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Category: climatology

Physicists in Germany have led experiments that show the inertia of electrons can form ‘tornadoes’ inside a quantum semimetal.

It’s almost impossible for electrons to sit still, and their motions can take on some bizarre forms. Case in point: an analysis of electron behavior in a quantum material called tantalum arsenide reveals vortices.

But the story gets weirder. These electrons aren’t spiraling in a physical place – they’re doing so in a quantum blur of possibility called momentum space. Rather than drawing a map of particles potential locations, or position space, momentum space describes their motion through their energy and direction.

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Cargo transport is responsible for an enormous carbon footprint. Between 2010 and 2018, the transport sector generated about 14% of global greenhouse gas emissions. To address this problem, experts are looking for alternative, climate-friendly solutions—not only for road transport, but also for shipping, a sector in which powering cargo ships with batteries has proved especially difficult.

One promising but under-researched solution involves small, autonomous, hydrogen-powered boats that can partially replace long-haul trucking. A research team led by business chemist Prof Stephan von Delft from the University of Münster has now examined this missing link in a new study published in Communications Engineering.

The team has mathematically modeled such a boat for the first time and carried out a - and cost analysis. “Our calculations show in which scenarios hydrogen-powered boats are not only more sustainable but also more economical compared to established transport solutions,” explains von Delft. “They are therefore relevant for policymakers and industry.”

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New research from Northwestern University has systematically proven that a mild zap of electricity can strengthen a marine coastline for generations—greatly reducing the threat of erosion in the face of climate change and rising sea levels.

In the new study, researchers took inspiration from clams, mussels and other shell-dwelling sea life, which use dissolved minerals in seawater to build their shells.

Similarly, the researchers leveraged the same naturally occurring, dissolved minerals to form a natural cement between sea-soaked grains of sand. But, instead of using metabolic energy like mollusks do, the researchers used to spur the chemical reaction.

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Swirling through the Milky Way’s central zone, in the turbulent region surrounding the supermassive black hole at the core of our galaxy, dust and gases constantly churn as energetic shock waves ripple throughout. An international team of astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have sharpened our view of this action by a factor of 100, discovering a surprising new filamentary structure in this mysterious region of space.

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Plymouth, Mich. – For six days, over 2,050 miles and through different climate zones to the Arctic Circle: On an unusual test drive, a Bosch development team successfully tested the new hydraulic brake-by-wire system from Bosch for the first time on public roads. What sets brake-by-wire apart: This solution completely eliminates the mechanical connection between the brake pedal and the brake system. The driver’s brake request is transmitted to the brake-by-wire system purely as an electrical signal via redundant signal lines. For this fundamentally new approach, Bosch offers a robust and efficient solution with two independent hydraulic brake actuators – a by-wire brake actuator and an ESP®. Today’s brake systems, such as the integrated power brake from Bosch, still ensure the required redundancy in the event of a fault via a mechanical connection to the brake pedal. This coupling via an input rod to the brake pedal is eliminated in the new Bosch brake-by-wire solution.

Advantages of the Bosch brake-by-wire system

New freedom in installation: Due to the omission of the mechanical connection, there is no longer any need to mount the brake system components at the vehicle’s firewall. Instead, the components can now be installed where it is most optimal in terms of crash safety, NVH, and manufacturing. The flexibility in choosing where to install the brake actuators helps to avoid the need for different variants for right-hand and left-hand drive vehicles. By-wire technology enables new pedal concepts with significantly shorter brake pedal travel to create space for new interior designs. The hydraulic brake-by-wire solution from Bosch is based on proven brake system technology and is a combination of a by-wire brake actuator and an ESP®. Its slim design saves installation space and reduces the weight of the brake system. Since both the by-wire brake actuator and the ESP® are assigned to different channels of the redundant electrical system, they can each independently build up the required brake pressure at all four wheel brakes in the event of a fault. Therefore, this Bosch solution is also suitable for highly automated vehicles, meeting the protection of the brake system required for safety reasons.

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Have you ever heard of—or even seen—red lightning? These are not animated characters but real atmospheric phenomena known as electrical discharges that occur high above thunderstorms. Scientists refer to them as “red sprites,” named for their jellyfish-like appearance and vivid red flashes. Now, imagine witnessing these mesmerizing displays over the world’s highest mountain range—the Himalayas.

On the night of May 19, 2022, two Chinese astrophotographers, Angel An and Shuchang Dong, captured a spectacular display of over one hundred over the Himalayas. The observation site, located on the southern Tibetan Plateau near Pumoyongcuo Lake—one of the region’s three sacred lakes—revealed a breathtaking celestial event.

Among the phenomena captured were dancing sprites, rare secondary jets, and the first-ever recorded case in Asia of green airglow at the base of the nighttime ionosphere, dubbed “ghost sprites.” This extraordinary event attracted global attention and was widely covered by major media outlets.

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Using a sediment core taken from the Great Blue Hole off the coast of the Central American state of Belize, researchers from the universities of Frankfurt, Cologne, Göttingen, Hamburg and Bern have analyzed the local climate history of the last 5,700 years.

Investigations of the sediment layers from the 30-meter-long core revealed that storms have increased over the long term and that tropical cyclones have become much more frequent in recent decades. The results were published under the title “An annually resolved 5700-year storm archive reveals drivers of Caribbean cyclone frequency” in the journal Science Advances.

The Great Blue Hole is up to 125 meters deep and approximately 300 meters wide, situated in the very shallow Lighthouse Reef, an atoll off the coast of Belize. The hole was formed from a stalactite cave that collapsed at the end of the last ice age and then became flooded by the as a result of the melting of the continental ice masses.

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