detailed

The amount of nuclear energy generated by each country, detailed in this interactive map

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The World Nuclear Association esteem that there are about 430 operational nuclear reactors worldwide. In full Era of renewables and the decarbonizationnuclear energy remains a important energy source for many countriesso much that China, India or France depend largely on it and even private companies resort to their “own” reactors to feed the glottone artificial intelligence. And in This interactive map We can see not only what are the countries that produce more nuclear energybut how many reactors have or the participation of nuclear in its energy mix. The US giant. The color leaves no doubt: the United States is the country that most GWH from gender nuclear energy in 2024. The estimate is 823 TWH and, although the separate data may not tell us anything, put into context represents about 30% of global nuclear energy. It is the country with more active nuclear reactors -94- and it is estimated that the nuclear participated in just over 18% of its energy mix. It is a remarkable figure if we take into account the impulse of renewables in recent yearsas well as the Importance of gas and oil in its energy matrix. And it contrasts a lot with the 85 TWH of Canada or only 12.3 TWH of Mexico, countries with 19 and two reactors respectively. China. The next darker color is China. Your case is curious because, if there is a Example of impulse to renewableswith immense importance of both wind as of the Photovoltaicbut also with the largest hydroelectric dam in the world (and another under construction), that is China. The 57 reactors in the country are estimated to generate about 450 TWH of electricity, placing themselves as the second power in this area. However, unlike the United States and other countries that we will see below, although they are investigating to have more reactors (with some latest generation on the horizon), the participation of nuclear is still very low in the Asian giant. The calculation is that less than 5% of China’s energy in 2024 arrived from a nuclear reactor. France, Top 1. The French neighbors are those who complete the podium of nuclear energy production and, if in the case of the US we talk about an important participation, in the Frenchman we have to refer to this source as fundamental. It is estimated that the nuclear generated 380.5 TWH for 2024, but the most relevant data is that 67.3% of the energy consumed by France was nuclear. With its 57 reactors, it is the country most dependent on nuclear energy worldwide. France has made huge investments both in nuclear energy and in Nuclear weaponsbeing one of the European shields in this aspectbut perhaps more attention figures from other European countries that, with less reactors, are almost as dependent as France. Slovakia (five reactors) with 60.6%, Belgium (five reactors) with 54.5%, Hungary (four reactors) with 47%, Bulgaria (two reactors) with 41%or Czech Republic (six reactors) with 40%also depend on nuclear energy. Another curious case is that of Slovenia, which has only one reactor and 35% of the country’s electricity depends on not failing. Countries ordered by its dependence on nuclear energy Blank countries. As curious as seeing what countries use and depend on the electricity generated from nuclear energy is to pass the mouse on those that are completely blank. One is Germany. If you have traveled by plane from Spain to Colonia or Berlin, you will have seen the occasional central, so it is rare to see that it does not produce electricity through nuclear. The country had its maximum in 2006, when it generated about 170 twh that would put it together with the giants of today, but after a series of political decisions and step on the accelerator after the Fukushima’s tragic accidentGermany closed all its centrals in 2023. Another absent is Australia, where it is prohibited by law. Also Italy, which prohibited it in referendums made in 1987 and 2011. Dynamic. However, all this can change. The use of nuclear energy remains a hot topic both for those who argue that it is a cleaner source of energy than coal or gas (which They seem to resurface strongly due to Consumption of data centers) as for the detractors who They allude to accidents and problems with Waste management. There are political voices in ItalyAustralia, Poland or Germany that ask for a return to nuclear energy, and the truth is that there are countries that continue to investigate to expand their “arsenal” of reactors. India, South Korea, Japan or China itself have a positive trend in the use of nuclear and it is estimated that there are about 70 reactors under construction. The interesting thing will be to take a look at this map within a few years, since among the plans for Reactivate nuclear centrals that meet the needs of the technological industry, the increase in Investment in giants such as India or China and research in SMR reactors and of nuclear fusionthe panorama can change a lot in the coming years. In Xataka | China was the great pollut the planet: now it is emerging as the first “electrostate” in history

The most detailed gravitational waves in history have just confirmed the great prediction of Stephen Hawking

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After ten years Perfecting the detection of gravitational wavesLigo sensors achieved such a precise observation which has allowed physicists to confirm one of Stephen Hawking’s most famous predictions: the black holes area theorem. Ten years. A decade has passed since the scientists of the Ligo Observatory The universe listened for the first time in a completely new way: by detecting gravitational waves. On September 14, 2015, wrinkles in spacetime tissue Predicts by Albert Einstein a century earlier inaugurated a new era in astronomy. What was then an almost imperceptible cosmic whisper, today has become a symphony that sensors can clearly hear. And on the tenth anniversary of that milestone, the Ligo-Virgo-Kagra (LVK) collaboration has captured the most clear gravitational wave signal to date. GW250114. Detected on January 14, 2025, physicists believe that these gravitational waves were caused by the collision and subsequent fusion of two black holes to about 1.3 billion light years from the earth. Interestingly, the event is almost a twin that ended using Ligo’s physicists the 2017 Nobel PrizeGW150914. In both cases, it was two black holes with masses between 30 and 40 times that of our sun. But there is an abysmal difference: the signal quality. An unprecedented sharpness. Thanks to a decade of technological improvements and advances in quantum engineering, Ligo detectors are now almost four times more sensitive. While the first signal had a signal/noise ratio of 26, that of GW250114 has a 80. “We can hear it high and clear, and that allows us Physical Review Letters. This sharpness has been key to unraveling the secrets that were hidden in the vibrations of the black hole resulting from the merger. Hawking theorem. In 1971, Stephen Hawking proposed that the total area of ​​the event horizon of a black hole can never be reduced. It can increase or remain the same, but never shrink. This, which is known as the Hawking area theorem, is analogous to the second law of thermodynamics, which says that the entropy (the disorder) of an isolated system always increases. Therefore, the area of ​​a black hole is a measure of its entropy. Trying it is complicated. When two black holes merge, part of their mass becomes an enormous amount of energy in the form of gravitational waves (the famous E = mc²). In addition, the new black hole can turn much faster, and a larger turn implies a minor area for the same dough. Does the increase in mass compensate for these losses so that the final area is always greater? The analysis of GW250114 has been settled by the matter bluntly. Hawking was right. In this case, the two initial black holes had a combined area of ​​about 240,000 square kilometers. After the merger, the new black hole, with a mass of about 63 times that of the sun, it had an area of ​​400,000 square kilometers. If in 2021 a first test with the 2015 signal showed a 95%confidence, the new data raises that certainty to 99,999%. As Kip Thorne recalls, one of Ligo’s parents and Hawking personal friend, the British physicist called him right after the first detection in 2015 to ask if they could try his theorem. Hawking died in 2018but today his theory has been verified in a way that would have left him very satisfied. Einstein too. Thanks to this new signal, scientists have been able to analyze the moment just after the merger in which the new black hole vibrates like a newly hit bell before stabilizing. The frequencies and speed with which these tones are attenuated. It is the most solid test to the date that black holes are seemingly simple objects that can be completely described with only three properties: mass, spin and electric charge. All other information of the material that formed them is lost. But each detection of gravitational waves is one more piece in the puzzle of the cosmos. And as GW250114 demonstrates, to understand them we travel on the shoulders of giants such as Einstein and Hawking. Image | Aurore Simonnet (SSU/edeon)/LVK/URI In Xataka | Everything to know about gravitational waves: what they are, where are they and why we will not stop talking about them

PLD Space has a detailed plan to become the European rocket factory. And the pieces have started fitting

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With Miura 1, PLD Space became the first private company in Europe to successfully launch a suborbital rocket. Since then, the Spanish company has stepped on the accelerator with a project in mind: launching Miura 5 in 2026. Today the first orbital rocket in Spain is not a project, but a tangible reality that is being assembled in Elche. PLD Space It has already manufactured All its components and prepares to start your engines for the first time. The Treprel-C roars in Teruel. A rocket is, in essence, an engine with a large fuel tank. Miura 5 will have five Treprel-C engines fed by turbobomba in its first stage, generating a combined thrust of 950 kN, 30 times more than Miura 1. The development of the most important component of the rocket advances to counterreloj. The company already tested in its test banks of Teruel’s airport combustion cameras, validating manufacturing technologies such as copper and nickel electrode. The turbobombs, the largest developed by a European startup, They were also tested with a complete ignition before its final integration into the engine. Elements such as gas generators and cryogenic valves were designed, manufactured and tested internally following the lessons learned during the development of MIURA 1. A process that has culminated with the start of the engine series manufacturing: there are already four engines of the Teprel-C family in production for the final qualification campaign. Aluminum plates have gained shape. Parallel to the development of engines, the construction of the rocket structure itself advances at a good pace. In a recent videoThe company details how its Elche factory has been working on the molding and the test of the metal structures (the fuel tanks) and of composite materials (the separation module between stages and the cofia that will protect the satellites of the customers). These components have already undergone all kinds: tests at room temperature, cryogenic, and with compression and flexion loads to ensure that the structure will support the brutal conditions of the launch. The idea is to refine the design with the results of the prototypes to maximize their performance. After validating the engineering models, PLD Space is now manufacturing the final qualification components, the step prior to the series production of Miura 5. The launch ramp is running. The company signed a development contract With the French Space Agency (CNES) to build its own launch complex in the European Space Port of Kouroou, in the French Guiana. The civil works will begin this summer in the same place where France launched its first rocket, the Elm-Diamant. The location is unbeatable: its proximity to Ecuador will allow optimizing the trajectories of Miura 5 and launching heavier loads with less fuel. But PLD Space does not conform and has also signed an agreement with Oman to build a Second launch base In the Etlaq Space Puerto. This movement will give direct access to the Mercado de Oriente. A plan to be the European rocket factory. At the same time that Miura 5 develops, PLD Space is raising an industrial complex to manufacture it in series. The company has designed a plan to climb its production to 32 units per year by 2030. This industrial effort is based on a supply chain of almost 400 partners, mostly Spanish and Europeans, which has invested 50 million euros Since the beginning of 2024. PLD Space has chained a series of crucial milestones that draw a very clear and ambitious roadmap, as European confidence demonstrates. Back of the European Space Agency. PLD Space is already officially one of the five companies preselected by ESA to guarantee sovereign access to space in Europe. The European Launcher Challenge has awarded contracts of up to 169 million euros to the five companies, among which are the French Maiaspace, the British Orbex and the Germans Isar Aerospace and Rocket Factory Augsburg. PLD Space has proposed to Miura 5 as its immediate operating pitcher already His future heavy and reusable rocket, the Miura Nextlike the next step. The ESA final decision will be taken in November 2025, but the pre -selection already positions the Spanish company as a key actor and an industrial leader in the European launch sector. Image | PLD Space In Xataka | 12 years after making fun of Spacex and his idea of landing rockets, Arianegroup is creating a European mini-falcon 9

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