perspectives and visions of the Lickanantay communities … in the decision-making processes of the new company,” Codelco and SQM said in a joint statement to Reuters.
The companies described the potential system as “unprecedented” in Chile, adding that it would comply with international treaties on Indigenous rights.
In visits by Reuters to five Indigenous towns in the Andean foothills above the salt flats, community leaders emphasized the need to hold SQM and Codelco accountable to their environmental pledges, particularly to limit water use.
“The idea … is that it’s not just the company deciding what to do in our territory,” said Sergio Cubillos, community leader of Peine, which overlooks the vast Atacama basin that provides a quarter of the world’s lithium supply.
Giving Indigenous groups a seat at the table could potentially crimp profits if it were to lead to costlier environmental standards.
At the same time, an agreement could appeal to global buyers that are increasingly focused on ethical mining to meet shareholder demands, and help avert protests.
“The companies have realized that interrupting production obviously has a damaging effect,” said Yermin Basques, leader of the Toconao community.
One option for a new framework would be regular dialogue with company decision-makers, such as board members, Basques said.
“This would let us participate in the discussion on how the technological extraction process will work, how we will safeguard the water supply, how we will develop extraction with less environmental impact,” he said.
Getting a board seat is not the goal, he noted, as the communities do not seek a voice in business decisions.
Dialogue with Codelco and SQM had at times been tense, Basques added, but the two sides were now working together, in part because the firms recognized the need for community support after protests snarled SQM logistics last year.
“We have specific knowledge of our territory, of our water. And we have the power to close the salt flat if needed.”
Clock ticking
Codelco and SQM told Reuters that talks would continue this year, building on dozens of meetings last year with Atacama groups.
Their joint venture, in which Codelco will have 50% plus one share of control over SQM’s Atacama operations, is slated to go into effect in the second half of the year, pending regulatory approvals.
An advisor for the Atacama Indigenous Council (CPA), which comprises 18 communities, told Reuters that the council was reviewing early-stage proposals for the governance model, including one put forth by Codelco and SQM, but declined to provide details.
The companies declined to provide their proposal to Reuters, citing the ongoing process.
The advisor said council representatives will meet with Codelco and SQM every couple of weeks for the next two or three months as they hammer out a final proposal.
Each community will then discuss the plan internally, before representatives agree on a definitive version with Codelco and SQM, expected in the second half of the year, the advisor said.
Codelco and SQM plan to raise lithium output by as much as 33% through 2060. The goal is part of a tectonic change in Chile’s lithium sector after leftist President Gabriel Boric announced plans in 2023 to shift to a state-led model, spearheaded by Codelco, and committed to prioritizing Indigenous rights.
Some community leaders say they feel a sense of urgency to reach an agreement with Codelco and SQM while Boric is still in office through March of next year, concerned that a successor could shake up the country’s lithium strategy and veer away from Boric’s pro-Indigenous stance.
Some lawmakers, from a range of parties, have criticized the Codelco-SQM deal, concerned over whether the agreement was in Chile’s best interest. Most presidential hopefuls from opposition parties have yet to outline their stance on lithium mining. By law, Boric cannot run for a second consecutive term.
“We have to hurry up, because we don’t know what could happen next year,” said Basques, the Toconao leader.
Veteran conservative politician Evelyn Matthei, who currently leads early presidential polls, said in a statement from her office to Reuters that she supports mining development, wants to boost Chile’s lithium production, and aims to benefit all people including Indigenous communities.
Chile’s Mining Ministry declined to comment on the Codelco-SQM venture. New model
Chile has the world’s largest proven reserves of lithium, US Geological Survey data show, and is the second-largest producer behind Australia.
While some Indigenous groups in Canada and Australia have taken a bigger role in environmental management, such practices are rare in Latin America, experts say.
SQM shareholders, as well as customers focused on environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks, such as European automakers, are likely to view an Indigenous agreement as positive for SQM, said Seth Goldstein, an analyst at Morningstar Research Services.
“Dialogue allows SQM an easier path to keep its operations going,” he said.
SQM already runs Indigenous outreach programs, including working groups, complaint channels, joint environmental monitoring and cooperation agreements. In some communities, the company has installed solar panels, provided dental care and offered agricultural training.
SQM’s efforts follow best practices for community relations, according to a 2023 audit by the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA), an evaluation process favored by EV manufacturers to ensure supply chain transparency.
Still, the audit found that SQM still had work ahead to overcome years of distrust.
Winder Flores, who grew up in the town of Talabre and now helps his aging mother make cheese and wool crafts in Tambillo near the edge of the Atacama salt flat, is conscious of what’s at stake.
“We want the miners to guarantee that there will be no pollution, that our water supply will not run out,” he said, as his herd of goats and llamas roamed in one of the rare grassy areas of the desert, nourished by a freshwater spring.
“We’re not against the country’s development, but we do want to be part of it, and not be left with nothing.”
(By Daina Beth Solomon; Editing by Adam Jourdan, Veronica Brown and Claudia Parsons)
Saturday, April 05, 2025
CHART: Mining stocks massacre as copper price craters by 9%
Hands up who wants to sell copper stocks. Stock image.
On Friday, the most-actively traded copper contract plunged 9.1% to $4.3880 per pound ($9,670 a tonne) on the Comex market, not far off the day’s lows. Trading was busy with the equivalent of a nominal $11.4 billion worth of the orange metal changing hands.
May delivery copper is now down 18.4% from its record high hit near the end of March on frantic US buying ahead of the tariffs, only just escaping a technical bear market. In London copper did not fare much better, dropping 6.8% to $8,734 per tonne, the lowest since March 2020 at the onset of the covid pandemic.
Fair warning
A warning issued by BNP Paribas last week has turned out to be prescient. The French bank predicted a collapse in copper prices with senior commodities strategist David Wilson saying the imposition of tariffs will end the pricing dislocation, turning the market’s focus to the negative demand impact of US trade policies. BNP predicts a retreat to $8,500 a tonne this quarter.
Given its widespread use in industry, manufacturing, and construction copper is particularly vulnerable to slowing economic growth and the prospect of an outright recession sparked by what now appears to be a full-blown global trade war.
Max Layton, global head of commodities research at Citigroup, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television that copper could fall by another 8% to 10% in the coming weeks while JP Morgan now predicts a 60% chance of a global recession if the tariffs continue.
The entire base metals complex retreated sharply leading to a broad-based sell-off in the sector.
Shares trading in New York of world no 1 mining company BHP (NYSE: BHP) dropped 9.5% for a market value of $107.3 billion while its nearest rival Rio Tinto (NYSE: RIO) fell 6.4% to $93.5 billion in three times usual trading volumes.
Weakness in the Australian giants were compounded by a bearish outlook for iron ore, their traditional bread and butter commodity after Goldman Sachs predicted the steelmaking raw material could fall by as much as 15% from current levels around $100 a tonne.
Bear market
Copper specialist Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE: FCX) which vies with BHP as the world’s top copper producer after Chile’s state-owned Codelco was the hardest hit on the day with a 13.1% decline after nearly 45 million shares changed hands. FCX is down 24.1% over the past week and is now worth $41.9 billion in New York.
Mexico’s Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) fell 9.6% on Friday bringing losses for the week to 16.7% and a market value of $62.4 billion. Southern Copper and Chinese firm Zijin Mining (NYSE: ZIJMY), down 7.2% at $56.9 billion both produce more than 1 million tonnes of the metal annually.
Glencore and (LON: GLEN) Anglo American (LON: AAL) depository receipts trading in the US declined by 11.5% and 11.0% respectively affording the diversified miners market capitalization of $36.9 billion and $28.6 billion respectively. Swiss-based Glencore and London-listed Anglo American are the world’s number six and seven copper companies based on output and both are down 20% for the week.
Further down the production stakes, Canada’s Teck Resource (TSE: TECK.B) also took a major hit, down 12.1%, while fellow Vancouver-based copper miners Ivanhoe Mines (TSE:IVN) saw its shares decline by 12.6% and First Quantum Minerals (TSE:FM) fell 12.8%.
Quantum states can only be prepared and observed under highly controlled conditions. A research team from Innsbruck, Austria, has now succeeded in creating so-called hot Schrödinger cat states in a superconducting microwave resonator. The study, recently published in Science Advances, shows that quantum phenomena can also be observed and used in less perfect, warmer conditions.
Schrödinger cat states are a fascinating phenomenon in quantum physics in which a quantum object exists simultaneously in two different states. In Erwin Schrödinger's thought experiment, it is a cat that is alive and dead at the same time. In real experiments, such simultaneity has been seen in the locations of atoms and molecules and in the oscillations of electromagnetic resonators. Previously, these analogues to Schrödinger’s thought experiment were created by first cooling the quantum object to its ground state, the state with the lowest possible energy. Now, researchers led by Gerhard Kirchmair and Oriol Romero-Isart have demonstrated for the first time that it is indeed possible to create quantum superpositions from thermally excited states. “Schrödinger also assumed a living, i.e. ‘hot’ cat in his thought experiment,” remarks Gerhard Kirchmair from the Department of Experimental Physics at the University of Innsbruck and the Institute of Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW). “We wanted to know whether these quantum effects can also be generated if we don't start from the ‘cold’ ground state,” says Kirchmair.
In their study published in the Science Advances, the researchers used a transmon qubit in a microwave resonator to generate the cat states. They succeeded in creating the quantum superpositions at temperatures of up to 1.8 Kelvin – which is sixty times hotter than the ambient temperature in the cavity. “Our results show that it is possible to generate highly mixed quantum states with distinct quantum properties,” explains Ian Yang, who performed the experiments reported in the study.
The researchers used two special protocols to create the hot Schrödinger cat states. These protocols were previously used to produce cat states starting from the ground state of the system. “It turned out that adapted protocols also work at higher temperatures, generating distinct quantum interferences,” says Oriol Romero-Isart, until recently Professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of Innsbruck and research group leader at IQOQI Innsbruck and since 2024 Director of ICFO - the Institute of Photonic Sciences in Barcelona. “This opens up new opportunities for the creation and use of quantum superpositions, for example in nanomechanical oscillators, for which achieving the ground state can be technically challenging.”
“Many of our colleagues were surprised when we first told them about our results, because we usually think of temperature as something that destroys quantum effects”, adds Thomas Agrenius, who helped develop the theoretical understanding of the experiment. “Our measurements confirm that quantum interference can persist even at high temperature”.
These research findings could benefit the development of quantum technologies. “Our work reveals that it is possible to observe and use quantum phenomena even in less ideal, warmer environments,” emphasizes Gerhard Kirchmair. “If we can create the necessary interactions in a system, the temperature ultimately doesn't matter.”
The study was funded by the Austrian Research Fund FWF and the European Union, among others.
Publikation: Hot Schrödinger Cat States. Ian Yang, Thomas Agrenius, Vasilisa Usova, Oriol Romero-Isart, Gerhard Kirchmair. Science Advances 2025 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adr4492 [arXiv:2406.03389]
Researchers generated highly mixed quantum states with distinct quantum properties.
Sustainability in space and the fight against the accumulation of waste produced in Earth orbit are the objectives pursued by PERSEI Space, a company whose partners include two researchers from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) and which has developed a space electrodynamic tether technology that is useful in this area.
This spin-off, which has been incubated by the European Space Agency (ESA) and is being supported by the Center for Innovation in Entrepreneurship and Artificial Intelligence (C3N-IA) of the UC3M - Leganés Tecnológico Science Park, has the support of the European Innovation Council through the E.T.PACK-F and E.T.COMPACT projects.
“Our company was created to address two of the biggest challenges facing the space sector today: space debris removal and in-orbit services. The latter allow us to extend the useful life of satellites and carry out key activities such as refueling, repair and towing of satellites from their initial orbit to their final destination,” explains Jesús Manuel Muñoz Tejeda, CEO and co-founder of PERSEI Space.
Space debris poses a very serious threat to the sustainability of space operations since, due to the high speed at which debris moves in Earth orbit, an impact can result in severe damage and the generation of more small debris. In addition, the current density of space debris is already above the threshold that triggers an uncontrolled chain of collisions, known as the Kessler syndrome.
To get rid of this space junk, PERSEI Space is working on space tethers, a technology with three key features. “The first is that it does not need fuel, unlike other de-orbiting systems. The second is that our technology is reversible; it can serve to both increase and decrease the orbital height . And the third feature is that it is scalable, since it serves a wide range of satellite masses. With all this, we can develop autonomous de-orbiting systems, a unique feature of our technology that ensures that the satellite does not leave space debris, even if it ceases to be operational,” explains Jesús Manuel Muñoz Tejeda.
Space tethers
The system is based on electrodynamic tethers, aluminum ribbons, generally hundreds of meters long and a few centimeters wide, which work by interacting with the ionospheric plasma and the Earth's magnetic field to generate a force known as the Lorentz force.
“The interaction of the electric current in the tether with the Earth's magnetic field generates a drag force capable of lowering the satellite's altitude, facilitating its de-orbiting without requiring fuel, which translates into significant savings in mass and volume,” says Gonzalo Sánchez Arriaga, professor in the UC3M Department of Aerospace Engineering and co-founder of PERSEI Space.
PERSEI Space is leading a first demonstration mission for 2026, thanks to a launch opportunity facilitated by ESA's Flight Tickets Initiative and the European Commission. The deorbiting equipment for this demonstration has a mass of 20 kg, and includes a space tether approximately 430 meters long that, once in orbit, will deploy and interact with the ambient plasma and magnetic field, generating a drag force that will deorbit the satellite within a few months. This equipment has been funded with 2.5 M€ by the European Innovation Council, and in collaboration with SENER Aerospace, the University of Padua and the Technical University of Dresden. The development of the technology could not be more timely, as new European and US guidelines have reduced the maximum time satellites can remain in orbit after the end of their mission from 25 to 5 years.
The company PERSEI Space has signed ESA's Zero Space Debris Charter initiative, which seeks to achieve a sustainable space by 2030. The company, in turn, is linked to the UC3M's Business Creation and Entrepreneurial Development program and also has the support of the Madrid City Council.
Yellow rectangles indicate the positions where FIB sampling was carried out and the curved yellow lines indicate mineral boundaries. Pgt, pigeonite; Tro, troilite; Ilm, ilmenite; Aug, augite; Chr, chromite; An anorthite; Fo, forsterite.
This study is led by Dr. XIAN Haiyang and Dr. ZHU Jianxi of the Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences. On June 25, 2024, the Chang’e-6 mission successfully achieved the world’s first sampling of the lunar farside and returned safely to Earth. In August, based on his outstanding performance in the Chang’e-5 sample research, Dr. Xian received the first batch of Chang’e-6 samples. This marks the first time in human history that samples have been directly obtained from the lunar farside, and the research team hopes to use these samples to gain insights into the space weathering characteristics on the lunar farside. The space weathering features recorded in lunar samples can sensitively capture information about the surrounding space environment, helping us better understand the conditions on the lunar farside.
Under Dr. Xian’s guidance, his student Lin Jiarui at the Electron Microscopy Center of the Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry analyzed these precious samples one by one using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). To preserve as much of the surface information as possible, she chose to evenly distribute the fine-grained powder on conductive adhesive and then deposited a 10 nm carbon film, observing the samples at a low voltage of 3 kV. After examining nearly a thousand particles, she noted that the Chang’e-6 samples exhibited noticeably less melt drops and melt splashes on their surfaces. To further systematically study the space weathering characteristics, she selected seven mineral particles with distinct compositions using energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), which together represent the main lunar mineral types.
In subsequent transmission electron microscopy (TEM) investigations, Lin and other team members prepared a feldspar particle (designated P2‑001) using focused ion beam (FIB) techniques and discovered that its surface lacked the nanophase metallic iron (npFe⁰) particles commonly found in Apollo samples. Typically, the surface of feldspar in Apollo samples exhibits a vapor‑deposited layer generated by micrometeorite impacts that contains npFe⁰. They further conducted EDS mapping on the other seven FIB sections under TEM, and the results showed no significant compositional differences between the edges and interiors of these minerals. All regions displaying observable space weathering features—including the amorphized layers, vesicles, and npFe⁰ grains—were consistent with the substrate mineral composition, indicating that these features can be attributed to the damage caused by solar wind radiation on the substrate minerals.
Lin further measured the thickness of the amorphized layers and the grain sizes of npFe⁰, and counted the solar wind tracks in pyroxene and olivine to estimate the solar wind exposure time of the particles. The study found that the solar wind exposure time of the Chang’e-6 samples was close to the minimum observed in the Apollo 11 samples, lower than that of the other Apollo samples, and slightly shorter than that of the Chang’e-5 samples. However, surprisingly, the npFe⁰ grain sizes in the Chang’e-6 samples were larger. “This might suggest that solar wind radiation in this region leads to more pronounced segregation and aggregation of iron,” she noted. These exciting new results add to the growing evidence that space weathering on the lunar farside may differ from that on the nearside, and, contrary to previous findings from Apollo and Chang’e-5 samples, solar wind radiation plays a more dominant role in the space weathering process on the lunar farside.
There are differences in the solar wind’s influence on different regions of the Moon. During each synodic month, the near side of the Moon enters Earth’s magnetotail, where the protection afforded by Earth’s magnetic field reduces its exposure to the solar wind; in contrast, the farside is continuously exposed to direct solar wind radiation. Moreover, due to orbital dynamics, different locations on the Moon experience varying impact velocities from cometary and asteroidal meteoroids. The relative velocity between the Moon’s surface and impacting meteoroids changes with the lunar phase: during a full moon, when the Moon and meteoroids move in the same orbital direction, the relative velocity increases; the opposite occurs during a new moon.
Micrometeoroid impacts and solar wind radiation are the two primary processes driving space weathering, but the effective sputtering rate from the solar wind and vapor deposit from micrometeorite impacts offset each other. Therefore, when discussing space weathering mechanisms, it is essential to consider the relative contributions of both factors under different space environments. The findings from the Chang’e-6 samples indicate that on the lunar farside, the effect of the solar wind exceeds that of micrometeorite impacts, further demonstrating that the space weathering process is regulated by variations in the space environment.
Since the first images of the lunar farside were captured in 1959, it has been evident that its topography is markedly different from that of the nearside—a phenomenon known as the Moon’s “dichotomy.” However, whether the lunar space environment also exhibits a similar “dichotomy” had until now only been inferred from remote sensing spectra. The latest analysis of the Chang’e-6 samples provides direct, sample‑based evidence for this hypothesis, highlighting the critical role of space environmental variables in the space weathering process. This discovery not only deepens our understanding of how solar wind radiation and micrometeorite impacts shape the lunar surface, but also offers important insights for studying the space weathering evolution of other airless bodies.
(a) The relative influence of solar wind on different lunar locations. (b) The relative (micro)meteoroid flux at different longitudes. (c) The relative contribution of solar wind and (micro)meteoroid impact at different lunar sampling sites.
In this picture, we capture the binary in the moment where the first white dwarf has just exploded, hurtling material towards its nearby companion which is on the cusp of explosion too. This event will occur in about 23 billion years, yet in only 4 seconds do both stars explode (Credit: University of Warwick/Mark Garlick)
University of Warwick astronomers have discovered an extremely rare, high mass, compact binary star system only ~150 light years away. These two stars are on a collision course to explode as a type 1a supernova, appearing 10 times brighter than the moon in the night sky.
Type 1a supernovae are a special class of cosmic explosion, famously used as ‘standard candles’ to measure distances between Earth and their host galaxies. They occur when a white dwarf (the dense remnant core of a star) accumulates too much mass, is unable to withstand its own gravity, and explodes.
It has long been theoretically predicted that two orbiting white dwarfs are the cause of most type 1a supernova explosions. When in a close orbit, the heavier white dwarf of the pair gradually accumulates material from its partner, which leads to that star (or both stars) exploding.
This discovery, published today in Nature Astronomy, has not only found such a system for the first time, but has found a compact white dwarf pair right on our doorstep in the Milky Way.
James Munday, PhD researcher at Warwick and leader of the investigation said, “For years a local and massive double white dwarf binary has been anticipated, so when I first spotted this system with a very high total mass on our Galactic doorstep, I was immediately excited.”
“With an international team of astronomers, four based at The University of Warwick, we immediately chased this system on some of the biggest optical telescopes in the world to determine exactly how compact it is.”
“Discovering that the two stars are separated by just 1/60th of the Earth-Sun distance, I quickly realised that we had discovered the first double white dwarf binary that will undoubtedly lead to a type 1a supernova on a timescale close to the age of the universe.”
“At last, we as a community can now account for a few per cent of the rate of type 1a supernovae across the Milky Way with certainty.”
Significantly, James’s new system is the heaviest of its type ever confirmed, with a combined mass of 1.56 times that of the Sun. At this high of a mass, this means that, no matter what, the stars are destined to explode.
The explosion is not due for another 23 billion years, however, and despite being so close to our solar system, this supernova will not endanger our planet.
Right now, the white dwarfs are leisurely spiralling around each other in an orbit taking longer than 14 hours. Over billions of years, gravitational wave radiation will cause the two stars to inspiral until, at the precipice of the supernova event, they will be moving so fast that they complete an orbit in a mere 30 – 40 seconds.
Dr. Ingrid Pelisoli, Assistant Professor at The University of Warwick and third author, added: “This is very significant discovery. Finding such a system on our galactic doorstep is an indication that they must be relatively common, otherwise we would have needed to look much further away, searching a larger volume of our galaxy, to encounter them.
“Finding this system is not the end of the story though, our survey searching for type 1a supernova progenitors is still ongoing and we expect more exciting discoveries in the future. Little by little we are getting closer to solving the mystery of the origin of type 1a explosions.”
For the supernova event, mass will transfer from one dwarf to the other, resulting in in a rare and complex supernova explosion through a quadruple detonation. The surface of the mass-gaining dwarf detonates where it is accumulating material first, causing its core to explode second. This ejects material in all directions, colliding with the other white dwarf, causing the process to repeat for a third and fourth detonation.
The explosions will completely destroy the entire system, with energy levels a thousand trillion trillion times that of the most powerful nuclear bomb.
Billions of years into the future, this supernova will appear as a very intense point of light in the night sky. It will make some of the brightest objects look faint in comparison, appearing up to ten-times brighter than the moon and 200,000 times brighter than Jupiter.
General and out of hours press office number +44 (0)7392 125605 (please call as emails are not checked out of office hours)
Research Funding:
James Munday was supported by funding from a Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) studentship. Ingrid Pelisoli acknowledges support from The Royal Society through a University Research Fellowship (URF/R1/231496)
Image Credit:
Artist’s impression available to download here. Images are free for use if used in direct connection with this story, but image copyright and credit must be ‘University of Warwick/Mark Garlick’
Caption: A digital illustration of the immense explosion of this double white dwarf binary star system, named WDJ181058.67+311940.94. In this picture, we capture the binary in the moment where the first white dwarf has just exploded, hurtling material towards its nearby companion which is on the cusp of explosion too. This event will occur in about 23 billion years, yet in only 4 seconds do both stars explode (Credit: University of Warwick/Mark Garlick)
Animation Credit:
Animation of the supernova event available to download here. Animation is free to use but full credit must be attributed to ‘Dr. Ruediger Pakmor, Scientific Staff, Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics’
About Warwick’s Astronomy and Astrophysics Group:
With over 100 staff and students, the Astronomy and Astrophysics group at Warwick is interested in a vast range of scales across the Universe: planetary systems, how they form, live and die; stars, stellar binaries and the exotic physical processes that they allow us to explore; as well as the transient events which mark the end of stellar lifetimes and the galaxies stars inhabit across the Universe. More details about The University of Warwick Astronomy & Astrophysics group can be found here: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/physics/research/astro/
This is a movie of the explosion of a double white dwarf binary star system. The simulation was published in Nature Astronomy by James Munday and collaborations in LINK. Full credit goes to Dr. Ruediger Pakmor (Max-Planck-Institut für Astrophysik) for conducting this simulation and authorising it to be shared. The double white dwarf has the highest total mass known to date, coming in at (1.555+-0.044) times the mass of the Sun. The more massive star that is gaining material has a mass of (0.834+-0.039) solar masses, and the less massive one (0.721+-0.020) solar masses.
Credit
Full credit goes to Dr. Ruediger Pakmor (Max-Planck-Institut für Astrophysik)
Vision of future solar cell fabrication on the Moon, utilizing raw regolith. Shown are robots that source raw regolith and bring it to a production facility, which fabricates perovskite-based moon solar cells. Later automated rovers or astronauts install the produced solar cells to power future Moon-habitats or even cities.
The same dirt that clings to astronauts’ boots may one day keep their lights on. In a study publishing April 3 in the Cell Press journal Device, researchers created solar cells made out of simulated Moon dust. The cells convert sunlight into energy efficiently, withstand radiation damage, and mitigate the need for transporting heavy materials into space, offering a potential solution to one of space exploration's biggest challenges: reliable energy sources.
“The solar cells used in space now are amazing, reaching efficiencies of 30% to even 40%, but that efficiency comes with a price,” says lead researcher Felix Lang of the University of Potsdam, Germany. “They are very expensive and are relatively heavy because they use glass or a thick foil as cover. It’s hard to justify lifting all these cells into space.”
Instead of hauling solar cells from Earth, Lang’s team is looking to materials available on the Moon itself. They aim to replace Earth-made glass with glass crafted from lunar regolith—the Moon’s loose, rocky surface debris. This change alone could cut a spacecraft’s launch mass by 99.4%, slash 99% of transport costs, and make long-term lunar settlements more feasible.
To test the idea, the researchers melted a substance designed to simulate Moon dust into moonglass and used it to build a new kind of solar cell. They crafted the cells by pairing moonglass with perovskite—a class of crystals that are cheaper, easier to make, and very efficient in turning sunlight into electricity. For every gram of material sent to space, the new panels produced up to 100 times more energy than traditional solar panels.
“If you cut the weight by 99%, you don’t need ultra-efficient 30% solar cells, you just make more of them on the Moon," says Lang. "Plus, our cells are more stable against radiation, while the others would degrade over time.”
When the team zapped the solar cells with space-grade radiation, the moonglass versions outperformed the Earth-made ones. Standard glass slowly browns in space, blocking sunlight and reducing efficiency. But moonglass has a natural brown tint from impurities in the Moon dust, which stabilizes the glass, prevents it from further darkening, and makes the cells more resistant to radiation.
Making moonglass, the team found, is surprisingly simple. It does not require complex purification and concentrated sunlight alone can provide the extreme temperatures needed to melt lunar regolith into glass. By tweaking the thickness of the moonglass and fine-tuning the solar cell’s composition, the team managed to achieve 10% efficiency. With clearer moonglass that lets in more light, they believe they could reach 23%.
Still, the Moon poses challenges that Earth doesn’t. Lower gravity could change how moonglass forms. The solvents currently used to process perovskite won’t work in the Moon’s vacuum. Wild temperature swings could threaten the materials’ stability. To find out if their moon dust solar cells are truly viable, the team hopes to launch a small-scale experiment to the Moon to test them out in real lunar conditions.
"From extracting water for fuel to building houses with lunar bricks, scientists have been finding ways to use Moon dust," says Lang. "Now, we can turn it into solar cells too, possibly providing the energy a future Moon city will need."
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This research was supported by funding from the Volkswagen Foundation for funding via the Freigeist Q14 Program.
Device (@Device_CP), is a physical science journal from Cell Press along with Chem, Joule, and Matter. Device aims to be the breakthrough journal to support device- and application-oriented research from all disciplines, including applied physics, applied materials, nanotechnology, robotics, energy research, chemistry, and biotechnology under a single title that focuses on the integration of these diverse disciplines in the creation of the cutting-edge technology of tomorrow. Visit http://www.cell.com/device/home. To receive Cell Press media alerts, contact press@cell.com.
Moon regolith simulant, moonglass, and moon solar cells. The inset shows a cross-sectional micrograph and the perovskite crystal structure.
A massive wave of solar wind that squished Jupiter’s protective bubble has been detected for the first time.
Scientists at the University of Reading have discovered a solar wind event from 2017 that hit Jupiter and compressed its magnetosphere – a protective bubble created by a planet's magnetic field. This created a hot region spanning half Jupiter's circumference and exhibiting temperatures exceeding 500°C – significantly higher than the typical 350°C atmospheric background temperature.
A new study published today (Thursday, 3 April) in Geophysical Research Letters, describes for the first time a solar burst that scientists now believe hits Jupiter 2-3 times a month.
Dr James O’Donoghue, lead author of the research at the University of Reading, said: “We have never captured Jupiter's response to solar wind before – and the way it changed the planet’s atmosphere was very unexpected. This is the first time we’ve ever seen a thing like this on any outer world.
“The solar wind squished Jupiter’s magnetic shield like a giant squash ball. This created a super-hot region that spans half the planet. Jupiter’s diameter is 11 times larger than Earth’s, meaning this heated region is enormous.
“We've studied Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus in increasing detail over the past decade. These giant planets are not as resistant to the Sun’s influence as we thought – they're vulnerable, like Earth. Jupiter acts like alaboratory, allowing us to study how the Sun affects planets in general. By watching what happens there, we can better predict and understand the effects of solar storms which might disrupt GPS, communications, and power grids on Earth."
Different impacts for big planets
By combining ground-based observations from the Keck telescope with data from NASA's Juno spacecraft and solar wind modelling, the researchers determined that a dense region of solar wind had compressed Jupiter's enormous magnetosphere shortly before the observations began. This compression appears to have intensified auroral heating at Jupiter's poles, causing the upper atmosphere to expand and spill hot gas toward the equator.
Scientists had previously thought Jupiter's rapid rotation would confine auroral heating to its polar regions through strong winds. This discovery shows otherwise, suggesting planetary atmospheres throughout our solar system may be more vulnerable to solar influences than previously understood. Solar bursts could significantly alter big planets’ upper atmospheric dynamics, generating global winds that drive energy distribution across the planet.
Professor Mathew Owens, a co-author from the University of Reading, said: "Our solar wind model correctly predicted when Jupiter's atmosphere would be disturbed. This helps us further understand the accuracy of our forecasting systems, which is essential for protecting Earth from dangerous space weather."
From airborne research to quantum navigation and space robotics, the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) will showcase emerging defense technologies at the Sea-Air-Space (SAS) Conference and Exposition in booth 347, held at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Md., April 6-9. As a scientific and engineering command dedicated to research, technical expertise, and technology development, NRL drives innovative advances from the seafloor to space and in the information domain. (U.S. Navy graphic)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — From airborne research to quantum navigation and space robotics, the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) will showcase emerging defense technologies at the Sea-Air-Space (SAS) Conference and Exposition in booth 347, held at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Md., April 7-9.
NRL will present displays, videos, fact sheets and demonstrations to illustrate multiple capabilities including compact coronographs, data collection, and the recently commissioned hypersonic wind tunnel.
"The Naval Research Laboratory serves as a cornerstone of naval innovation at Sea-Air-Space, presenting transformative technologies that will shape the future of maritime superiority and meet the evolving needs of the naval community,” said NRL Director of Research Dr. Bruce G. Danly. “We are committed to delivering strategic advancements that empower our forces, ensuring they maintain an unparalleled edge in an increasingly complex global landscape across all domains."
As a scientific and engineering command dedicated to research, technical expertise, and technology development, NRL propels innovative advances from the seafloor to space and in the information domain.
"This exhibition showcases NRL's commitment to pioneering scientific breakthroughs and building productive partnerships that will continue to shape the trajectory of naval defense for generations to come," Danly said.
Visit booth #347 to talk with researchers, scientists, and engineers about NRL’s diverse projects, research, and advanced technologies, as well as to discuss collaboration opportunities.
Visit booth #347 to learn more about NRL technologies and capabilities:
Sea Technologies:
OmniGlobe: The OmniGlobe projects Earth’s environmental information in a natural environment, which is a sphere. The globe provides a clear picture of the environment from the atmosphere, oceans, and geophysical environment for users to understand interrelations in an accurate depiction.
Maritime Domain Awareness: PROTEUS is used to identify, query, and filter maritime vessels based on user-defined criteria and provides near-real time global maritime situational awareness.
Skyfish Outdoor Demonstration: Skyfish is a downward looking volumetric synthetic aperture sonar designed by the Naval Research Laboratory to detect, localize, and classify objects resting on or buried beneath the seafloor. The sonar leverages advanced processing techniques, access to unique features, and the exploitation of scattering physics to achieve high performance in the execution of its operations.
Quantum Inertial Navigation:Inertial navigation is a self-contained navigation technique in which measurements provided by accelerometers and gyroscopes are used to track the position and orientation of an object relative to a known starting point, orientation and velocity. Quantum inertial navigation is a new field of research and development that can increase inertial measurement accuracy by orders of magnitude.
Air Technologies:
Scientific Development Squadron ONE (VXS) 1: VXS-1 conducts airborne scientific experimentation and advanced technology development in worldwide operations supporting U.S. Navy and national science and technology (S&T) priorities and war fighting goals. Supporting broadly based, multidisciplinary programs across the full spectrum of scientific research and applied technologies, the focus is on the maritime application of new and improved airborne data collection techniques, experimental equipment, and system demonstration.
Variable-Speed Hypersonic Wind Tunnel: The NRL Hypersonic Wind Tunnel is a long-duration mid-size aerodynamics test facility capable of real-time altitude and speed variation. The range spans sea level to over 30km and Mach 1.5 to 5+ in a 12” x 12” x 24” test section.
Space Technologies:
Coronagraphs:The Compact Coronograph is a space-borne solar imaging sensor that continuously searches for massive, large-scale, and fast-moving concentrations of Earth-directed solar plasma. Analysis of CCOR image data is used predict geomagnetic storm severity and onset times. The Narrow Field Imager (NFI) is a compact, externally occulted coronagraph. Launched and deployed in March 2025, NFI will image the transition of the Sun’s atmosphere to the solar wind to understand how the Sun generates the space plasma environment.
LARADO:Light-sheet Anomaly Resolution and Debris Observation, and its space-based design concept, uses satellite and laser technology to detect orbital debris in sizes that currently are not detectable from the ground.
Spaceflight Instruments to Spacecraft: The Naval Center for Space Technology (NCST) has facilities dedicated to the research, design and development of spaceflight instruments, systems, and spacecraft. Flight hardware development ranges in size and complexity from card and component level items up to national security space launch (NSSL) class instruments and spacecraft.
Space Robotics and Satellite Servicing:NRL has spent more than two decades working to transition unmanned space robotic satellite servicing from a concept to a fielded national capability. Robotic servicing promises to usher in a new era of increasingly resilient on-orbit operations by providing the ability to inspect, reposition, repair, and upgrade existing spacecraft. Throughout the development phase, NRL has focused on understanding the interactions between all of the unique elements that must work together to make satellite servicing a reality.
Space Solar Power Beaming: Allows for the transfer of energy without moving mass. Microwave power beaming is the efficient, point-to-point transfer of electrical energy across free space by a directive microwave beam. The goal is to capture the abundant sunlight that exists in space and send the energy to where it is needed on Earth.
Sea-Air-Space is the premier maritime exposition in the U.S. and brings together the defense industrial base, government officials, private-sector companies and key military decision-makers from the sea services for an opportunity to innovate, educate, and connect.
About the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory
NRL is a scientific and engineering command dedicated to research that drives innovative advances for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps from the seafloor to space and in the information domain. NRL is located in Washington, D.C. with major field sites in Stennis Space Center, Mississippi; Key West, Florida; Monterey, California, and employs approximately 3,000 civilian scientists, engineers and support personnel.
For more information, contact NRL Corporate Communications at (202) 480-3746 or nrlpao@nrl.navy.mil.
