atomic

the new “atomic bomb” is invisible

by

In every major conflict or world war, there was a time when a technology apparently secondary changed the rules of the game and redefined what it meant to have an advantage. Sometimes it is not the loudest, nor the heaviest, nor even the most visible weapon, but the invisible infrastructure that supports everything else from the air. A war in the clouds. The invasion of Ukraine has shown that the modern battlefield is not only measured in kilometers conquered or armor destroyed, but in megabits per second. High-speed satellite connectivity transformed the way to fight by allowing almost instant command, control and coordination at any point on the front. That has led to a dark reversal, because when that network is cut, not only is the Internet lost: Vision, synchronization and response capacity are lost, and the affected army is suddenly disoriented in an environment where every second decision can be lethal. The digital trap. Taking advantage of Russian troops’ desperation to regain access to Starlink after geo-blocking imposed by Elon Musk on SpaceX, a Ukrainian cyber assault unit launched a covert operation on Telegram. The trap: offering false registration services on a supposed Ukrainian “white list.” What happened? That Russian soldiers, believing they were reestablishing their connection, voluntarily sent terminal identifiers, account data and exact location coordinates. Instead of the Internet, they received 155 mm artillery fire. More than 2,000 data entries and thousands of dollars paid for the fictitious service turned the technological necessity into a kind of lethal “honeypot”, where each attempt to reconnect revealed a target. Starlink as strategic infrastructure. In this way, the SpaceX constellation not only facilitated communications, but also allowed to operate dronescoordinate attacks and maintain digitalized logistics on an extended front. A trap that has possibly been a pioneer in the Ukrainian war, but that will surely be the “norm” in future conflicts. When the company limited access only to verified terminals Because of Ukraine, Russia was suddenly deprived of a system on which it also depended. The interruption, in fact, has slowed offensives, forced a return to more vulnerable manned vehicles and generated chaos described by Russian voices as an operational “hell.” Connectivity stopped being a complement and became backbone of combat. Satellite Internet as an “atomic bomb.” The digital deception operation was not only a brilliant tactical action, but the verification of a strategic reality: In contemporary war, dominance of the information spectrum and networks is equivalent to the air superiority of the 20th century. Without real-time data there are no precise drones, no coordinated command, and no synchronized attacks. Disconnection de facto turns a modern force into an army blindexposed and extremely slow. Thus, the adversary that controls the network is not only able to listen and observe, it also has the ability to decide when the enemy speaks or, as in the case at hand, when he falls. Balloons in the sky. The data that confirms the importance of being “connected” on the battlefield has arrived this week. Given the loss of Starlink and the delay of its own Rassvet satellite constellationMoscow has activated emergency solutions such as the Barrage-1 stratospheric ballooncapable of raising 5G communication equipment to 20 kilometers in height to offer regional connectivity. The idea is not new and it could work as temporary nodebut it lacks the global coverage and resilience of thousands of laser-connected satellites. Furthermore, its lower altitude makes it a potential target for anti-aircraft defenses, hunting drones or electronic warfare, transferring the battle for connectivity to the physical sky as well. Without a network there is no modern war. If you will also, the Russian dependence on commercial systems and the Ukrainian effectiveness in exploiting that vulnerability reveal a profound change in the nature of the conflict. Digital infrastructure is no longer a simple logistical support, it has become a decisive weapon that articulates all the others. While Moscow searches technological patches and alternatives that time will tell if they are improvised or not, kyiv has shown that cutmanipulating or controlling the net can upset the balance on the front line faster than any ground offense. In the war that is being fought in Ukraine, and possibly in those to come, whoever dominates the connection in space, dominates the combat. Image | Support Forces of Ukraine Command, Ukraine Defense Ministry In Xataka | It is evident that Russia can absorb thousands and thousands of casualties. So Ukraine is already designing a much riskier plan In Xataka | An unprecedented experiment is happening in Ukraine: bombs have turned dogs into other animals

Atomic clocks seemed untouchable. A blackout caused a difference in the official US time

by

To think that the official time of a country could fail is, at first, almost impossible. We are not talking about a domestic clock or just any server, but about the system that sets the pace of networks, satellites and critical services. That is why it is surprising to discover what happened recently in the United States. A power outage in Colorado was enough to remind us that extreme precision is not isolated from the physical world that sustains it. According to CBS, Xcel Energy applied a preventive shutdown to reduce the risk of fires due to very strong gusts of wind, and the NIST complex in Boulder was affected on Wednesday of last week. The power outage was followed by a backup generator in the institute’s laboratory. In that sequence, and according to information confirmed by NIST, the country’s time reference was slightly off for a brief interval, until part of the supply could be restored. Put a tiny deviation into context. The figure that came out of the NIST systems was 4.8 microseconds, that is, just a few millionths of a second different from what was expected. To get an idea of ​​that magnitude, NIST itself explained that A human blink lasts around 350,000 microseconds, a very different scale from the recorded mismatch. The variation is so small that for the vast majority of everyday uses it is irrelevant, but it serves to illustrate the extent to which even a minor deviation is measured, recorded and taken seriously in temporal reference systems. To understand why this offset is considered relevant, it is worth clarifying what exactly the official time of the United States is. The country is not governed directly by UTC, the coordinated international standard to which multiple nations contribute, but by a national implementation known as NISTUTC. Since 2007, that reference is established under the supervision of the Secretary of Commerce and the US Navy, and is adjusted to stay aligned with global coordinated timing. NIST-F4 Cesium Source Atomic Clock NIST calculates the official time from a weighted average of sixteen clocks spread across its campus, including hydrogen masers and cesium beam clocks, each with different functions and strengths. This approach allows us to gain stability and resilience, since the final signal is not conditioned by the behavior of a single instrument. Therefore, even when one of the elements of the system is affected, the whole continues to offer an extremely precise reference. What broke was not the watch. During the blackout, the atomic clocks continued to run thanks to their battery systems, as explained by NIST. The problem occurred in the connection between some of those clocks and the measurement and distribution systems that consolidate the final signal. When that communication was lost for an interval and one of the planned backups failed, the resulting time reference slowed down slightly. Technical personnel who remained at the facilities later activated a reserve diesel generator, which allowed part of the operation to be recovered and the system to be stabilized. NIST page The institute stressed that this gap has no appreciable effects on daily life. The nuance appears when looking at certain technical sectors, where extreme synchronization is an operational requirement. Critical infrastructures, telecommunications networks, positioning systems or some scientific environments work with such tight margins that even a minimal deviation deserves to be recorded and reported. The next step was to return to operational normality. NIST indicated that the correction of the gap will be carried out when all systems are fully powered and can be recalibrated with guarantees. Xcel Energy announced yesterday Monday that it was completing the restoration of service after the storm and the preventive cuts applied due to fire risk. Meanwhile, the institute began an internal review to evaluate the impact of the blackout and verify that redundancies and protocols responded as planned. Images | NIST In Xataka | China says it has detected an NSA operation against its most sensitive infrastructure: the center that controls the time

The United States needs nuclear energy for AI and already knows where to find it: in dismantled atomic bombs

by

The rivalry between China and the United States is not only freed in markets or The tariffs. It is also played In the field of energy. And, in full rise of artificial intelligence, Donald Trump has decided that the way to ensure abundant and stable electricity for military bases, laboratories and data centers will be through nuclear energy. His plan is as ambitious as controversial. An explosive plan. The Trump administration has sought to quadruple the nuclear production of the country. To do this, the White House wants the new reactors not to depend solely on fresh uranium, but also on recycled fuel from radioactive waste and the military plutonium surplus dismantled eyelets. As Washington Post explainedit is an “national security imperative.” The idea is simple: guarantee a stable supply for the most sensitive infrastructure, from military bases to AI data centers, without depending on the electricity or imported fuels. The recycling now an ally. THE ENERGY DEPARTMENT has identified in its inventories All uranium and useful plutonium to reconvert it in fuel. Among them is the plutonium from dismantled weapons, one of the most dangerous materials on the planet. To make it possible, startups like oklo and curio They work in piroprocessinga method that introduces fuel bars spent on molten salts and uses electricity to separate the usable components. Unlike the chemical processes used in the past, these companies ensure that the technique is safer, more economical and less polluting. In addition, Oklo, backed by Sam Altman, founder of Openai, has announced an investment of almost 1.7 billion dollars in an advanced fuel center in Oak Ridge (Tennessee), the same land where uranium was enriched The Manhattan project Eight decades ago. Only the tip of the iceberg. A couple of months ago, in one of the executive orders signed by Trump forced the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) To complete any reactor license in 18 months, when until now the process could take more than a decade. The White House also ordered to rewrite the rules of radiation exposure, considered “excessively cautious.” The official statement issued in May established specific deadlines: The Army must operate a reactor at a national base before September 2028, and the energy department will have to inaugurate at least one advanced reactor in any of its facilities in 30 months to supply AI data centers. To this is added the release of 20 tons of Haleu (high -rehearsal low enrichment uranium) for new reactors and the intention of signing 20 international nuclear cooperation agreements in the current congress. The depth of the matter. Despite political and business enthusiasm, the scientific community contrasts with reality. Ross Matzkin-Bridger, exassor of the Department of Energy, He pointed out that it is “The same technologies that developed and rejected decades ago”, with the same background problems. The MIT physicist and former secretary of Energy, Ernest Moniz, It was more blunt: recycling plutonium of arms not only makes nuclear energy more expensive, but also “threatens to create material that can be used in pumps.” Along the same lines, Matthew Bunn, from Harvard, considers it unrealistic to think that public opinion accepts reprocessing plants that would also require their own waste deposit. And Frank von Hippel, from Princeton, recalled that the US has already abandoned civil recycling at the time of Jimmy Carter, after India used that technology To manufacture your first bomb. Not everything is warnings. For the White House, nuclear recycling is a strategic tool. The official statement insists that AI data centers and military facilities need “Dense energy sources, safe and resistant. ” Also, defenders such as Bradley Williams, from the National Laboratory of Idaho, They argue that using recycled plutonium It could become a need to guarantee sufficient fuel. And startups ensure that new processes include safeguards that prevent reuse of that material for military purposes. The weight of waste. The matter is even broader because the country already accumulates about 90,000 metric tons of fuel spent, stored in containers in active and dismantled plants, According to The Washington Post. Recycling part of that material would relieve a dilemma that has been resolved decades. Meanwhile, the private sector tries to position itself. Oklo signed a contract with Switchdata centers operator, to build modular reactors that contribute up to 12 GW before 2044. The company promises to open its first reactor, Aurorain 2027, although the agreement is not binding and the NRC rejected its previous application in 2022. The idea of ​​recycling is not unique. More countries have found in this method in a way to find a more source without depending on other countries as the case of Francewhich does so through subsidies and strict security measures. For its part, Japan accumulate delays and cost overruns In its Rokkash Plant, which has not yet produced fuels after decades of development. At the opposite end, United Kingdom decided to abandon the idea of ​​recycling. With about 140 tons of stored civil plutonium, he has chosen to immobilize him in a solid and stable way to bury him in a deep geological warehouse in Sellafield. Something similar occurs in Spain, which has reactivated his plan For a deep geological warehouse, planned for 2073, and in the meantime use containers such as Hi-Storm FW for intermediate storage. The contrast is evident: while some countries try to give new life to waste, others bury them forever. Everyone looks for the same: prevent nuclear legacy from becoming an eternal problem. Forecasts. The United States is committed to resuscitating old nuclear recycling technologies to sustain its energy safety and the AI ​​career. The defenders see it as a historical opportunity to reduce foreign dependence and give new use to forgotten materials. Critics fear that the same failures and risks of half a century are repeated. The experience invites prudence: the last reactors connected in the USA, In the Vogtle (Georgia) plantthey arrived seven years late and 17,000 million dollars of extra cost. Image | Oklo and Kelly Michals Xataka | 60 years … Read more

In the mid -twentieth century the nuclear was fashionable. So someone created “atomic” tomatoes and cucumbers

by

The human being has from the dawn of agriculture trying to improve their crops. Before the arrival of advanced laboratory techniques such as CRISPR or the tools that the transgenics gave them, our species tested with a retahíla of various strategies to obtain larger fruits and vegetablestastier or more resistant. Some more successful than others. Some that bordered the demential. To the latter group belongs to the atomic horticulture, Atomic Gardening. The name of the technique speaks for itself. Atomic horticulture started from the idea of ​​bombarding radiation plantations. The objective of atomic horticulture, or at least the nominal objective of this, was to force mutations that improve the properties of food that were extracted from them. For this, the orchards were arranged in concentric circles, in whose center the radioactive material was located (Generally cobalt-60) capable of emitting gamma rays. The disposition implied that the successive circles received radiation dose that could vary significantly. The closest plants ended up burned by radiation and many nearby developed lethal problems such as tumors. The rest of the plants would receive more moderate doses that would introduce small mutations in their DNA. These mutations could be harmful or beneficial: the technique could Accelerate the natural process Of genetic modification, the selection, natural or human, would make the rest. The origin of this practice is found in the first years of the nuclear era, in the 1950s. Behind this initiative could find an association called The Atomic Gardening Societydedicated to promoting this striking practice. In An article Posted in 1962 the magazine Naturethis agrarian society was defined as “a scientific, educational and non -profit body, which carries out research in plants reproduction using radiative and chemically treated seeds and plants.” The different members of the association could exchange through this different seeds and the organization also served to record the different genetic variations introduced into the plants. The Atomic Gardening Society He also published his own magazine in which members could share their experiences and knowledge. We pointed out before the objective of this practice was to improve the qualities of plants and their fruits, make the most productive and resistant crops and their most nutritious or tasty crops. However behind this practice there was something else: marketing. The 50s was the era of initiative Atoms for peacein whose bosom the atomic gardens were born. This initiative intended to show that the energy responsible for devastation in Hiroshima and Nagasaki could also be used for economic improvement, in this case, agricultural improvement. Atomic horticulture in Spain Atomic horticulture was not an exclusive idea of ​​great nuclear powers such as the United States or the Soviet Union but also various countries from Europe to Japan developed their own gardens. Spain also had Your own atomic garden. The so -called Atomic Jarín of Alcalá is what remains of the Spanish tante in this nuclear agriculture, the then called El Encín Gamma Radiation Field. The origin of this experiment, which did not use Cobalt-60 but Cesio-137is in 1959, when Spain began to leave its isolationist period and could receive this radioactive isotope from US nuclear power plants for the exotic objective of building its own atomic garden not far from the capital. Today atomic horticulture is history. As we pointed at the beginning, today we had less quirky techniques to introduce mutations into plants. The transgenic foods, despite all the controversy they generate, have been accompanying us for decades. In fact, the development of the “scissors” of CRISPR genetic edition has given a new push to the genetic edition of organisms. This tool allows a control never seen before, notably facilitating The work of those looking for Improve the quality, quantity or resistance of crops. Atomic horticulture is history, but their results still endure. They do it in the form of variants of fruits, vegetables and even ornamental plants whose origin is in one of the most unique agricultural practices in the history of humanity. In Xataka | A perfect storm looms over Spanish olive oil: heat, pests and a problem of productive capacity Image | Google Maps / Catalan

Uranium centrifuges have triggered war between Israel and Iran. Without them it is impossible to have the atomic bomb

by

Uranium centrifugers monopolize a good part of global attention since it began The last episode of the conflict between Israel and Iran on June 13. The government led by Benjamín Netanyahu has set as a fundamental objective dismantle the Iranian nuclear program that presumably seeks to develop the necessary technology to Manufacture atomic bombs. And to achieve it Israel and the US have bombarded The facilities in which Iran was carrying out the enrichment of uranium, such as the plants of Fordo, Isfahán and Natanz. According to Israel and the US, these Iranian nuclear facilities housed several hundred uranium centrifugers. It can even that several thousand of these machines. Its role in the nuclear program not only of Iran, but in that of any country with the ability to manufacture nuclear weapons, is to enrich 90%uranium. Otherwise it is not possible to use it to produce atomic fission pumps o Thermonuclear devices that combine fission and nuclear fusion. However, in these last pumps uranium is only used in the fission stage, which acts as a detonator of the nuclear fusion. In this last reaction two isotopes of hydrogen intervene: the deuterium and the tritium. Uranium-235 is the true protagonist of this story To precisely understand what is the purpose of uranium centrifuges it is necessary that we previously investigate in two isotopes of this chemical element Metallic, heavy and radioactive. Uranium is present in nature in very low concentrations, normally in rocks, land and water. Hence, its obtaining is expensive and its complex treatment, since it requires chemical processes capable of separating it from the other elements and impurities with which it usually lives. It has 92 protons and many other electrons orbiting around the nucleus, and the latter incorporates, in addition to the protons, between 142 and 146 neutrons. It is important that we remember that the nucleus of an atom is usually constituted by a certain number of protons and neutrons (although not always: the protio, the isotope of the most abundant hydrogen, has a single proton and no neutron in its nucleus), as well as by some electrons that orbit around it. The fact that the number of neutrons of the uranium nucleus may varyas we have just seen, it indicates that there are several isotopes of this chemical element, which are nothing other than atoms with the same number of protons and electrons, but different number of neutrons. In fission reactors and nuclear weapons it is used as uranium-235 fuel The reason why in the fission reactors and nuclear weapons is used as an uranium-235 fuel, and not another isotope of this element or any other chemical element, it consists that by bombarding its nucleus with a neutron (a process that is known as induced fission) the uranium-235 is transformed into uranium-236, which is a more unstable element. This simply means that Uranium-236 cannot remain long in its current state, so it is divided into two nuclei, one from Bario-144 and another of Crypton-89, and also emits two or three neutrons. And here comes the really interesting: the sum of the masses of the Bario-144 and Crypton-89 nuclei is slightly lower than the Uranium-236 nucleus from which they come (“disappears” around 0.1% of the original mass). Where has the mass we lack? Only one can be left: has been transformed into energy. Formula e = m c²probably the most popular in the history of physics, relates mass and energy, and what it says is simply that a certain amount of mass equals a specific amount of energy, even if the dough is at rest. In fact, the equivalence between mass and energy, proposed by Albert Einstein In 1905, he tells us something more important. The C of the formula represents the speed of light in a vacuum, which, as we all intuit, is a very large number (299,792,458 m/s). In addition, it is squared, which means that even a very, very small mass, such as the portion of the nucleus of an atom, although it is at rest contains a large amount of energy. This is what we know as resting energy. If the mass is in motion its total energy is greater than its resting energy. And, if we observe the equivalence between mass and energy, it is easy to realize that the mass of a body in motion too is greater than its resting massa phenomenon that It introduces us fully into relativistic physics. In any case, the energy we obtain by merging or fissting atomic nuclei comes from the force that keeps them together: Strong nuclear interaction. Understanding with some precision the relationship between mass and energy is important because it helps us understand how it is possible that a mass as small as that of an atom allows us to obtain such a large amount of energy. In any case, the nuclear fission process does not end here. And it is that each of the neutrons that we have obtained as a result of the disintegration of the Uranium-236 nucleus in the Bario-144 and Crypton-89 nuclei can interact with other physically nuclei, causing a chain reaction. However, not all neutrons emitted during the disintegration of the Uranium-236 nucleus will interact with a physirable nucleus. But they don’t need to do it all. It is enough that only one of those neutrons achieves it to obtain a stable number of fissures, and, therefore, a controlled reaction, which is the objective of the reactors of the nuclear power plants. Centrifugators serve to increase uranium-235 concentration The most abundant uranium isotope in nature is uranium-238. In fact, it represents approximately 99.3% of the total uranium. The problem is that this isotope is not physically. The uranium enrichment process seeks to increase the proportion of uranium-235, which, as we have seen, is physically, within the total mass of uranium. However, this last isotope is very scarce in nature. So much that only represents 0.7% of natural uranium. The nuclear reactors of the power plants require … Read more

Israel is obsessed with Iran’s nuclear bomb project. What hides is your own unofficial atomic arsenal

by

With the conflict of the Middle East there is a paradox. Israel has been saying that Iran is about to Have nuclear weaponssomething that nobody is certain that it is so, at least not in its entirety. In fact, it is one of the most repeated issues these days how far the Iranian “nuclear theme” reaches. And yet, no one asks the question in reverse. What happens to Israel’s nuclear program? Iran’s “bombs”. It We count yesterday. Despite the alarms on by Netanyahu for more than a decade (like that famous bomb cart that showed in the UN in 2012), there are no conclusive tests that Iran has made the decision to manufacture a nuclear weapon. While the country has enriched uranium to nearby levels to the military And it has accumulated reservations that, technically, could serve to produce several bombs with greater purification, both US intelligence services and the International Atomic Energy Agency agree that It has not been detected An active weapon program. Iran has become A “threshold state”with the ability to arm himself if he decided, but without evidence of crossed that threshold. Single side. And while Israel displays All your military force To dismantle what he considers an existential threat (Iran’s nuclear program), he does so carrying his own atomic arsenal, no officially recognized But increasingly evident. The war that Israel has undertaken against Tehran seeks to destroy Key facilities That, according to international experts, they could provide Iran that atomic bomb in a matter of months. However, in a gesture of paradoxical silence, Israel has never confirmed or denied the existence of its own nuclear program. At the diplomatic level, it maintains an ambiguous formula: ensures that it will not be the first country to “introduce” nuclear weapons in the Middle East. That phrase, deliberately inaccurate, allows you to preserve a discourse of prudence while preserving what most analysts consider a consolidated and growing atomic capacity. Hidden but feared. In fact, the play is doubly winner. Had the New York Times that the most conservative calculations attribute to Israel a minimum of 90 Nuclear Ojivas lists to be deployed, with sufficient fistening material reserves to manufacture hundreds more. Although its arsenal is the second smallest of the nine countries recognized informally as nuclear powers, Just ahead North Korea, its delivery capacity It is advanced: Balistic missiles, modified and submarine combat aircraft endowed with missiles with nuclear capacity constitute a complete deterrence triad. Israel’s absence in the Nuclear Non -Proliferation Treaty (which is also not part of Indian, Pakistan or North Korea) reinforces the legal exceptionality of your situation. The treaty, in force since 1970only recognizes the five nations that detonated atomic weapons before 1967: United States, Russia, China, France and the United Kingdom. Any other country that signed should, in theorygive up this armament. Israel has avoided that commitment, thus maintaining a strategic freedom that allows it to operate outside international inspections or explicit limitations. Dimona’s secret. And here comes one of the keys to the heart. The heart of the Israeli nuclear program beats in the Néguev desert, at the facilities of Dimona. Founded in 1958 With French help, this installation was Inspection object Americans during the 1960s, but since then it has remained Out of reach of any international monitoring. Broarship intelligence documents They revealed Already in 1960 that the complex included a plant of Plutonium reprocessingwhich implied a military objective. By 1967, Israel had managed to develop nuclear explosives And in 1973, during the Yom Kipur WarThe United States already assumed with certainty that the country He had atomic bombs. Throughout the decades, various satellite images have documented significant extensions In Dimonaand some Recent reports They indicate that Israel could even be building a new reactor to increase its plutonium production capacity, the material indispensable for both nuclear weapons and certain peaceful uses. Silent deterrence. Unlike dozens of countries that are accepted to the nuclear umbrella From the United States for its defense, Israel has opted for its own atomic shield. This strategic independence suggests that Israel not only has nuclear weapons, but is willing to use them As a last resort If its existence is compromised. Although you have never used these weapons in combat, There are reports which point to their preparation during the wars of 1967 and 1973. It is also suspected that Israel participated in Secret nuclear trialsas the famous incident of the American satellite Watches in 1979which detected a double light explosion near the Indian Ocean. Although the nation denied its involvement, newspapers of President Jimmy Carter recorded the Strong suspicion that Israel and South Africa collaborated in that clandestine test. Be that as it may, those events still are not confirmed, although the most relevant documents continue to classified, which feeds suspicions. The strategic logic. In short, and despite Your official opacitythe existence of Israeli nuclear arsenal seems tacitly recognized for its exclusion of otherwise protection mechanisms. The fact that it is not part of the American deterrence is interpreted by experts such as the clearest nonverbal confirmation of its independent atomic capacity. In the eyes of the Israeli government, this decision responds to A philosophy deeply rooted: no one but Israel can and should guarantee their survival. I remembered the Times that this logic, heiress of foundational trauma From the Holocaust, it was explicitly expressed By Ernst David Bergmann, president of the Israeli Atomic Energy Commission, stating that the atomic bomb was the only guarantee that “we will never be taken as lambs to the slaughterhouse.” No doubt, that principle continues to guide Israeli nuclear doctrine: maintain a sufficiently ambiguous capacity not to cause international reactions, but powerful enough to deter any real aggression. Image | Planet Lab, The Official CTBO In Xataka | Israel’s great goal in his war against Iran is to destroy Fordow. And you can only get it with a bomb that has USA In Xataka | Ukraine was the anticipation of what Israel has done: war is no longer … Read more

Two atomic watches in space

by

The European Space Agency is about to empirically verify one of the most fundamental theories of physics. To try this at home, you will only need an atomic clock and a space station. Three decades of gestation. After 30 years in development, the launch of the ACES INSTALLATION (Atomic Clock Ensemble in Space) is just around the corner. This ambitious ESA project will send a set of atomic watches of very high precision to the International Space Station to measure how gravity affects the passage of time. ACES not only hopes to validate, with unprecedented precision, the effect of the gravitational expansion of time, predicted 100 years ago by Albert Einstein in his theory of general relativity. He also hopes to open the door to new research on fundamental constants and dark matter, in addition to Improve time synchronization global. A little context. According to Einstein’s general relativity, gravity deforms space-time, which has a direct consequence: time goes at different speed depending on the intensity of the gravitational field. Experiments on Earth have already shown that Watches on the top of the mountains (where gravity is slightly lower) they go infinitesimally faster than the watches located at sea level. ACES will take this concept to the extreme. Orbiting 400 km on Earth aboard the ISS, the instrument of ESA will experience a remarkably weaker gravitational field than on the surface. The objective is to create an “atomic watches network” comparing the signals of ACES instruments with the most precise watches on Earth. It will be this comparison that allows measuring temporary dilation more accurately than ever. In addition to ratifying general relativity, ACES will accurately measure the differences in gravitational potential between continents, will verify If the universal constants of physics are constant Over time, and will discover whether dark matter interacts with atomic watches. Two watches better than one. The heart of ACES are two complementary atomic watches with each other. Pharao (Projet d’Onomique atomique French space agency CNES. AND SMH (Space Hydrogen Maser), produced in Switzerland by Safran Time Technologies. Pharao is an atomic cesium clock. Use lasers to cool cesium atoms to almost absolute zero (-273 ° C). This extreme cooling allows incredibly precise time and frequency measurements. Pharao is much more compact than its terrestrial equivalents (which can measure several meters high), since in microgravity, the atoms “float” more time in the interaction zone, without having to launch vertically against gravity. SMH uses hydrogen atoms as a frequency reference. It is an active masier, similar to those used in Galileo navigation satellites, but ten times more stable. It shines for its short -term stability, in periods of up to an hour. Combining this short -term stability with the long -term precision of the Pharao, ACES will offer a time signal with amazing precision, of only a second every 300 million years. Launch by Spacex. After being assembled and subjected to tests at the Airbus facilities, ACES traveled in March 2025 to the NASA Kennedy Space Center, in Florida, where ESA, Airbus and NASA engineers completed the final preparations in a clean room before its launch. The take -off of ACES to the ISS is scheduled for April 21 aboard the CRS-32 repayment missionin a Spacex dragon ship. Once at the orbital station, a robotic arm will install the instrument outside the European Columbus module. It will be operational for 30 months, collecting data continuously. Image | THAT In Xataka | In search of the Interplanetary GPS: NASA projects a space browser with the accuracy of an atomic clock

How to build an atomic bomb at home

by

Almost half a century ago, when there was obviously no internet and geopolitics revolved around The cold wara fact occurred that made alarms jump to society. Actually, that was the preamble of what would later be enhanced with the networks: use the public material and information available to anyone to develop weapons. With an exception: I was in Liza Build An atomic bomb In the house storage. How to become a legend. Year 1977. A little prominent student from Princeton University He surprised the world Entero (and to the FBI) ​​with an academic project that, under the revealing title of “How to build your own atomic bomb”, detailed to chilling precision the necessary steps to manufacture a functional nuclear weapon. Its author, John Aristotle Phillipsa 21 -year -old born in Connecticut, was the son of Greek immigrants and was studying without standing at all: he had repeated courses, he touched the suspense and was better known by Your pet costume of football than for their academic achievements. His transformation into an international figure came from the hand of an unexpected combination of obsession, stubbornness, ability to seek information and the challenge of impressing a legendary teacher. The academic challenge. Phillips faced a final task proposed by the famous physical Freeman Dysonwho taught in Princeton after having worked with figures such as Richard Feynman and Hans Bethe In some of the most complex projects of the twentieth century, including the development of the atomic bomb inside of the Manhattan project. Dyson had asked his students to work on nuclear proliferation, and Phillips, aware of his lack of academic brightness, wanted to stand out with a provocative proposal: to recreate the design of a bomb similar to that of Nagasakiusing only public sources. Dyson, surprised by the audacity, humorously accepted the challenge, promising an outstanding qualification if he succeeded, but also that he would burn the work after reading it. An obsession. For weeks, Phillips worked tirelessly between Princeton Library and his room, collecting Declassified Document Information of the National Technical Information Service, Physics textbooks, government communications and consultations with the Du Pont company about implosion principles. Without using a single classified source, he managed to assemble a 40 -page document where I explained step by step how to make a nuclear bomb. He delivered the work, obtained the maximum note and, far from being destroyed as Dyson had suggested, his project began to circulate from mouth to mouth until he reached the ears of professional physicists and media. A national celebrity. The dissemination of work attracted the attention of experts such as Frank Chilton, a physicist specialized in nuclear engineering, who said that Phillips design was Technically viablewith the exception of access to plutonium, the only obstacle to its materialization. The news It exploded in the media: The boy without an academic future became forever In “The A-Bomb Kid”a media figure that symbolized both unexpected brilliance and the dangers of dissemination without control in the nuclear era. Fame reached a critical point when several pakistani scientific assumptions approached Phillips to offer money in exchange for the document. The FBI intervened immediately: confiscated the work and a model that the student had built, and classified the material as sensitive information. The contradictory inheritance. Far from taking advantage of his sudden fame to continue in the academic or scientific world, Phillips published in 1979 with David Michaelis the book Mushroom: The True Story of the A-Bomb Kidwhere he narrated his experience and the journey of his unusual rise to fame. Over time, his awareness about the risks of nuclear proliferation led him to become an antinuclear activist, dedicating years to warn about the ease with which certain knowledge could fall into wrong hands. In fact, and in a turn of the events that no one expected, its trajectory finally resulted In politics: He was running as a Democratic candidate for the United States House of Representatives in 1980 and 1982, although that, without electoral success. The truth is that never He shone again as he did in that university project. A warning in full “era.” The history of Philips cannot be more relevant now that the world seems more convulsion that never. In fact, Aristotle’s case It marked a precedent disturbing: A student without access to classified materials managed to design, using only public sources, a functional nuclear artifact. In a global context where technological proliferation has only increased, its history continues to be used as an example in debates about information security, scientific education and ethical limits of knowledge. Although he never physically built the bomb, his work showed that the danger does not always come from professional spies or enemy governments, but also from curious minds with a long time, access to libraries … and a typewriter. Ironically, today there is no need for any of the three keys. Image | Rawpixel In Xataka | How to survive an atomic bomb (and why it is better not to run after the explosion) In Xataka | In 1940 USA offered 100 million dollars to Denmark for Greenland. NASA has found the reason: a secret city

In the 60s Spain wanted to experiment with gamma radiation. The result was an “atomic forest” in Alcalá

by

Before rowing us and getting into work I propose a game. One fast, simple and above all curious. Open Google Maps, activates the satellite vision (with that of the street the effect will not be the same), write “Alcalá Atomic Garden” And then let the web transfer you to a point located near Meco and the Northeast HighwayA-2. There, Google’s red claw. Approximate. What do you see? Exact. A Huge circumference green Symmetric. Perfect As if they had drawn it with an XXL size compass. If you dedicate a couple of seconds you will appreciate that it is formed by concentric circles, a succession Tree rings Almost and leafy enough to stand out in bird view and that someone planted in their day around a clear center. It is not a mistake. It is history. More specifically the footprint of “El Encín Gamma Radiation Field”an installation that in its day, back in the last decades of Franco, stood out on the country’s scientific map. His chronicle is fascinating. Almost as much as the large 15 -hectare wooded square left in Alcalá and that, In words From the anthropologist Ambrosio Sánchez de Ribera, it is “a singularity” at European level. New times, new science The 50s and 60s were times of change. For the world, which gradually entered into The cold war. And of course for Spain, where Franco seemed to enter a new phase marked by developmentalism and a certain cracking of its international isolation, with milestones such as The signing of the concordat with the Holy See In 1953, the Pacts of Madrid or the entrance to the UN, In 1955. The 50 were also time for something else: nuclear energy. With still the recent memory of Hiroshima and Nagasaki And in full arms race with Moscow, the US wanted international opinion not to focus only on the threat of atomic war and also value its civil and scientific uses. Probably the best proof of that effort is speech “Peace atoms”pronounced in 1953 by Eisenhower before the UN. “Instead of focusing exclusively on the dangers of atomic war, Eisenhower praised the Civil nuclear applications In agriculture, medicine and energy generation. He proposed to create an ‘international atomic energy organism’ that promoted the peaceful use of nuclear energy ‘for the benefit of humanity’ “, Remember Elisabeth Röhrlichhistorian of the University of Vienna. The result soon materialized: just Four years laterIn 1957, the International Atomic Energy Agency (OIEA) was created. Spain, who had started his own (and shy) history with nuclear energy to late 40did not remain impermeable to those changes. In the 50 Patria Press (Node included) already talked about the US plants either United Kingdom and experiments with radioactive sources applied to medicine and agriculture. In 57 Madrid even hosted a European FAO summit on the subject. Thus, with that backdrop, around 1959, Spain decided to take another step and, with the key mediation of César Gómez Campoan engineer with experience in the USA, planned to create his own “Gamma Radiation Field”a focused specifically designed to perform “crop and seed irradiation experiments”. The chosen place: El Encín, a plot away from Alcalá where Gómez Campo himself had been conducting studies for Agronomic Research Institute. The project advanced relatively fast, as Ambrosio Sánchez de Ribera recalls in a broad (and very complete) essay About the Encín published in 2018 in Complutenses Annals. In 1961, what time was lifted would be an active scientific installation whose footprint still shows today from Google bird: a field of study of 440 square meters of diameter, an area of ​​15 hectares and 18,000 trees, although in 2018 there were only 5,000 left. A huge outdoor laboratory The Encín was a huge outdoor laboratory. One with a design as peculiar as its purpose. The field was circular and was formed by a series of concentric rings arranged around an axis. In the center there was a circle of 25 m radius with a removable hexagonal greenhouse. Inside it contained a lead sarcophagus that housed the source of radiation with which scientists operated, Cesio137 from used bars of American nuclear reactors. Around that central almond of 50 m in diameter, protected with a concrete wall and a stepped soil slope of several meters high to avoid the radiation output, the nearly 18,000 trees that completed the circumference of 15 hectares were distributed. Its purpose was to serve as extra screen against radiation. By way of auction, the center had a garden of large trees and several constructions where the staff had its offices and laboratories. Clarified what the Encín was the other great question: What did they do in it in the 60s? Basically experiment with radiation to find mutations that in last terms allow to achieve varieties of interesting vegetables, fruits or seeds for their characteristics. What is called induced mutagenesis. Gómez Campo himself explained In 1964, which centers such as El Encín were dedicated: “Essentially it consists of a gamma ray emitting source that is installed in an open field, so that the irradiation of growth or relatively bulky animals is possible.” Certain hours a day and for several months a year, at the Alcalá base the technicians opened the lead sarcophagus so that the gamma ray emitting source could act in the center of the field, the 50 m area of ​​diameter protected with a wall and slope in which plants, seeds, insects or some animals were exposed. “The dose received depended on the distance from Cesio137”, Sánchez de Ribera clarifies. When the years of irradiation ended the lead sarcophagus fell again, the caesium was locked and the researchers could access to work. The El Encín field worked 12 years, Between 1961 and 1973when his activity was complicated by the construction of a cement factory in the surroundings. The dust hindered research, so that in 73 it was decided to remove the radioactive source and transfer it to the Polytechnic University of Madrid. There he was only three years before embarking on … Read more

The US has restored the base of the Pacific that launched atomic bombing on Japan

by

In December it was learned that the United States had carried out a curious test. In essence, He had shot herself a missile To see if he was able to neutralize it. That rare Avis took place in an “unbalanced territory” of the nation, on the island of Guam. A Pacific Strategic Eat whose geographical situation makes it “nuclear” objective. And if Guam does not work out, now we know that a plan B is ready. Strategic rebirth. The United States Company Planet Labswho monitor the possible changes and evolutions throughout the planet via satellite, has compiled a series of images that leave no doubt and ranging from December 2023 to January of this year. The historic North Field, on the island of Tinian, has just completely rehabilitated after having remained abandoned for more than 75 years. Originally built during World War II To launch the sad b-29 bombings About Japan, including The missions that took the atomic bombs to Hiroshima and Nagasakithe airfield clearly points to a reconstruction to become a key piece of the United States military strategy in the Indo-Pacific region. The images obtained show the complete progress in the restoration of 2,000 square meters of tracks, filming streets and other key infrastructure. Apparently, grid -shaped design, Inspired by Manhattan, New York, complicates enemy attacks by distributing strategic assets in a pattern difficult to neutralize with a single blow. Tinian: A key node. As we said, Tinian, currently part of the Commonwealth of the Mariana Islands of the Northit is located about 200 km northeast of Guam, which makes it a strategic point to support US air operations in the Pacific. In fact and as we explain at the beginning, with the modernization of its airport, the Tinian International, and the expansion of its facilities, the island now offers a viable alternative in case the base Andersen in Guam be attacked or unused. There is talk of Several projects underway which include the expansion of tracking and streets, new fuel deposits in the main port of the island, the construction of a large parking platform for aircraft and the modernization of infrastructure for joint military operations between the Navy and the Air Force of USA. Tinian location, on the left, with Guam directly to the south. Wake Island, in the center, and Hawaii, on the right, are also marked Of abandonment to military avant -garde. We do not talk about one more place, of course. During World War II, North Field was the world’s largest air basewith four tracks almost 3 km long, sufficient space to house more than 500 B-29 bombers and an endowment of 40,000 troops. After the war, The base was abandoned in 1947 and remained inactive for a long time. In the 2000s and 2010, the Air Force carried out minor works to use one of its tracks in operations exercises on austere lands, but It was not until 2023 that the decision was made to recover the entire base as part of the strategy of the called as Agile Fuat Employment (ACE). AGILE COMBAT EMPLOYMENT: DISUNICATION BEFORE CHINA. Ace doctrine is based on The Air Force capacity to deploy forces quickly and flexible in improvised or remote bases, reducing their vulnerability to enemy attacks. North Field’s rehabilitation is part of this plan, allowing Military aircraft can operate from multiple locationsinstead of depending on fixed bases such as Andersen in Guam, which would be a priority objective in a conflict with China. Not just that. In addition, the Navy and the Air Force have implemented measures to disperse and hide strategic assetshindering the planning and execution of enemy attacks. In this regard, A recent report by Hudson Institute He pointed out that China could disable entire bases with only 10 missiles Loaded with submunitions, which makes the diversification of aerodromes such as Tinian fundamental for operational survival in a high intensity conflict. Rehabilitation and bunkers. While other countries, including China, seem to be strengthening its bases with bunkerized structuresthe United States Air Force has opted for a different strategy: not hardening bases, but make them more mobile and scattered. That said, There is a debate In the country on whether this strategy is the most appropriate in front of a rival like China, a nation that He has developed a missile arsenal precision capable of attacking bases throughout the Indo-Pacific region. Expanding versatility. It is the last of the legs that is understood after the progress. The Modernization of North Field It will also allow the operation of aircraft with capabilities Vertical or short landing (Stovl)as The F-35b of the Marines Corps. This type of aircraft can operate on improvised and remote tracks, increasing the flexible attack capacity of the United States in the region. In addition, the use of Mobile braking and electromagnetic catapult systems (EMALS) in land bases is also being evaluatedwhich would facilitate the operation of combat aircraft in airfields with shorter and fixed aircraft carrier infrastructure. Therefore, the recovery of the base in Tinian represents, a priori, a key piece in the new military architecture of Washington in the Pacific. Its rehabilitation offers greater operational flexibility, a possible Plan b To Guam, and complicates the enemy attack capacity while reinforcing the asset dispersion strategy in the region. Image | Planet Labs In Xataka | The United States fears that China’s long -range missiles will reach Guam. So he just launched one himself In Xataka | In 1940 a creature sneaked into an island in the United States and devoured everything. Today two of the most feared species for humans coexist alone

Log In

Forgot password?

Forgot password?

Enter your account data and we will send you a link to reset your password.

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Log in

Privacy Policy

Add to Collection

No Collections

Here you'll find all collections you've created before.