earths

The earth’s core has a “escape.” And it’s gold

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Our planet hides, thousands of kilometers under our feet, a mainly composed nucleus ironwith an important nickel concentration, and also with other intermingled elements. And among these latest elements, there is gold. Gold leak. Gold that, according to a recent study, It is leaked towards upper layers, in the direction of the surface and through the land mantle. A gold, in addition, that would have “escaped” of the earth’s core along with other precious metals. A tiny portion. Gold has been considered, since time immemorial, a precious metal and its “rarity” has been related to the value we have given to this element throughout the history of mankind. “Rareness”, quoted, since it is a contextual rarity. Gold is rare on the surface of our planet and in the most accessible areas of the cortex through mining. But this element is not universe in the universe, and it is not scarce on our planet Earth. So much that the “superficial” gold represents less than 0.001% of the total of this gold. Before and after. Someone might wonder why the gold of our planet has been distributed so capricious. It is because this cast has little or nothing capricious, and the reason is in the geological history of our own planet. When the land was still in the process of formation, about 4.5 billion years ago, gold and other metals ended up trapped in the planet’s core, due to gravity. Until now we believed that these metals would have been separated from the surface by the terrestrial mantle. The origin of surface gold, following this logic, could be for example in spacethanks to the infinity of meteorites that have reached the surface of our planet throughout its geological history. After the track of Ruthenium. This, we pointed out, not only with gold, also with other similar metals such as The Ruthenium (RU). The recent study was based precisely on this metal and a significant fact: that the Ruthenium typical of the Earth’s core presents a significant abundance of a concrete isotope, Ruthenium-10 (100ru), which distinguishes it from superficial root. The team responsible for the new study analyzed Ruthenium traces found in the volcanic rocks of the Hawaii archipelago to determine the presence of the 100ru isotope. Something that would have been impossible a few years ago, The team stands outit has now been possible thanks to new tools developed for analysis. Analysis that allowed linking the ruthenium found in these rocks with the earth’s core, which implies that this metal from the border region between the nucleus and the mantle would have risen until it sneaks into the volcanic magma. The details of the study were published In an article In the magazine Nature. Aboard the convective magma. Investigating what happens under the surface of the Earth has been over the years a task on the verge of the impossible. The propagation of the seismic waves revealed at the time very valuable information about the mantle and the nucleus, but increasingly precise measurement techniques have gone Opening new doors Over the years. In Xataka | We take centuries without understanding how gold nuggets formed in quartz. The answer was in electricity and tremors Image | Göttingen University (Openai)

In full obsession with rare earths, a fairly common metal has jeopardized the green transition: Copper foul

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The latest report by the International Energy Agency (IEA) on minerals has confirmed which He had been discussed for a long time: Today, the absolute leader is China. It is no novelty, but among all minerals there is one that runs a particular danger, and not precisely because of geopolitical control, but for the real risk of shortage. There is a problem with copper. Of all minerals, copper emerges as one of the biggest challenges. The IEA report He has warned That by 2035 there could be a supply deficit of 30 %, due to the drop in the mineral law, the lack of new discoveries and the high development costs. A set of problems. It can be explained in a very simple way In data: Only in 2024, copper demand grew 3%, mainly driven by investments in electrical networks in China. The growth of mining production has been modest, much lower than other minerals such as lithium or nickel. Further 70% of global capacity Copper processing is in the hands of China. 7% of global copper production is in regions vulnerable to floods and droughts. Is there any solution? According to Fatih Birol, director of the IEA, the challenge is serious but not inevitable. In statements to The Guardianthe need to accelerate permits and reduce bureaucratic obstacles, in addition to implementing public policies that provide guarantees of volume and fiscal incentives, is stressed. Another line of action that They have detailed It is international diversification and cooperation. Some countries have advanced technological abilities and refining experience; Others have abundant mineral resources and great geological potential. In this way, in the report They have underlined That establishing balanced alliances between both realities could unlock new productive capacities, reduce market concentration and strengthen the resilience of the entire supply chain. There are other methods. A complementary route that already begins to take shape is the recycling of copper. As the pressure on primary resources increases, recovering and reusing infrastructure metal and disused devices is outlined as another strategy. In addition, in certain non -critical applications, the partial replacement of copper is studied by other materials, Like aluminum either The Ruthenium. It’s not just about copper. The case of copper reflects a broader pattern: more than 50% of critical minerals are now subject to export restrictions. This includes from lithium to more unknown elements such as Gaul or Telurio. Chinese dominance in refining, higher than 70% in 19 of the 20 key mineralsmakes this country not only the largest producer, but the referee of the global energy future. Time is exhausted. And copper too. The paradox is clear: the more we want to move towards a cleaner and more sustainable future, the more we depend on an infrastructure that we have not yet secured. Copper has become a silent bottleneck, difficult to replace and even more difficult to climb in record time. Image | Joyce Cory and Pexels Xataka | The collapse of the AVE of Seville has shown something more serious: how difficult it is to protect copper in a 15,000 km network

NASA has revealed why no astronaut has left the Earth’s atmosphere. Not even when they went to the moon

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From time to time, NASA reminds us with some anecdote or study that things are never how they seem or, failing that, that can always be questionable or have more than one answer. Recently they gave us such a simple explanation about our inability to find extraterrestrial signs that scared. They also clarified why We hadn’t returned To the moon before. The latest: remember that, technically, no human has ever left the earth’s atmosphere. And yes, I don’t even want when we went to the moon. A technically true provocation. To say that no astronaut in history has ever left the earth’s atmosphere may sound to a joke or little less than a conspiracy theory, but, from a scientific perspective and following what atmospheric models say, it is more than us A correct statement. To place ourselves in perspective and following this line of explanation, even iconic figures Like Yuri Gagarin either Neil Armstrongor contemporary space travelers Like William Shatnerhave remained, in physical terms, within the most extreme (although diffuse) limits of the Earth’s atmosphere. The key lies in how the end of that atmosphere is defined: a more complex and expansive issue of what is commonly believed. The atmosphere does not end where we imagine. All this reasoned recently Doug RowlandNASA heliophysics expert. Contrary to the popular idea that the atmosphere ends in a finite layer that dissipates before reaching the terrestrial orbit, the reality is that the atmosphere does not have a clearly defined “roof”. On the contrary, it becomes progressively more dim, but continues to spread. As Rowland toldeven hundreds of kilometers on the surface, where the International Space Station (EEI) orbits, there is still a sufficient air density to gradually stop the station. In fact, if it were not periodically driven with rockets, the EEI would end up falling by atmospheric drag. The artificial border: Kárman. For practical reasons (such as spatial treaties or legal definitions) an international convention has been adopted: The karm linelocated 100 kilometers above sea level, which marks the point where the space begins theoretically. This line serves as a technical threshold, since 99,99997% of atmospheric mass terrestrial is below. Said that, and how Explain the space agency itselfthis definition is useful for regulations and classifications, not so much to describe with physical precision the real limits of the atmosphere. The geocorone: atmosphere that reaches the moon. In 2019, A study based on data from Soho Solar Observatory (NASA/ESA), revealed that the exosphere of the Earth (specifically, a diffuse cloud of known hydrogen atoms Like geocorone) extends to about 629,000 kilometers, that is, beyond the orbit of the moon. What happens? That on that limit there are still about 0.2 hydrogen atoms per cubic centimeter. That means that, technically, even the Apollo missions that alunizarized in the 60s and 70s did not abandon the earth’s atmosphere. “The moon flies through the Earth’s atmosphere,” Igor Baliukin came to saymain author of the study, referring to the unsuspected magnitude of this invisible layer. The sun also contains us. The thing is even more complicated when both the Earth and the Moon are Inside the solar atmosphere. This extends to the edge of the helosphere, the limit beyond which the interstellar space begins. At this point it must be remembered that between the atmosphere of the earth and that of the sun there is no emptiness, but a structure of progressive and overlapping layers that contain particles, energy and electromagnetic dynamics. Therefore, and seen thus, the concept of “being in space” is less a matter of abrupt border and more a matter of progressive gradient. So where the space begins? As Rowland explainedthe answer depends on the point of view. If you ask where the atmosphere ends in a practical sense, probably about 400 kilometers, where air density ceases to have significant effect on objects. But from a more rigorous scientific perspective, that atmosphere does not disappear: it only dissipates and dilutes to barely measurable extremes, without disappearing at all. Therefore, “exterior space” is not an empty place, but a continuous environment full of particles, fields and subtle structures. In that sense, all space trips made by humans have elapsed within that extended wrapping that is still part of the planet that launched them. Image | Jasbond007 In Xataka | The last eeuu slap to Europe has sounded up to space: NASA has just left ESA with Artemis In Xataka | NASA is being very complicated to return to the moon. Your auditor no longer trusts that it can fly over for 2025

Humanity has been using the Earth’s magnetic field as a navigation guide. Some researchers want to retire it

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In recent decades, GPS has become part of our day to day. If it is a military technology, the global positioning system has been guided by roads, forests and seas, in the city and in the mountain, but always with an important limitation, access to satellites that place our navigation devices. That could change. Magnav. Thanks to magnetic navigation systems or Magnav, and more specifically to a new development that uses a quantum adjustment system that promises more precise navigation. A navigation, in addition, immune to interference, accidental or caused, which allows significantly reducing satellite navigation dependence. Magnav systems (Magnetic-Anomaly Navigation) o Navigation by magnetic anomaly are based on the fact that the Earth’s magnetic field It is not uniform. That is why it is possible to use a magnetometer that indicates our position by measuring small variations in the magnetic field of the planet. Use the Earth’s magnetic field as Navigation reference It is not something new but something we have been doing since the invention of the compass, but the new system promises to achieve unusual precision. That’s where the quantum dimension of the new system comes into play. Navigation “quantum”? The new technology, They explain their developersis based on the use of quantum magnetometers that combine a noise elimination system with a cartographic algorithm. The magnetometers are based on the optical detection of the precession of the atomic spin, for which they use a steam cell that contains rubidium atoms, They detail. This technology opens the door to measure the magnetic field of the Earth with greater precision, which translates into a better capacity to locate ourselves on the map. All this, they also highlight, in a device small enough to be used in autonomous vehicles or in fixed wing drones. Q-ctrl. Behind this system is an Australian company, Q-Ctrl (name that refers to “Quantum Control”) The company emerged in 2017 Like a Spin-off of the quantum science group of the University of Sydney. By land and air. RecieBy land and air. Recently, the team responsible for this system put it to the test. With satisfactory results: the device obtained errors in the measurements up to 46 times less than the inertial navigation systems usually used as a complement to the satellite. The measurements were made on flights at a height of 19,000 feet, in which it was also possible to fly with a total error in the 22 -meter trip, 0.006% of the distance traveled. The results were “consistently” at least 11 times better than those obtained with inertial systems. The team responsible for the development of the new tool has published some details in an article. The article has not passed the pairs review filter but can be found freely Through the repository Arxiv. Substitute or complement. Satellite navigation systems are central today and this is precisely its weak point: the emergence of GPS signals puts both commercial routes and passenger transport, but it could also put into check military operations in cases of armed conflict. The interception of these signals can therefore be used as well as a commercial and war weapon. We have various tools that allow satellite navigation to attend, but few systems can at the same time have the accuracy of these without depending on them. That is why having alternative mechanisms of high precision can be more precise than ever. In Xataka | The North Pole is moving very fast, and that has forced many airports to rename their clues Image | NOAA NCI / Q-ctrl

The United States imagined that China would veto its export of rare earths. Has a plan B: The Pacific Fund

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In the midst of the tariff war that has ended up becoming a bilateral front between the United States and China, the Asian giant He has responded blocking rare earth export. The White House seems to be seen coming and has played with one of its last buzas. The forecast. The Trump administration has written an executive order to allow the storage of metals found in the marine bed of the Pacific Ocean, According to Financial Times. This initiative seeks to counteract China’s influence on supply chains of critical minerals, since it controls 70% of the global market. A Great Reserve. These metals are found in the polymetallic nodules of the seabed, which contains minerals such as nickel, cobalt, copper, manganese and rare earth traces. As The British media has had accessthe US government has considered that deep water mining will guarantee a national source of these materials, so it seeks to accelerate mining requests under national legislation. Within that idea, it would include the creation of a strategic reserve of minerals to self -abuse. It won’t be so easy. The International Marine Funds Authority (ISA) is responsible for regulating mining in international waters. In a recent meeting, still an agreement has not been reached About how to proceed in underwater mining, and many countries are asking for a moratorium on this practice due to the impact on little known marine ecosystems. In the case of the United States They have not ratified The United Nations Convention on the Law of the 1982 Sea, the treaty that gives the ISA legal support. In other words, it is not within the entity, so the big doubt opens if you can legally grant permits to companies to operate in international waters. For their part, entities like The Metals Company have insisted that the ISA It does not have an exclusive mandatebut some legal experts have warned that acting without their guarantee is a risky movement that can put all nations against. That ocean and not another. While the United States is in this situation, the Pacific choice has much more background and has to do with the Asian giant. China is One of the main actors in underwater mining, with exploration contracts granted by the ISA In the Clarion-Clipperton area (CCZ), a region rich in polymetic nodules. In addition, it is estimated that this underwater corridor can contain more critical minerals than many combined land reserves, which makes it a strategic objective. Taking advantage. Recently, China It started The construction of an underwater laboratory at 2,000 meters deep in the Meriodional China Sea, reinforcing its scientific and operational position in oceanic funds. According to Financial Timeseverything responds to a broader vision: andThe Pacific as the new Front of Economic and Military Competition, where the control of deep resources can make a difference. 80% without mapping or exploring. The oceanic background It is our great unknownsso the ISA is holding these meetings to establish a mining code between all nations as soon as possible. For its part, scientists and environmental groups They have warned that ocean protection is prevailing due to the irreversible effects that could be given. Image | Trump White House Archced and Mister Pommeroy Xataka | There are billions of dollars in rare land buried in full view: you just have to look at the coal ashes

Europe will invest a lot of money in countries as far away as Uzbekistan or Kyrgyzstan. The reason: rare earths

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Surely it went unnoticed by the vast majority of the planet Between tariffs and war conflicts. Kazakhstan announced last week the discovery of his Greater rare earth sitewith an initial estimate of one million tons of key elements such as Cerio, Lantano, Neodimio and Ititrio, all fundamental for the global energy transition … or to begin a new arms era. And now the news that did reach more people: the EU will invest a fortune in Five Central Asian countries. The official reason? Strive ties. The truth? The track is one of the five countries: Kazakhstan. The news. In full escalation of commercial tensions with the United States, the European Union surprisingly announced an investment of 12,000 million euros in Central Asia during its first summit with the five countries of the region (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzista, Tayikistan and Turkmenistan). The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, stressed that these funds will go to key sectors as transport, clean energy, connectivity and sustainable development of strategic natural resources. Tariffs and foreign trade. In a context marked by the new 20 % tariffs imposed by Washington to European imports, von der Leyen stressed that the EU seeks to offer A reliable alternative Faced with powers such as Russia and China, betting on egalitarian associations and investment in local capacities. In addition, the common commitment to the Territorial sovereignty and peace in Ukraine, condemning the Russian aggression and reinforcing the message that respect for international law will be a cornerstone of this new strategic association. The EU, which already represents 22.6 % of foreign trade And more than 40 % of foreign direct investment in Central Asia, seeks with this summit to consolidate its regional influence and open new trade routes that avoid Russian territory, such as the Transcaspiano corridorKey to reduce the Eastern Energy and Geopolitical Dependence. A key region. Behind good words are not only sustainable development and regional cooperation, but a critical geoeconomic priority: ensure the supply of essential minerals For the European green transition, the strengthening of its industrial base and the development of its defense capacities, all in a context of growing global tension and structural dependence of China and Russia. Strategic minerals. The urgency of this strategic turn was evidenced after the recognition of a disturbing vulnerability: in 2023, 94 % of imports European rare earth came from China, Malaysia and Russia. In addition, China controls the 60 % of world production of critical minerals and 85 % of its processing, while strengthening its own green industry. This concentration of power, added to political proximity between Beijing and Moscow, has led to worrying episodes, such as Chinese restriction to Antimony exporta key mineral in military technologies such as precision optics and night viewers. Abundance, but with limitations. In this panorama, Central Asia emerges as a realistic and attractive alternative. Kazakhstan currently produces 19 of the 34 minerals critics defined by the EU and could expand this figure 21 in the short term After the announcement of last week. Uzbekistan, meanwhile, is the fifth major supplier Uranium World and has important reserves of gold, silver, titanium and molybdenum. The region also has lithium, silicon and tungsten, fundamental for batteries, solar panels and electronic defense systems. However, much of these resources are trapped in a poorly developed mining sector, lacking modern infrastructure and technological capabilities for sustainable extraction. There, a priori, money would be destined. The European strategy. They counted on DW That, in the face of the geoeconomic competence of China and Russia, Brussels seeks to differentiate offering cooperation models based on industrial associations and mixed companies with local actors, favoring direct foreign investment, regional business growth and progressive industrialization. This approach is especially attractive to Central Asian leaders, who see in it a way to diversify their economies, reduce dependence from Moscow and gain greater strategic autonomy. The cornerstone of this approach would be the Gateway Global Initiativethe ambitious European project of 300,000 million euros conceived as an alternative to the New Silk Route China. The transcaspian corridor and a promise. A crucial component of the European Plan is the development of the Transpian International Transport Route (Titr), that logistics corridor that would unite China and Europe through Central Asia and the Caspian Sea, reducing traffic times to 15 days and avoiding the step by the Suez Canal or Russian territory. The problem? The dimension of investment. The implementation of this corridor requires an estimated amount of 18.5 billion euros In infrastructure, of which more than half have already been mobilized by the EU through an investment forum with support from its member states, the private sector, and institutions such as the European Investment Bank and the BERD. To get an idea, the Expert Samuel Vestterbye That this route could multiply container traffic from the current 100,000 to 800,000, with a transformative economic impact for both regions. The Russian “friend.” No doubt, the European turn also has a clear geopolitical dimension: stop use which makes Russia of Central Asian countries for avoid sanctions Western imposed after the invasion of Ukraine. The European diplomat Kaja Kallas was explicit in that sense when warning in Asjabad that Russian companies should not use the region as commercial escape route. In this context, the EU needs to balance a incentive and pressures policy: Offer real economic development through infrastructure and commerce, while demanding cooperation in compliance with the western sanctioning regime. Something like the “carrot and stick” approach that analysts see as an opportunity to consolidate strategic relationships that transcend the economic. Challenges and Emergency. Despite the advances, the European strategy has notable challenges before him. Experts Like Marie Dumoulinof the European Council on Foreign Relations, warn that the concrete projects of the Global Gateway take to materialize and lack visibility in the region, which could weaken the EU’s ability to compete with Chinese or Russian offers. In other words, that what is said is credible Brussels must Accelerate implementation of infrastructure works, show tangible results and … Read more

China has responded to US tariffs attacking one of its weak points: rare earths

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As expected, the Chinese government has not been left with a crossed arms before The tariffs prepared by the USA. Just 24 hours after Donald Trump releases the taxes to be applied to The importation of most products Coming from abroad, the administration led by Xi Jinping has responded. And he has done it with forcefulness. On April 10 China will impose a 34% tariff to all imports from the US. The choice of that day is not casual. And is that the tariffs approved by the Donald Trump administration will take effect on April 9. Just a day before. Presumably the Chinese government has chosen to keep a few days of margin in the hope of reaching an agreement with its American counterpart and relax a little tension. China has decided to press the US more than ever with rare earths China’s response to the US does not only go through new tariffs; He has also chosen to suspend the import licenses of the products belonging to six US companies, as well as imposing more controls on the export of some rare earths. This is not at all the first time that the Xi Jinping government decides to pressure the US and its allies establishing limitations to the export of these raw materials. In fact, on December 21, 2023 the Chinese administration decided to restrict export of some of its rare earth processing technologies, shaping a maneuver that pursues defend their strategic interests in full confrontation with the US and its allies. And at the beginning of December 2024 He chose to prohibit The export of critical minerals to the US. On December 21, 2023, the Chinese administration decided to restrict the export of some of its rare earth processing technologies Among them are three essential chemical elements for the semiconductor industry (Gallium, Germanio and Antimony), as well as some materials that are characterized by their extreme hardness, and which, therefore, can be used for military applications. An important note before moving forward: Rare earths are a real treasure. To this peculiar group of chemical elements belong some metals as elusive and with names as suggestive as neodymium, promised, gadolinium, ititrium or scandio, among others. Some of them are relatively scarce, and, in addition, they are not usually found purely in nature, but what makes them so special are their physicochemical properties. Its characteristics are beyond the reach of the other elements of the periodic table, which has caused that during the last decades they are consolidated as A very valuable resource In numerous industries, especially in those of semiconductors, electronics and renewable energies. This is the reason why rare earths They are so important to the US. We still do not know what reach the new export controls of the rare earths that the Ministry of Commerce of China has just approved, but as soon as we have more information we will include it in this article. The cards are on the table. The US and China still have five days ahead to reach an agreement before their new taxes enter into force. We will see if they are really willing to relax the tension. Even if it’s just a bit. Image | Lio voo More information | CN Wire In Xataka | The US will not be able to contain the technological development of China. Experts from the chips industry forecast it

The US believes to have a “treasure” with the rare earths of Ukraine. Everything is born from a outdated Soviet report 50 years ago

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Today, Friday, February 28, Presidents Volodymir Zelensky and Donald Trump They will meet in Washington to discuss and sign the agreement on the mineral resources of Ukraine. This alliance will give the United States a control over the country’s natural resources, a measure that Trump has promoted These last days. However, estimates on this aspect are based on reports of the former USSR for more than 50 years ago. The famous “rare earths”. I think we have heard of the “rare earths” these days and, in this same medium, We have deepened the subject Exposing the arguments of two energy experts, which have confirmed that talking about “rare earths” is a mistake. However, the global S&P medium He has been able to demonstrate Where does that speculation come from, it has only had to dust off some old documents of the former Soviet Union. More than 50 years ago. The geological report of the Soviet era that is using Ukraine to evaluate its “rare earth” deposits focuses on an exploration made between 1960 and 1990. It is true that the technology of the moment and the methods were very different from the current ones. According to experts Consulted by S&P Globalthe data used to estimate mineral resources have not been updated since the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. In addition, some of the deposits are in areas of difficult access and require more advanced technologies for extraction, as is the case of Novopoltavske, located in the Zaporizhia region, due to hydrogeological mining conditions. This mine, according to the report, contains phosphates, rare earths and niobium. On the other hand, currently, you cannot access the territories occupied by Russia, as in the Donetsk region, where the Azovske and Mazurivske quarries are located. Were these deposits exploited in the USSR? According to the report with more than five decades, they knew about them and explored them, but were not completely exploited on a large scale. The impediments went through a lack of structure, the complexity to access the deposits and technological limitations of the time. After the dissolution of the USSR, the mining projects in the Ukraine area stagnated and no attempted development was made in a postsoviet era. What will happen today? United States and Ukraine They will sign a treaty For a Ukraine reconstruction fund, partially financed with the income of its mineral reserves. Ukraine has agreed to contribute 50% of its future income derived from critical mineral mining such as cobalt, lithium, titanium and rare earths. In return, United States It would help develop The mining infrastructure necessary to extract these resources, but analysts consider that real benefits could take many years to materialize. In addition, the US will be co -owner of the Fund to the extent allowed by its legislation and promises long -term financial commitment, but the agreement It does not specify amounts, deadlines or details about the management of the fund, which generates uncertainty about its real implementation. However, there is a key fact that has been overlooked: currently, Ukraine does not produce rare earths at the commercial level. Although it has reservations, the infrastructure necessary to extract them still does not exist. According to the United States Geological Service, Ukraine has Scandio depositsone of the 17 elements of rare earths, but its large -scale extraction has not begun. Is it really so essential for the US? We have already told. On the one hand, Trump seeks to lead global mineral resources and impose himself on China. On the other hand, analysts They have mentioned that Ukraine should produce 20% of the world’s rare land for more than 150 years to reach the 500,000 million dollars of value that Trump has mentioned. In addition, as indicated in the report, the value of deposits may not justify the investment in its extraction, which makes Trump’s interest not completely clear from an economic perspective. To this is added the lack of clarity On the previous help of the US: Trump has mentioned between 300,000 and 350,000 million dollars, but the Kiel Institute has estimated that the real figure is 119,000 million. It should be remembered that Ukraine has a notable production of other strategic minerals. Before the war, Galio produced, used in semiconductors and biomedical applications, and contributed 2% of the world’s bromine production, essential in flame retarders. In addition, it produced ilmenite, a key mineral concentrate for obtaining titanium, a metal with military applications. However, the war has stopped the production of manganese and alumina, fundamental for the manufacture of steel and aluminum. And about the occupied territory? Access to mineral deposits in territory occupied by Russia depends on an eventual resolution of the conflict, adding another layer of uncertainty to the agreement. It also follows a key issue in the air: Zelensky sought to include security guarantees for Ukraine, but The agreement does not explicitly mention them. Although the text says that the US will support “Ukraine efforts to obtain security guarantees,” does not establish specific commitments or defense mechanisms in case of aggression. Without them, the real impact of the treaty remains uncertain. Trump and Putin. All this conflict is even more complicated if we add the layer of the relationship between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, who have talked again, and the Russian leader even has offered preferential access to the natural resources of your country, showing willing to negotiate the end of the conflict. Despite these “advances”, the possible concessions that Trump could accept, such as Ukraine renounces NATO, they worry both kyiv and Europe. They fear that these agreements can make safety in the region even more unstable. And the cake wid. The agreement Mention explicitly That future negotiations on the fund should avoid conflicts with the process of adhesion of Ukraine to the European Union, a striking point given Washington’s growing antagonism towards Brussels. However, Zelensky wants to avoid that the agreement interferes with its ambitions in European integration. Everything remains to be seen at today’s meeting. Image … Read more

How worried we should be because the earth’s crust is cracking

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The geography of India is very influenced by the tectonic plate associated with this subcontinent. This is remarkable in places like the Himalayas, the result of the clash between this plate and the Eurasian. However, dynamics change and plates can disintegrate. Horizontal cut. A New hypothesis On the interaction between tectonic plates, it could yield new doubts about the geological process that gave the Himalayan mountain range the highest peaks in the world. It would be an interaction never designed before: the horizontal break of a tectonic plate. The clash of an era. The mountain range between the heart of the Asian continent and the Indian subcontinent was formed between 40 and 50 million years ago when the Indian continental plate crashed into the Eurasian plate. The accumulation of the volume of these two masses of land implied that the earth’s crust was becoming thicker in this region, creating a colossal mountain range. This is a still unfinished process since the Indian plaque continues if it derives north, accumulating more mass and raising even more summits such as Everest. The mountain range grows at the rate of one centimeter per year. The subduction of the plate. So far the dominant hypothesis about what was happening underground in that border region contemplated the idea that the Indian plaque was undergoing a subduction process. That is, the Indian plaque was immersing under the Euroasyathic. At the same time, the Eurasian plate is transformed, folding and increasing in thickness, generating a region where the earth’s crust is more bulky. The new hypothesis Contemplate a different scenario. A new hypothesis. In it, part of the Indian plaque would be suffering a subduction process, but not all. As a knife cutting a bread bar to prepare a snack, the eurasian plate would be cutting in two, horizontallythe Indian plaque. This would imply that it would be part of the latter that would also be in the superficial zone, wrapping the Eurasian plate. Those responsible for this idea presented their defense at the conference of the American Geophysical Union and Through an article In the repository Ess Open Archive. Two ways to break. The rupture of a tectonic plaque is not a phenomenon at all strange. An example We can find it in Africa and its tectonic plate. The African continent as we know it will disappear in a few million years when a fracture divides it by two throughout a North-South Axis that will separate the easternmost area from the continent from the rest of Africa. This is the conventional rupture that allows tectonic plates to reorganize thereby causing continental drift. A drift that still keep many secrets That we are just beginning to discover. In Xataka | We just found the remains of a tectonic plate under the Pacific. And they shouldn’t be there In Xataka | How the Andes became so great in such a short time had always been a mystery. Until now Image | POT *An earlier version of this article was published in February 2024

A startup claims to have the weapon to end China’s monopoly on rare earths: hard drives

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In the technological era and Energy transition to renewables and the electric car In which we are, the Rare earth They have become the most valuable currency. This set of elements has become essential for many industries, but there is a problem: China dominates both mining and, above all, Rare Earth Metals Productionand he does not hesitate to use them as a throwing weapon in the Technological and Commercial War in which we are. While west Decide which are the next steps In the search for the gold of the 21st century, there are already those who work to obtain rare earth elements from wherever it is thanks to recycling. And that hard drive that has been in the drawer for years is a treasure. ‘Chrysistunity’. “Rare earth” is the name with which we call a group of 17 minerals that are used to manufacture components of electric car batteries, precision medical instruments, speakers or elements of wind turbines, among many other applications in virtually all sectors. Taking them out of the earth is not as much problem as their refining, since it is a process that does not get along with Western pollution restrictions. That is why we were delegating this task to China and, now, the Asian giant dominates practically 90% of production. So important are that the country usually uses the export of rare earth metals when it receives a new western commercial blow and even in the Ukraine War we have seen Trump condition US support to the supply of rare earth. But before each crisis, there is an opportunity. Old hard drives. In the absence of being able to produce them, why not get those elements through recycling? With the plastic we do not do it very well, but with other elements, and in the case of rare earths, it is something that can work. That is precisely what the company has proposed Hypromaga startup founded by personnel from the Metallurgy and Materials School of the University of Birmingham that, as we read in Financial Timeshas focused on the recycling of hard drives. These components once dominated our PCs and, although they remain of great value as external discs and, above all, as components for NAS systems, they have gradually been separated by much faster SSDs and that have been lowering price. And these hard drives have some components that are manufactured thanks to rare earth elements, such as magnets that allow their operation. Recycling. Gavin MUDD is the director of the Critical Mineral Intelligence Center of the United Kingdom and comments that the country imports between 5,000 and 10,000 tons of rare earth magnets every year in the form of finished products and components, but only 1% of that figure Recycle. He affirms that it is not an isolated case and that it is an amount similar to that of other industrialized nations. “We need to consider future domestic production, and that leads us to consider recycling,” he says. And that is where Hypromag technology comes into play. They claim that their technique allows them to extract the magnets that contain rare earths, which weigh between 10% and 15% of the hard disk itself, and obtain the elements sought. To do this, they have a great drum that they fill with even a ton of waste at the same time and, after closing the hermetic doors, introduce pure hydrogen inside. Then, hydrogen unstals enter the fissures of the magnets, causing them to break and separate them from the surrounding material. After this process, which lasts between four and eight hours, a powder composed mainly of the ingredients of the magnet – the neodymium – falls to the bottom of the container, while other elements such as steel, nickel and aluminum are separated and also can also be recycle. Subsequently, they grind the sifted material and an alloy occurs that can become a magnet again. Different approaches. There is another company that is in garlic and that has also spoken with Financial Times with a tone of competition that, in the end, is the one that can advance the industry of rare earth recycling. This company is called Material Cyclic And he affirms that his method is better than that of “magnet to magnet” because he allowed to crumble each component of the elements instead of separating magnets, on the one hand, iron and steel on the other. Ahmad Ghahreman is the executive director of this company and affirms that its approach allows companies to use the rare lands as they want, not only as magnets. And he compared the two approaches with the recycling metaphor of a pizza: “When recycles pizza with our technology, raisins from flour pizza, salt, pepper and all other ingredients. With the other, pass from pizza to the dough. ” An ambitious patch. Despite competitiveness in his words, Ghahreman considers that both methods are valid and “profitable.” In 2024 they produced 100 tons of rare earth oxides, but they hope to reach 600 tons for the end of this year. In addition, they have plans to open another plant in the United States with a capacity of 1,200 tons per year and have plans to open facilities in Canada and Europe in 2028. Hypromag, on the other hand, hopes to produce between 25 and 30 tons per year in its first phase, but with extension plans to 350 tons thanks to a new plant in Germany and another 1,000 tons of annual alloys with a projected plant in Texas. They are less concrete plans, but the objective of both companies is the same. Clue. Allan Walton, the founder of Hypromag, comments that this technology “is a way of extracting large amounts of rare earths and creating a domestic supply,” and the truth is that the recycling of rare earths is something that has been speaking for years, but It was always a challenge. And it is something that is being sought in various parts of the world. For example, … Read more

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