Category: Science

Superliminous supernovae are miraculous events. They are also an important tool for astronomers to measure cosmic distances and the rate at which the universe is expanding. Part of the cosmic distance ladder, these incredibly bright stellar explosions are the “standard candles” for objects billions of light-years away. In a rare case, researchers at the University of Munich used the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) in Arizona to observe a super-bright supernova 10 billion light-years away that was far brighter than most explosions of its kind.

What was special about this supernova was that it appeared five times in the night sky due to the gravitational lensing of two foreground galaxies. These galaxies bent the path of the supernova’s light, causing it to take different paths. Because these paths have different lengths, the light appeared in different places around the galaxies at different times. By measuring the time delays between the multiple images, the researchers were able to obtain measurements of how quickly the universe is expanding – also known as the Hubble-Lemaitre constant.

The team consisted of researchers from the Technical University of Munich (TUM), the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics (MPG), the Harvard & Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA), the EO Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, ETH Zurich, the Research Center for the Early Universe (RESCEU), the Cosmic Dawn Center (DAWN), the Ulugh Beg Astronomical Institute, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the Institute of Space Sciences (ICE, CSIC). Cluster of Excellence ORIGINS, the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ), the European Southern Observatory (ESO), the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) and several universities.

*Large binocular telescope on Mount Graham in Arizona, USA. Photo credit & ©: Dr. Christoph Saulder/MPE*

The paper describing their observations has been accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics

Few such measurements have been made so far because gravitational lensing supernovae are so rare. It is also a challenging process that requires astronomers to determine the masses of the lensing galaxies, as these determine how much the background object’s light is deflected. To determine the masses of the two galaxies, the team captured images with the LBT using its two 8.4-meter (27.5-foot) mirrors and an adaptive optics system. The observations revealed two foreground lensed galaxies in the center, surrounded by five bluish images of the supernova explosion, making them look like fireworks!

Sherry Suyu, associate professor of observational cosmology at TUM and fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, explained in an MPG press release:

We nicknamed this supernova SN Winny, inspired by its official name SN 2025wny. It is an extremely rare event that could play a key role in improving our understanding of the cosmos. The chance of finding a super-bright supernova perfectly aligned with a suitable gravitational lens is less than one in a million. We have been looking for such an event for six years by compiling a list of promising gravitational lenses, and in August 2025 SN Winny exactly coincided with one of them.

The image surprised the team because galaxy-scale lens systems typically only produce two or four copies. The young researchers Allan Schweinfurth (TUM) and Leon Ecker (LMU) created the first model of the lens mass distribution from the positions of all five. Allan Schweinfurth said:

To date, most lensing supernovae have been magnified by massive galaxy clusters, whose mass distributions are complex and difficult to model. However, SN Winny is only blinded by two individual galaxies. We find overall smooth and regular light and mass distributions for these galaxies, suggesting that they have not collided in the past despite their apparent proximity. The overall simplicity of the system provides an exciting opportunity to measure the expansion rate of the Universe with high accuracy.

This, in turn, could help astronomers and cosmologists mitigate the ongoing problem of Hubble tension. Until now, scientists have relied primarily on two methods for measuring cosmic expansion: the Cosmic Distance Ladder and Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) measurements. The former is the local method, which combines parallax, supernovae and redshift measurements of bright objects to determine distances step by step. Since each step depends on the previous one, even small mistakes can add up and affect the final result.

In contrast, CMB measurements look back to the beginning of cosmic time by studying the “relic radiation” left over from the Big Bang. This approach is highly precise and relies on models of the early universe to calculate its current expansion rate. However, it relies heavily on assumptions about the evolution of the universe that are still a matter of debate. This study presents a third possible method in which astronomers use gravitational lensing supernovae and measure the time delays between multiple copies of the same image.

By calculating the mass distribution of the lensing galaxy, scientists can directly calculate the Hubble-Lemaitre constant. “In contrast to the cosmic distance ladder, this is a one-step method with fewer and completely different sources of systematic uncertainties,” said Stefan Taubenberger, a leading member of Professor Suyu’s team and first author of their study.

Astronomers around the world are now observing SN Winny in detail using ground- and space-based telescopes. Their results will provide new insights into cosmic expansion that could help resolve the Hubble tension.

Further reading: MPG

By Vijay Jayaraj

Imagine irony to identify a substance as “dangerous” just to determine that the true danger is not in the substance, but in the plot of its defamation. This is the case with carbon dioxide (CO₂) and how it was incorrectly characterized in order to establish suicide policy worldwide.

In 2009, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) emphasized its risk finding, which was declared as a pollutant CO – two pounds, each of which we exhale every day. It laid the bureaucratic basis for far -reaching regulations for the elimination of the use of fossil fuels, a goal that contradicts the social goods of reliable energy supply and prosperity.

The hazard finds have been considered the dominant factor for a “dangerous” increase in global temperatures in recent decades.

This regulatory corruption marked the beginning of what can only be referred to as weapons of environmental administration against energy systems based on coal, oil and natural gas that have lived out of poverty since the 19th century.

However, a study by the US Ministry (DOE) in July entitled “A critical review of the effects of greenhouse gas emissions on the US climate” corresponded to this nonsense. The document was written by a team of independent scientists with a different background and states that “CO2-induced warming could be economically less harmful than generally assumed, and an excessive aggressive reduction guidelines could prove more useful than beneficial.”

According to this comprehensive analysis, EPA secretary Lee Zeldin proposed that his agency cancel the risk. For everyone who follows the messages, it is already obvious that the current US administration has changed the course of energy policy by stirring the destructive anti-fossil fuel position of the previous bid regime. The abolition of the hazard could be the death blow for a “green” mania that did not cost the world billions of dollars to an advantage.

The question for developing countries is whether their governments continue to tolerate CO₂ hysteria that suffocates domestic economies such as a Boa Constrictor. How long do poorer countries suffer from climate policy that are produced in UN offices and villages imposed without electricity?

Green Energy Vehicles -such as the Paris Agreement and Netto -Null destinations -were encouraged on behalf of the Climate Work, but sabotaged growth, set industrial progress and punish the poor. From the ruthless shift of projects to the development of fossil fuel supply to puppetry behavior from legislators who recite from guidelines that were written by the United Nations and the World Economic Forum, the fingerprints of the green agenda are everywhere.

The projects that have suffered from anti-water cruisers are a 1,445 kilometer pipeline to transport crude oil from Uganda to Tanzania.

The price of climate regulations is ruinous. As the DOE report says, the exorbitant costs that are associated with guidelines such as electric vehicle data, goals and rules for household appliances exceed the fake “social costs of carbon”, which are promoted as part of its pseudo -oscience from the climate industrial complex. Green programs are an embarrassing failure of a rational cost-benefit analysis.

With regard to the actual pollution in the Third World, the recent climate evaluation of the Doe makes a lengthy distinction that mainstream media and bureaucrats have ignored for years. It rightly points out that CO₂ in the traditional, legally defined sense is not a pollutant: “In many ways, CO₂ differs from the so -called criteria that have air pollutants. It does not affect local air quality and has no toxicological effects on people on ambient levels.”

Now it is time that political decision -makers in the development of economies hire the treatment of plant food as a public enemy number one so that their companies can use energy resources that make economic – and ecological sense.

Your economies can no longer wait to remove CO2 -controlled restrictions on energy generation and use, since they do not have the wealth buffer of wealthier nations. The negative effects of anti-fossil fuel policy are already obvious and changes are required to avoid more damage.

This comment was first published on August 16, 2025 by Townhall.

Vijay Jayaraj is a science and research assistant in the CO₂ CO₂ coalition, Fairfax, Virginia. He has an MS in environmental sciences from the University of East Anglia and a postgraduate degree in energy management at Robert Gordon University in Great Britain and a Bachelor engineering at Anna University, India.

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The James Webb World Camp Telescope has unveiled many miracles of the early universe, but only a few discoveries have confused astronomers more than some mysterious “small red dots”. These tiny, brilliant galaxies appear over Deep Space pictures such as cosmic bread crumbs and challenge everything that scientists considered, how galaxies formed in the early universe.

These weak, compact objects were completely undiscovered and represented before the James Webb World Space Telescope, which the leading researcher Fabio Paccucci “probably refers to the most surprising discovery of JWST to this day”. The small red dots are from the time when the universe was only a billion years old and looked around a tenth of the size of typical galaxies, and seemed unusually bright.

Scheme of the James Webb World Cup telescope (loan: NASA)

The Center for Astrophysics by Harvard & Smithsonian believes that they have broken the code. In a new study by astronomers Paccucci and Abraham Loeb suggest that these strange objects were formed in extremely rare, slow -rotating structures of dark matter. Their characteristic red color indicates that they are either packed in dust or with older stars. But here things get really puzzling, the source of their incredible light edition escapes us. When it comes from black holes, these black holes would be incredibly massive for such tiny galaxies. If it comes from stars alone, the galaxies would be packed so densely that physics seems impossible.

Instead of concentrating on what makes the points shine, Paccucci and Loeb asked another question; How have such strange objects primarily formed? Your answer includes the invisible scaffold, which shapes our universe, Dark Matery Halos.

Simulated dark matter halo

Think of dark matter halos like the rotating mechanism of a swing ride. Similar to the swings on a exhibition center, the faster the Halo spins rotates, the further stretching the swings, which leads to the galaxy in the middle. Likewise, a slow spin keeps the radius of the swings smaller.

The researchers discovered that there were probably small red dots in the dark matter, which were slowly turning that they represent less than one percent of all halos in the universe. These low spin -halos would of course create extremely compact galaxies in a hypothesis that elegantly explains several secrets about the small red dots.

Since only one percent of the halos of Dark matter turn slowly, compact galaxies would be equally rare and this fits well with what astronomers observe. The theory also explains its special timing, whereby the points only appear during a short billion -back window, since the universe, which has been aged and expanded, naturally won more spin, which made it almost impossible to form such compact structures later. Finally, the brightness puzzle makes sense, since low spin -necked halos tend to concentrate the mass in the middle and create ideal conditions for a black hole in order to quickly acquire the matter or form with extraordinary installments.

“Our work is a step to understand these mysterious objects. They could help us understand how the first black holes in the early universe develop and develop together with galaxies.” – Fabio Paccucci from Harvard & Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

While this theory is not definitely determined whether the points of stars or super massive black holes are driven, it offers the first convincing frame to understand how these strange objects could exist at all. Research suggests that these compact galaxies caused ideal conditions for fast growth, be it due to explosive star formation or insatiable black hole feeding.

While the astronomers continue to examine these wonderful natural time capsules, the small red dots can unlock secrets about the most formative time of the universe when the first stars ignited and the first black holes began their billions in annual growth, which would ultimately shape the universe we see today.

Source: New theory can explain mysterious “small red dots” in the early universe

From the daily skeptic

By Chris Morrison

The science, which the Cry Babies refused in the USA, have given the Federal Supreme Court in Massachusetts to get an injunction against the report on the work of the Ministry of Energy Ministry (DOE) via greenhouse gas emissions. The most important finding of the report, which was created after examining a large part of the literature from the intergovernmental committee for climate change (IPCC), was that computer models offered “little instructions” on how much of the climate reacts to heating gases such as carbon dioxide. This observation is regularly ignored in the mainstream media, but it is hardly a new opinion. The available data leads to this inevitable conclusion despite all the political nonsense claims of the “set” science. To go to court to ban the report is a new low in the increasingly desperate attempt to keep the net zero fantasy with the help of science that are increasingly exposed.

The five highly eligible scientists who wrote the report not only wrote adequate doubts about the role of climate models, but also cited in detail from data that showed that most extreme weather events did not increase, and the increase in sea level in North America showed no increasing trend. Assigns in human participation in individual weather events are often used to spread climate long. However, these were regarded as natural climate attitudes together with the recording that they were originally designed with the “legal guidance”. The authors tried very hard to highlight a large part of science, and many of the opinions contained in the IPCC evaluation reports, but they also published areas that were conveniently downplayed, like the recent massive “green” of the planet due to higher CO2 levels.

In any other branch of science, the idea that civilized discussions and disagreements of matters that have an important importance of public order should be prohibited by a lawsuit – even childish.

But then it's not really about science. The plaintiffs are concerned that the report will be used to justify the removal of CO2 from a risk finding in 2009. This would inevitably lead to large rules that support the project of command and control the NET zero. The lawsuit announced the lawsuit and were made out of the stroller: “Two leading science and environmental groups are brought to the court in order to question the use of a secret group of climate skeptics by the Trump government in order to replace a widespread report in his attempt to replace the hazard. Administrator and administrator Zeldin's -Zeldins in Sachrecy and Administrator. [Head of the Environment Protection Agency EPA] The use of the protection of pollution that undermines the American people in the way and violates the federal law.

To mention unnecessarily that the two plaintiffs come straight out of the Green Blob Central Casting. The Environmental Defense Fund is a large green activist group and uses the “legal guidance” to promote the Net -Zero interest representation. Donation information suggests that in 2023 it received $ 162.9 million from tax-efficient foundations with remarkable participants such as the Bezos Earth Fund, Sloan and Valhalla Funds. The second plaintiff, the union of the scientists concerned (UCS), also accepts Foundation money and has received large contributions from the Macarthur, Schmidt and Packard fund in the past. In the meantime, the UCS often complement the happiness of the nation, not least if it published a strangely precise warning on July 24 that 169,899,454 people in the United States were currently exposed to extreme weather warnings. In other words, during a typical American summer, most of the population has to fill up their sunscreen. This and similar stupid fear have led some to really describe the organization as the Union of the scientists that we should worry about.

In the meantime, activist “fact beetles” continue to mobilize that you are taking up the knowledge of the 2009 gas hazard in the DOE climate location and the proposal of the EPA. Last week it turned out that the carbon letter financed by Blob was “factual check”, and now it seems that Associated Press (AP) is employed in a similar project. AP wrote to the scientists cited in the DOE report and asks 10 questions to “get a broad feeling for the scientific accuracy of the documents”. Noble work, of course, but strangely not undertaken if other main reports from body such as the IPCC are published. The project is headed by APS Seth Borenstein, who has reported on all imaginable climate attacks for over a decade. He is not a stranger in the strange world of the mainstream budget test. In 2018 he helped write an abandoned abandoned against Scott Pruitt, then he ran as follows:

Pruitt: Do we really know what the ideal surface temperature should be in 2100 in 2018? For us, this is a bit pretty arrogant to believe that we know exactly what it should be in 2100.

The facts: What he calls arrogant is established science. The intergovernmental committee of the United Nations in climate change says when the emissions of fossil fuels are continued on the current trajectory, the temperatures will be about 6.5 degrees warmer by the end of the century than today (3.7 ° C).

Note how Borenstein rejected an appropriate opinion of Pruitt by explaining another opinion that the earth will be heated by almost 4 ° C in 80 years. His opinion, which is increasingly considered imaginative, is said to be “science”. It could be argued that the only arrogance in the heading in the heading “AP facts test: Climate locations undercut the view of the EPA boss”. In a broader front, AP describes its factual review service as “no rotation. No agenda. Only journalism who respects her intelligence”.

AP for its part received 8 million pounds from tax-efficient foundations in 2022 to commission 20 journalists to operate a climate desk. The Foundations Hewlett, Rockefeller and Walton were among the donors. The independent desk “will improve the global understanding of climate change and its effects all over the world,” promised AP. “Incessive, fact -based journalism has never been more important or endangered,” broke Larry Kramer, President of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. “AP keeps a complete editorial control of all content,” said AP's press release, in which the large cash injection was announced.

In the meantime, Dr. Roger Pielke Jr., whose work in the DOE report is cited in detail, sent a questionnaire by the Borenstein operation. He notes that the last two questions ask him to assess which grade on a scale a to f would give the reports assuming that they were handed over as a basic study task. Activist stupidity received the answer that it deserves: “These are absolutely ridiculous questions and suggest that their goal is not journalism here, but a team sport.”

US Ministry: A critical review of the effects of greenhouse gas emissions on the US climate. Authors – John Christy Ph.D., Judith Curry Ph.D., Steven Koonin Ph.D., Ross McKitrick Ph.D., Roy Spencer Ph.D.

Chris Morrison is the Daily Skeptic's Environment Editor. Follow him on X.

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Every material used as a light sail is bound to very restrictive physical requirements. It must be extremely light, cannot melt from the energy used on it and does not have to bend from this pressure, but does not break. Various research groups around the world have worked on materials from which they believe that they will meet these requirements and a new paper from researchers from the University of Pennsylvania describes experimental tests of what they are for the most functional, previously developed light sailing material.

Modern designs of light sailing use lasers to push the sail along the sail instead of simply relying on photons from the next star to do this. This modern design is part of the design of the Breakthrough Starshot initiative to maintain a probe up to 20% of the speed of light and to get to Alpha Centauri. But to have a sail that is able to request the three properties mentioned above.

The researcher's solution is a three -layer material. His “core” consists of Molybdän -Disulfide, which is desirable for its high reflection capacity. In the past, it was difficult to produce large, smooth leaves of this material, but the researchers developed a two -stage process for this. First you spint molybdenum directly on a substrate. Then “Sulferize” the molybdenum by inserting it into a chemical vapor separation at high temperature and inserting hydrogen sulfide gas, which reacts with the molybdenum at an elevated temperature of 750 ° C to generate molybddenum -disulfide.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udykxhq7x78

Fraser discusses the future of the sun sail

There is an aluminum oxide layer on both sides of the molyb dancer, which is estimated for the thermal emission degree. It is designed in such a way that the laser light can pass directly to the molybdenum that it then reflects back, but the aluminum oxide is also designed so that it is strongly emitted in the infrared wavelength. In other words, it would enable the heat transmitted by the laser – so that the sail can cool down.

Another design is the shape of the sail itself. It is designed in such a way that it should be obtained with a hexagonal structure. This enables the structure itself to bend at intended points without causing too much stress to a certain point in the material itself, which can otherwise lead to breaking it.

According to the experimental results that the researchers presented, the new material was much better than any previous material that was presented as a potential light sail, at least in relation to two important metrics. It reflected 50% of the laser light, which was directed towards it, while only about 4% of the energy transmitted by the laser absorbed. This absorption number is much lower than earlier experimental results.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHLM9OHMMSYM

Fraser discusses another light sailing technology with nanogße holes.

While the corrugated design enables more flexibility in the structure, it also adds a certain weight. The general “surface density” of the material is about 0.7 g / m2 and a destination from a breakthrough of star shot of 0.1 g / m2 with an unsolved design of 0.7 g / m2. While it is still the same size, there is much more material science work before a material can get to this level of density.

Overall, this paper represents a further step towards the development of a fully functional light control, which one day could push a probe to our next star system. Admittedly, a lot of other development has to take place so that this mission is a success – sailing material is only a small part of it. Since more and more researchers are committed and tackled the technical challenges in connection with this extraordinary goal, closer humanity becomes an interstellar species.

Learn more:

MF Campbell et al. – Experimental demonstration of corrugated sheet nanolaminate films as reflective light sail

Ut – researchers continue to scale

UT – What should light sails be made from?

Ut – photonic lights are our best shot to reach another star

From Tilak’s Substack

It is one of the enduring marvels of political hubris that a small, deindustrialising island nation contributing less than 0.8% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions believes it can “lead the world” into abandoning fossil fuels. This belief – sincerely held by Westminster’s political elites on both the Conservative and Labour benches – has birthed an energy policy that combines moral grandstanding with economic self-harm. The outcome is a textbook case study in how virtue-signalling masquerading as “climate leadership” can hobble an economy while empowering the very geopolitical rivals it purports to outpace.

The latest manifestation of this delusion comes courtesy of Ed Miliband’s “Head of Mission Control for Clean Power by 2030”, Chris Stark. Writing in the Telegraph, Stark urged Britain to emulate China in becoming an “electrostate” – a nation powered entirely by abundant low-carbon electricity – claiming that “we ignore these changes at our peril”. Stark’s premise is as breathtaking in its naivety as it is in its selectivity. China, he tells us, is “laying vast networks of transmission lines, rolling out the world’s biggest fleet of electric vehicles and deploying solar and wind at a scale that dwarfs the rest of the world.”

China’s Net Zero Pledge: Smoke, Mirrors and 2060

It is an attractive picture – if one edits out the inconvenient facts that China remains 60% powered by coal, is permitting two new coal plants a week and is adding annual coal capacity equivalent to the entire UK electricity grid. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), coal consumption hit another new record last year – 8.77 billion metric tons – due to soaring coal use by China and India. In fact, the International Energy Agency reports that China’s coal consumption has ballooned from 1.3 million tonnes in 2000 to an estimated 4.5 billion tonnes today. That is not a typographical error. It is the energy reality.

To the climate faithful, China’s promise of carbon neutrality by 2060 is an audacious “bid to lead the world”. To seasoned China observers, it is an exercise in diplomatic theatre. Veteran China watcher Patricia Adams writing for the Global Warming Policy Foundation reminds us that the Chinese Communist Party’s highest priority is not the UN’s Framework Convention on Climate Change agenda but its own political survival. That survival depends on sustained economic growth – which in turn requires ever-increasing fossil fuel use. Critical pollution issues such as urban smog and ambient air quality also need to be handled to head off domestic disaffection among China’s vast cities. Global climate change “leadership” does not make the list in China’s political priorities though this is not apparent for naïve Sinophiles like Ed Miliband and Chris Stark.

UNFCCC, Article 3 paragraph 1 [1992] states that “The Parties should protect the climate system for the benefit of present and future generations of humankind, on the basis of equity and in accordance with their common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities. Accordingly, the developed country Parties should take the lead in combating climate change and the adverse effects thereof.” From the earliest climate negotiations, Beijing has positioned itself as champion of the “developing country” bloc, thereby exempting itself from binding emission cuts while demanding vast flows of “climate finance” from the West.

The Paris Agreement of 2015, celebrated in Western capitals as a breakthrough, was in practice a grand bargain in which China promised to go emissions neutral by 2060 – a milestone decades into the future with no commitments on how much emissions will increase and at what rate they decline after a peak. In return, the Obama and Biden administrations imposed costly green mandates and subsidies on the US economy while launching an all-out regulatory onslaught on US coal, oil and natural gas.

In 2010, senior official in the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Professor Dr Ottmar Edenhofer confessed that climate policy has almost nothing to do any more with environmental protection, and that the then-upcoming world climate summit in Cancun was actually an economic conference in which the redistribution of the world’s resources was the object to be negotiated over.

In 2015, Christiana Figueres, the-then Executive Secretary of UNFCCC, asserted that the goal of environmental activists was to re-define capitalism itself. “This is the first time in the history of mankind that we are setting ourselves the task of intentionally, within a defined period of time, to change the economic development model that has been reigning for at least 150 years, since the Industrial Revolution,” she said. Of the Paris climate change conference which was to be held that year, she added: “This is probably the most difficult task we have ever given ourselves, which is to intentionally transform the economic development model for the first time in human history.”

Since Paris, China’s greenhouse gas emissions have grown, not fallen. Between 2018 and 2023, it approved more new coal capacity than the rest of the world combined. China’s wind and solar installations, while headline-grabbing, produce a modest share of its power, plagued by curtailment rates that are the “worst in the world”. As Patricia Adams documents, generous subsidies created vast unused capacity, with some curtailed wind output sufficient to power Beijing for a year – if only it could reach the grid.

Britain’s Self-Imposed Energy Straitjacket

In contrast, Britain has gone all in. In 2008, under Labour’s Gordon Brown, Parliament passed a legally binding commitment to cut emissions 80% by 2050. In 2019, after an 88-minute Commons debate, that target became 100% – Net Zero – on the advice of the Climate Change Committee, which based its cost projections for offshore wind on a single high-wind year. Boris Johnson, in full booster mode, declared Britain the “Saudi Arabia of wind”.

What makes the Stark–Miliband “lets emulate China” line so astonishing is that it misreads China’s renewables investments as a sign of ideological commitment, when in fact it is a form of state capitalism at work. Beijing’s solar, wind and electric vehicle build-out is not a crusade against fossil fuels but a calculated strategy to dominate the supply chains of technologies that the West has chosen – politically, not economically – to depend on.

By promoting solar panels, wind turbines and EV batteries to Western markets – and ensuring they are produced with cheap, coal-fired electricity at home – China captures the high-value manufacturing and export markets, while leaving its competitors to grapple with the higher costs of integrating intermittent renewables into their grids. Behind the manufacture of wind, solar and EV components and finished products lay entire globe-encompassing supply chains stretching from mining through to refining of minerals and rare earths, dominated singularly by China.

Ed Miliband visited China in March where he pledged closer cooperation with China on green energy. Yet, five months later, the Government has still not revealed the text of the memorandum he signed. According to the Guardian, the UK Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Ed Miliband “is hoping to shape a new global axis in favour of climate action along with China and developing countries, to counter Donald Trump’s abandonment of green policies in the US.”

This is what makes Miliband’s starry-eyed talk of a “new global axis” with China to lead on climate so laughable to seasoned observers. China is not joining Britain’s green crusade; it is monetising it. It is perfectly content for the UK and EU to legislate themselves into energy poverty while buying Chinese kit to do it.

The public in Britain is told that high bills are a Putin problem, that we are “hostages to volatile gas markets”, and that more wind farms and solar panels will free us from this volatility. Natural gas prices in Europe have declined to almost where they were before the supply crisis brought on by the Ukraine-Russia war. However, estimated electricity bills for an average household in the UK have increased by 35.5%, from £652 in 2021 to £884 in 2024, according to Ofgem data. While increased gas prices (which include an additional carbon tax paid by power companies that generate electricity using natural gas) played a role in this increase, the work by David Turver and Andrew Montford show that the array of subsidies, systems balancing costs (due to intermittency of renewables) and expanding the grid to support increased reliance on solar and wind farms play a far more important role.

Britain once had a thriving industrial base anchored in affordable, secure energy. Today, energy-intensive manufacturing – steel, chemicals, glass – is being priced out. Citing the Office for National Statistics, the Financial Times reported that output in 2025 in the UK’s energy-intensive industries has fallen by a third since 2021 to reach a 35-year low, reflecting their exposure to the highest electricity prices of developed economies. The production of paper, petrochemicals, basic metals and inorganic products such as cement and ceramics was in 2024 at its lowest level in records stretching back to 1990. The figures underline the challenge facing ministers as they seek to shield British industry from high energy costs that put businesses at a severe disadvantage to competitors in the US and China.

The original Climate Change Act in 2008 included no sort of cost-benefit analysis at all. As Paul Homewood notes, “it was passed almost unanimously through Parliament on the basis that when you are saving the planet, costs do not matter.” It was the same story when Theresa May amended the 2008 Act to set the 2019 Net Zero target.

Meanwhile, the Government ploughs ahead with EV mandates, boiler bans and infrastructure upgrades for an all-electric future, at a cost to the UK economy that may run over £1 trillion. The Treasury’s Net Zero Review blithely assumes that “a successful and orderly transition” will yield lower household costs and “wider health co-benefits”. Yet no serious scenario work appears to account for what happens if global fossil fuel demand remains robust – as every credible forecast says it will – and Britain’s self-imposed constraints simply shift production, and emissions, overseas as it has done over the past two decades of economic decline.

Energy Realism Versus ‘Climate Leadership’: Trump Upends the Globalist Climate Agenda

In the developing world, energy realism prevails not just in China. India’s message to the 2023 COP28 annual climate conference was blunt: “It is very clear that India’s energy needs for development, which are substantial, cannot be deferred… India’s reliance on coal is critical to its energy security in the background of the relative paucity of oil and natural gas of domestic origin.”

African leaders are increasingly vocal about the hypocrisy of Western governments that developed on the back of fossil fuels now denying them the same fossil fuel-based energy ladder. Even Germany, after years of climate posturing, reverted to burning lignite when its energy security crumbled post-Ukraine war after having shut down its nuclear plants post-Fukushima at very short notice.

But what was once a united “collective West” climate worldview – represented in the UN via its specialised agencies such as the IPCC – has shattered. President Trump’s energy team led by Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, is charging full steam ahead, firing off policy and regulatory initiatives at a pace designed to overwhelm the capacity of opponents to respond. It is leaving the administration’s zealous climate adversaries scrambling to oppose the Trumpian counter-revolution.

Under President Trump’s watch, the US has exited the Paris Agreement and ceased financial commitments to the UN climate agenda. Under its “energy dominance” mantra, Trump’s administration is set to continue playing to American strengths in exploiting American coal, oil and natural gas resources and to unleash a “nuclear renaissance”. The Green agenda, championed under the Obama administration and turbocharged by the Biden one, which unleashed the massive Inflation Reduction Act boondoggle for the Democrat Party-favoured renewables sector, is now being dismantled piece by piece.

Britain, meanwhile, clings to “climate leadership”, the idea that moral example will change the world’s energy trajectory. This is the same delusion that informed Barack Obama’s “grand bargain” with Xi Jinping under the Paris Agreement, a deal that tied US hands with costly regulation while asking little of China beyond a vague 2030 peak. If this is leadership, it is leadership of the lead lemming charging over the cliff.

This article was published in The Daily Sceptic https://dailysceptic.org/2025/08/14/the-folly-of-climate-leadership-britains-net-zero-masochism-and-the-china-mirage/

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Astronomers in Pan-Starrs Observatory in Hawaii wrote the story in 2017 when they found 'Oumuamua, the first interstellar object (ISO), which was ever observed. Two years later, the Interstellare Comet 2i/Borisov became the second ISO that has ever been observed. And on July 1, 2025, the asteroid terrestrial Impact Last Alert System (Atlas) in Rio Hurtado discovered a third interstellar object in our solar system, the comet, which is now known as 3i/atlas (OR C/2025 N1 Atlas). Like its predecessors, the arrival of this object has fueled an immense scientific interest and led to suggestions for missions that could result in future ISOS.

Examples are Project Lyra, the Interstellar Object Explorer (IOE) and the Comet Interceptor of the ESA. In a work recently listed by Prof. Abraham Loeb from Harvard University, however, the opportunity examines a mission with 3i/Atlas that has been in space for years. According to its analysis, the Juno probe of the NASA could intercept this latest interstellar object as soon as it approaches Jupiter on March 16, 2025 and today humanity gives one of the most puzzling object classes in the universe in the universe today.

Abraham Loeb is the Frank B. Baird Jr. Professor of Science at Harvard University and director of the Institute for theory and Calculation (ITC) and the Galileo Projekt in the Harvard & Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CFA). Adam Hibberd and Adam Crowl joined him, who are both respected scientists with the non -profit initiative for interstellar studies (i4is) based in Great Britain. The paper, which recently describes your proposal, was published online and is checked for publication in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrjuig2gnga

Loeb, Hibberd and Crowl are no strangers for Isos and the opportunity to send spaceships to make themselves and study them up close. In 2018, Prof. Loeb became a well -known name “could the solar radiation pressure 'Oumuamua's special acceleration explain?” In this paper and in his subsequent book with the title Extra -Restral, he argued that 'Oumuamua could have been an extraterrestrial spaceship, which explained his strange behavior and the way in which attempts were made to classify it.

Similarly, Hibberd received recognition for his work with the i4is via Project Lyra. This proposed mission would “catch up” oumuamua or future isos with luminaire technology and decepted energy drive (DEP). He also worked with Marshall Euins and Space Initiatives on the enthusiastic Proxima Centauri proposal, a concept that would also rely on DEP to send a swarm of space vehicles to study the closest rocky planet beyond our solar system (proxima b). Crowl is an independent researcher and drive engineer who was previously a member of Project Icarus, a design study for an interstellar probe based on the legacy of Project Daedalus.

Since 'Oumuamua has made its close path to earth, scientists dreamed of the day on which a committed mission was able to interlock and study an interlocking visitor. In several missions, rehearsal withdrawal missions have been carried out in the past decade to form an almost earth-ending asteroid (NEAS), including Jaxas Hayabusa and Hayabusa2 probes and the Osiris Rex probe from NASA. Since asteroids and comets are essentially material that remains from the formation of the solar system, the examination of these samples provides indications of the conditions about 4.5 billion years ago.

By studying the ISOS while running through our system, scientists can learn what conditions were available in other star systems without waiting for an interlocking spaceship to reach them. But as Prof. Loeb examined in his 2018 article, an ISO could be an artificial object (like a dilapidated spaceship), which exponentially increases the opportunities for scientific research. Hibberd, Crowl and Loeb examined similar options in a recently published article in relation to 3i/Atlas: “Is the Interstellar Object 3i/Atlas Alien Technology?”. As Prof. Loeb said today by e -mail to Universe, this makes a mission particularly appealing:

[W]E show that the application of a thrust of 2.675 kilometers per second on September 14, 2025 can bring the Juno spaceship from his orbit around Jupiter to intercept the path of 3i/Atlas. The close encounter of 3i/Atlas with Jupiter offers a rare opportunity to reduce Juno from his current orbit to Jupiter in order to intercept the path of 3i/Atlas in his closest approach to Jupiter.

The brightness of 3i/atlas implies a diameter of 20 kilometers for an asteroid with a typical reflection capacity (albedo) of 5%. As I showed in a published paper shortly after the discovery of 3i/Atlas, the detection of this object requires an unsustainable mass supply of rocky material from the Milky Way over 5 years after the ATLAS telescope's survey. If 3I/Atlas have a diameter of 20 kilometers, it may have attacked the inner solar system, as expected from the alien technology.

Top view of the trajectory of 3i/Atlas (blue) through the solar system with orbits and positions of planets. Credit: CSS/D. Rankin

As shown in her study, 3i/Atlas will reach about 53.6 million km (33.25 million million) or 0.358 AU on March 16, 2026. At this point, a shift in the orbit of the Juno spaceship would allow the path from 3I/in the approach to the Giant. This proposal deals with the challenge of building and using a spaceship on the construction and introduction of a spacecraft to intercept 3i/atlas before it takes the closest for the sun (October 29, 2025) and leaves our solar system. As Hibberd explained:

It is quite clear that a mission that has been started from earth to 3i is completely impossible, since we warn little before you arrive in the solar system. In addition, it would not be within the power envelope of the proposed mission of the ESA -Comet -Interceptor mission, in other words, even if a spaceship had been waiting on the sun/earth -l2 position. Now 3i by chance comes very close to Mars, Jupiter and Venus, which is a strange coincidence in itself and it is unlikely that it will be repeated with every future ISO.

In view of the above -mentioned serendipities and the impossibility of recognizing a special probe, in order to meet them in good time, it therefore seems sensible to inquire whether an existing spaceship that surrounds Mars or Jupiter could be used for a catch or a close approach. In this context, work is worthwhile, and such an analysis only applies to Isos, which accidentally have close encounters with the planets, which I have articulated will indeed be very rare.

In order to determine the optimal flight path that would lead to a rendezvous, the team was based on optimal inter -planetary trajectory software (Oits), a package that was originally developed by Hibberd for Project Lyra in 2017. As Hibberd explained, it enabled them to solve the problem of determining the orbits and speeds of Juno and 3i/Atlas (also known as Lambert problem), but only for an orbital cycle. In order to measure how close the Juno probe with a minimal bivide could reach the interstellar comets, Hibberd used other tailor-made software.

This consisted of the C software, which he developed with three libraries-the NASA JPL, navigation and NAIF (NAF information facility) as well as space vehicles, planet, instrument, C-matrix, events (spice) software that enabled the team to create a precise prediction of Jupiter and Junos Orbits. “The rebound software was also used to integrate the movement of all three bodies, and Nomad found that the minimum speed Juno was necessary to create an offset 3i/Atlas. As Loeb indicated, the results showed that catching up with a Jupiter Colonel Manöver:

If this exciting new goal is feasible, the mission of Juno will be rejuvenated and its scientific lifespan will be extended beyond March 14, 2026. So far we have examined a section of Juno with 3i/Atlas. The optimal option includes a Jupiter Oberth maneuver, in which on September 9, 2025 just 8 days before the originally intended date of termination for Juno's burglary in the atmosphere of Jupiter, an application of ∆V is required. After this thrust was delivered to the height of Juno, another ∆V is delivered, which is a Jupiter Oberth maneuver and on March 14, 2026 leads to a possible section of the Target 3i/Atlas.

The artist's rendering of the artist of Nasas Juno -probe circles Jupiter. Credit: NASA

They also show how Juno's instrument suite could all be used to examine the nature of 3i/atlas from a close distance. This includes its near-infrared spectrometer, the magnetometer, the microwave radiometer, the gravity science instrument, an energetic particle detector, the radio and plasma cameras, the UV spectrograph and the visible camera. The data that range from spectra and images to energetic emissions will answer questions about the composition of the property and inform us volumes about the home system and the conditions in the formed conditions.

“Our paper depends on a remarkable but verifiable hypothesis that 3I/Atlas is a functioning technological artifact that I and my two co authors do not necessarily attribute,” added Loeb. “However, this hypothesis earns a scientific analysis for two reasons: the consequences, if the hypothesis is as correct, could possibly be bad for humanity and possibly require defensive measures to take this (although they could prove to be unsuccessful). [Second,] The hypothesis is an interesting exercise and is fun to research regardless of your probable validity. “

However, the latest pictures taken by the Hubble world space telescope indicate that this possibility could not be off the table. Based on the brightness distribution of the surrounding coma, researchers have estimated that the core has an effective radius of less than 2.8 kilometers (~ 1.75 mi). However, all questions about your true nature are solved as soon as a) 3i/Atlas comes closer to the sun and begins to fill gases through sublimation, or b) The Juno probe has the option of examining it up close.

Regardless of the result, the results will surely be fascinating and tell us a lot about what is beyond the solar system.

Further reading: Arxiv

Spending tax money on reservoirs instead of renewables might have been more effective.

Press release

National Drought Group meets to address “nationally significant” water shortfall

Five areas remain in drought with six more in prolonged dry weather 

From: Environment Agency, Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs and Emma Hardy MP Published 12 August 2025

The National Drought Group met today (Monday 11 August) with the current water shortfall situation in England now defined as a “nationally significant incident.”  

Five areas are officially in drought, with six more experiencing prolonged dry weather following the driest six months to July since 1976.    

Despite the unsettled weather last month, many river flows and reservoir levels in England continued to recede compared to June.   

Rainstorms and showers helped mask the fact that July was still the fifth warmest on record.   

August has started to see a return of drier conditions and the fourth heatwave of the summer – putting more pressure on already struggling public water supplies and navigational waterways.   

The National Drought Group – which includes the Met Office, government, regulators, water companies, the National Farmers’ Union, Canal & River Trust, anglers, and conservation experts – used the meeting to highlight the water-saving measures each sector is taking.   

They also praised the public for reducing their own daily usage, with Yorkshire Water reporting a 10% reduction in domestic demand following their hosepipe ban. This equates to saving up to 80 million litres per day – equivalent to 32 Olympic-sized swimming pools.   

The less water that is used, the less needs to be abstracted from local rivers – therefore protecting the health of our waterways and wildlife.   

The Environment Agency’s Director of Water and NDG chair, Helen Wakeham said:

The current situation is nationally significant, and we are calling on everyone to play their part and help reduce the pressure on our water environment.  

Water companies must continue to quickly fix leaks and lead the way in saving water. We know the challenges farmers are facing and will continue to work with them, other land users, and businesses to ensure everyone acts sustainably.  

We are grateful to the public for following the restrictions, where in place, to conserve water in these dry conditions. Simple, everyday choices – such as turning off a tap or deleting old emails – also really helps the collective effort to reduce demand and help preserve the health of our rivers and wildlife.

The recent rainfall has been welcomed by growers, although the impacts from the dry weather remain as farmers continue their harvest.   

The National Farmers Union noted how water shortages have impacted the growing season this year.  

NFU Vice-President, Rachel Hallos said:

British farmers and growers continue to face extremely dry conditions, with harvest underway and crop yields proving mixed across the country. Some farms are reporting a significant drop in yields, which is financially devasting for the farm business and could have impacts for the UK’s overall harvest.  

Farming is a long-term industry and there is growing concern about the months ahead. Minimal grass growth means many livestock farmers are already tapping into winter feed stocks, raising the risk of higher production costs later in the year. 

Access to clean, reliable water is essential for food production. What’s worked well during this drought has been early, coordinated communication with stakeholders around licence restrictions and drought permits and orders and it’s crucial this continues. 

To avoid the swing between extreme drought and flooding and to secure water supplies for food production, we urgently need investment in water infrastructure and a more effective planning system.

Periods of dry weather and low rivers reduce oxygen levels in water that can lead to fish kills and more algal blooms. Lower river flows also prevent wildlife from moving up or downstream.   

Drying out wetlands can be devastating for species that depend on those habits while England has seen an increase in wildfires, devastating vulnerable areas of heathland and moorland.   

The Met Office updated the group on the future weather outlook, noting drier weather has returned.

Chief Meteorologist at the Met Office, Dr Will Lang said:

This week is starting off warmer than of late across England and Wales with temperatures getting towards the mid-30s Celsius for some in the south.

While conditions remain mostly settled across the south, the picture is more unsettled further northwest, with rain or showers at times.

As we move into the second half of August, there are indications of high pressure building and therefore largely settled conditions overall. Although dry weather is more likely, rain, showers or thunderstorms cannot be ruled out.

The heat and climate change also impact human health, through issues such as heatstroke, dehydration, and respiratory problems.    

Steve Reed, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and Philip Duffy, Chief Executive of the Environment Agency, have also briefed Pat McFadden, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, about the situation.  

Speaking after attending the meeting, Water Minister Emma Hardy said:

Working with the National Drought Group, the Government is urgently stepping up its response to ensure we are successfully managing the impacts of ongoing dry weather.  

Water companies must now take action to follow their drought plans – I will hold them to account if they delay.   

We face a growing water shortage in the next decade. That’s why we are pushing ahead with root and branch reform under our Plan for Change, which includes £104 billion of private investment to build nine reservoirs and new pipes to cut leaks.

CURRENT SITUATION

• Drought has been declared in: Yorkshire, Cumbria and Lancashire, Greater Manchester Merseyside and Cheshire, East Midlands, and the West Midlands.   
• Areas in prolonged dry weather (the phase before drought) are: Northeast, Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire, East Anglia, Thames, Wessex, Solent and South Downs.  
• The remaining areas are normal: Hertfordshire, London, Kent, Devon and Cornwall.  
• Yorkshire Water has a Temporary Usage Ban (TUB aka hosepipe ban) in place for all its customers.   
• Thames, South East Water, and Southern Water have postcode-specific bans.  
• Reservoirs fell by 2% last week and are now 67.7% full on average across England. The average for the first week of August is 80.5%. Last month, the average was 75.6%  
• The lowest reservoirs are Blithfield (49.1%), Derwent Valley (47.2%), Chew Valley Lake (48.3%), Blagdon (46.3%).   
• Rainfall in July was 89% of long-term average for the month across England. This is the sixth consecutive month of below average rainfall.    
• Across the country, 51% of river flows were normal with the rest below normal, notably low or exceptionally low.   
• Two rivers – Wye and Ely Ouse – were the lowest on record for July  
• There are currently navigation closures or restrictions across sections of the Leeds and Liverpool, Macclesfield, Trent and Mersey, Peak Forest, Rochdale, Oxford and Grand Union Canal.  
• More information here Dry weather and drought in England: 25 to 31 July 2025 – GOV.UK

ACTIONS BY NATIONAL DROUGHT GROUP MEMBERS  

• The UK Health Security Agency is working with the National Drought Group to update its public health impacts of drought guidance  
• Water companies are communicating with customers about current risks and advising them how to use water wisely during this dry period. 
• Water companies have stepped up action on leakage, with leaks down 41% compared to the level in 1989 when the industry was privatised.   
• Over £700 million has been committed by water companies to tackle leaks over the next five years.   
• Water companies have committed to reducing leakage by 50% from a 2017-18 baseline by 2050.  
• Yorkshire Water reported that repairs of leaks identified by smart meters had saved 1.5 million litres per day.   
• Yorkshire Water is fixing over 800 leaks per week.   
• Dwr Cymru Welsh Water is fixing over 700 leaks per week.
• Over 500,000 customers with Anglian Water have had leaks identified via their smart meters. This helped the firm reduce leaks by a total of 187 million litres a day, equivalent to 75 Olympic-sized swimming pools.  
• Anglian Water’s satellite technology has also helped prioritise leak detection, saving over 320,000 litres of water a day in rural areas, enough to supply 1,000 homes.  
• Southern Water has 24,000 acoustic sensors attached to the 15,500km of their water network to help detect leaks.  
• In the last 12 months, Southern Water have reduced leaks by almost 20%, saving 138.7 million litres per day. 
• Severn Trent has handed out 700 x 1,100 litre bowsers to farmers and several to the West Midlands Safari Park so livestock and animals have water.  
• Water-saving messaging has helped reduce demand in the Severn Trent area by 20%, compared to the peak on 11th July.   
• United Utilities are repairing more than 800 leaks a week and have seen a 200% increase in reports of leaks from customers.   
• United Utilities is offering free home water audits in some areas, with more than 3,700 booked in.  
• Thames Water has installed over one million smart meters, which are critical in helping locate leaks.  
• Since June, Thames Water has fixed over 1,000 leaks in the region impacted by the hosepipe ban. 

DROUGHT AND THE ENVIRONMENT AGENCY

• The Environment Agency continues to work with Government, including Defra and the Cabinet Office, on the drought response.   
• The Environment Agency has escalated its operational response and diverted resources to ensure a rapid and nationwide response.    
• It is conducting more compliance checks on businesses who abstract water to ensure regulations are met.    
• It is actively engaging with water companies on requests for drought permits and drought orders and ensuring they follow their drought plans.    
• There is increased monitoring of river and groundwater level and more modelling of rainfall patterns to inform decisions, including additional restrictions.    
• The Environment Agency is working closely with farmers in East Anglia, requesting voluntary reductions on surface water abstraction. This will help conserve and extend the total period when water is available for abstraction, protect the environment and delay the need for any formal restrictions.  
• The regulator has sped up the process of alerting abstractors about restrictions.  Manage your water abstraction licence online – GOV.UK.    
• The EA is managing potential navigation issues caused by low flows on the Rivers Thames, Lark and Great Ouse.   

HOW TO SAVE WATER AT HOME

• Install a rain butt to collect rainwater to use in the garden.  
• Fix a leaking toilet – leaky loos can waste 200-400 litres a day.     
• Use water from the kitchen to water your plants.   
• Avoid watering your lawn – brown grass will grow back healthy.  
• Turn off the taps when brushing teeth or shaving.   
• Take shorter showers.     
• Delete old emails and pictures as data centres require vast amounts of water to cool their systems.

Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/national-drought-group-meets-to-address-nationally-significant-water-shortfall

Water companies have long been accused of underinvestment, a charge water companies vigorously deny. From 2024;

Water investors have withdrawn billions, says research

21 May 2024ShareSave

Dearbail Jordan

Business reporter, BBC News

Shareholders in some of the UK’s largest water companies have taken out tens of billions of pounds but failed to invest, new research claims, with firms planning to raise household bills to fund future spending.

Investors have withdrawn £85.2bn from 10 water and sewage firms in England and Wales since the industry was privatised more than 30 years ago, analysis by the University of Greenwich suggests. 

Companies are under pressure following sewage spills and water leaks, which critics have blamed on under-investment in the country’s infrastructure.

Ofwat, the industry regulator, said it “strongly refuted” the figures.

“While we agree wholeheartedly with demands for companies to change, the facts are there has been huge investment in the sector of over £200bn,” a spokesperson said.

Water UK, which represents the industry, said investment in the sector was “double the annual levels seen before privatisation”. 

Water and sewage firms want to increase customers’ bills by an average 33% over the next five years to fund improvements in the services for households.

…

Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cw4478wnjdpo

Clearly the UK attempt to singlehandedly change the global climate and stop weather extremes is failing to deliver.

Regardless of whether companies have been responsible custodians of Britain’s water assets, it seems clear some of the hundreds of billions of pounds which has been wasted on climate action should have been spent on water security.

Perhaps it is time for Britain to abandon Net Zero, and focus instead on sensible infrastructure investment, such as energy and water security.

As a child, I remember that I looked at the stars and dreamed of space vehicles that travel to distant worlds, and these classic pictures of rockets that flocked to unknown borders filled my imagination. But a mission to a black hole? Even the wildest science fiction seemed. At that time, these star corpses were the stuff of the theoretical physics books, mysterious objects that were so extreme that they devour the light itself. The idea that we could actually send something there, even a device that is smaller than a paper bracket, shows that we live at a time when the impossible is slowly possible.

Pictures of Apollo 11 Saturn against rocket start with astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, Michael Collins and Edwin E. Aldrin inspired me and many other children to travel from the stars (Credit: NASA)

Here is the idea; Astrophysicist Cosimo Bambi from Fudan University has described an ambitious plan for sending microscopic space vehicles to the next black hole. These “nanocrafts” would only weigh grams and consist of a microchip and a light sail that are powered by powerful earth base to reach a third of the speed of light. The mission would be a marathon, not a sprint. It would take about 70 years before the craft has reached a black hole of 20 to 25 light years. Another 20 years for the data to return to earth, which means that the entire mission period is around 80 to 100 years old.

Black holes represent the most extreme conditions in the universe in which our understanding of physics is pushed to its limits. This mission could answer fundamental questions: Does a black hole really have an event horizon that nothing can escape? Do the rules of physics change near black holes change? Is Einstein's theory of general theory of relativity under these extreme conditions? These are not just academic questions. Understanding how physics works in extreme environments could revolutionize our knowledge of space, time and the universe itself.

Image of the black hole in the middle of the Galaxy M87 (loan: Event Horizon Telescope)

Sounds right, but there are two important hurdles that stand in the way. First, scientists have to find a nearby black hole. Since black holes do not release light or reflect the light, they are practically invisible to telescopes. You can only see by seeing how they influence nearby stars or distort light. However, Bambi believes that new detection techniques could help localize a black hole within the next decade, possibly (and hopefully) only 20 to 25 light years from the earth. The second challenge is to build the technology. Traditional spaceships are far too heavy and slow for this trip. The proposed nanocrafts would have to survive in space for decades and at the same time maintain their ability to collect and transfer data.

“We don't have the technology now, but in 20 or 30 years we might. – Cosimo Bambi from Fudan University.

But he remains optimistic and points to past “impossible” successes. People said we would never find gravitational waves because they were too weak. We did it 100 years later. People thought we would never watch the shadows of black holes. Now, 50 years later, we have pictures of two.

While this mission sounds like the stuff of science fiction, it represents how scientific ambition crosses borders. Even if the full mission turns out to be impossible, the technologies developed on the way could revolutionize space research and our understanding of the universe. The idea that one day we could touch the edge of a black hole, even if it is covered with a device that is smaller than a paper clip, the incredible potential of human curiosity and ingenuity that extends into the deepest secrets of the universe.

Source: An interstellar mission to a black hole? Astrophysicists think it is possible.

This weakness comes from Fudan University and the “Clustered Climate Science” department. You cannot show a trend in the North Atlantic Hurricanes and change the narrative in the “cluster” of hurricanes. Of course, nobody could see such clusters before the satellite period, so what did they do? Of course, make a “probabilistic frame”, also known as a model – Anthony

Tropical cyclone cluster over the North Atlantic. This picture of NOAA's Goes-16 satellite on September 14, 2020 shows five tropical systems that turn in the Atlantic Basin at the same time. From left to right: Hurricane Sally in the Gulf of Mexico, Hurricane Paulette east of the Carolinas, the remains of the tropical storm in the central Atlantic and tropical storms Teddy and Vicky in the eastern Atlantic. A total of 10 storms mentioned were formed in September 2020 – most of it for each month. (Credit: Noaa)

Tropical cyclones, which are generally referred to as typhoon or hurricanes, can form in clusters and influence the coastal regions in a row. For example, the Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria met in 2017. The Federal Administrative Agency of the Federal Functions did not provide adequate support for hurricane victims in Puerto Rico when Maria beat because most rescue resources and specialized disasters were used for the answers to Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.

A new study published in Nature climate change confirms that these hurricane clusters have become increasingly common in the North Atlantic in recent decades – a trend that is to be continued in the near future.

Tropical cyclone clusters describe the event that two or more tropical cyclones are present in the same pool at the same time. This phenomenon is not uncommon, since historically only 40% of the tropical cyclones appeared alone. Apart from the combined effects of individual storms, tropical cyclone clusters can cause disproportionate damage, since coastal communities and infrastructures need time to withdraw from the effects of the first storm. The understanding of tropical cyclone clusters and their future is therefore important for the risk management of the coast.

In the analysis of the historical observation of tropical cyclones, the authors found that in the past few decades the opportunities for the tropical cyclone cluster were decreased in northwestern Pacific basins and increased in the North Atlantic Basin. “We tried to develop a probabilistic framework to understand this trend,” said Dazhi XI, a climatologist at HKU who headed the study together and developed the methodology. Mechanisms and hoped that in the past few decades we have been able to find out why tropical cyclone cluster had changed. “

However, the probabilistic model is only partially successful. For a few years, it significantly underestimates the probability of a tropical cyclone cluster. It is because some storms not only coexist with other storms, but that they have physical link. “The apparently failed statistical model will soon become a powerful tool that can distinguish the physical tropical cyclone cluster with which by pure coincidence,” said Wen Zhou, air conditioner at Fudan University and the corresponding author of the study. In those years in which the probabilistic model fails, the authors find that synoptic waves, a number of train -like atmospheric disorders, improve the likelihood of tropical cyclone cluster formation.

The study also discovered that the LA-Nina-like global heating pattern, which is characterized by slower warming in the eastern Pacific compared to the West Pacific, is the reason for the observed shifts of the hotspot of the tropical cyclone cluster. “The warming pattern not only modulates the frequency of tropical cyclones in the North Atlantic and North Westphalian Basin, but also affects the strength of the synoptic waves, which together causes the shift of the tropical cyclone cluster hotspots from the Northwestern Pacific to North Atlantic Basin, which Cyclone cluster hotspot from the Northwestern Pacific Atlantic Basin “, a PhD student who the PHD student of the PhD Fudan University, the student has the student of the study that the study has the study that has the study.

Research determines a probabilistic basic model for the examination of tropical cyclone cluster events and its underlying physical mechanisms. This framework not only explains the observed shift of the hotspot of the tropical cyclone cluster from the northwestern Pacific to the North Atlantic basin, but also offers a transferable methodology that is applicable to other ocean basins worldwide. It is important that the authors identify the North Atlantic in recent decades as an emerging hotspot for tropical cyclone cluster. This finding requires increased attention from the Atlantic Court countries and asks them to develop proactive strategies against them.

References:

Fu, ZH, D. XI, S.-P. Xie, W. Zhou, N. Lin, J. Zhao, X. Wang, and JCL Chan, 2025: Change hotspot of tropical cyclon clusters in a warming climate. Nature climate change, 15th https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-02397-9

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