ocean

In the middle of the ocean, 250 passengers on a plane learned that one of them was a stowaway. One shaped like a rat

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There are few things that can surprise you when you fly at 10,000 meters high in the middle of the ocean. The problem (the big problem) is that when something surprises you in that context, it is not usually a pleasant surprise. And much less if what surprises you is a rat. Can you imagine the feeling? We assume that something similar is what the 250 passengers They were flying from Amsterdam to Aruba, a small island in the Caribbean. The return trip, which passed through the nearby island of Bonaire, had to be suspended by the company itself, forcing passengers to wait one more night until the return plane was ready. A rat at 10,000 meters high By the time the plane wanted to arrive in Aruba, each and every one of the passengers on the KLM plane that was making the journey had already found out what was happening. Among his dreams of paradisiacal beaches and days of relaxation, the image of a rat had slipped in. Specifically, the rat shown by the videos recorded by the passengers themselvesmoving between the curtains that separate the seating categories or the overhead compartments, as can be seen in the images of the Dutch media Of Telegraaf. Click on the image to go to the Instagram post Evidently, the Dutch media has echoed the matter. According to RTL“the passengers remained calm and the crew did not lose sight of the animal at any time.” In Dutch News They point out that it took KLM 36 hours to hunt the animal after it was first seen. And that was the main problem why the return flight was cancelled. Once the rat was caught, the company had to leave more than 250 passengers on the ground in order to carry out a thorough cleaning and disinfect the entire interior of the plane. Asked if passengers traveling on board can request some type of compensation, experts pointed out Telegraaf which was complicated since it was an exceptional situation and they would have to prove that the airline was the real culprit for the entry of the rat. They explain that they could request a compensation economic if the study of the facts shows that the rat sneaked onto the plane into the compartments in which the catering is transported, but they affirm that it is complicated that this could have happened like this. Photo | Florian van Duyn and Nikolett Emmert In Xataka | In 2019, Iberia lost a dog before flying. Now the European Justice says that it is worth the same as a suitcase

China has been dumping tons of sand into the ocean for 12 years. And now we are seeing islands emerging in the middle of nowhere

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It has been more than a decade since China began a striking strategy of territorial expansion: throwing tons of sand into the South China Sea. This is not unique to China and, in fact, Japan thus built an airport that soon it will be an underwater airportbut China is doing it massively and with one objective: to claim what is its own. And seeing how they raise these artificial islands is… hypnotic. Context. The end of 2013 marked a turning point in China: the country started to massively fill in seven of the reefs of the Nansha and Xisha archipelagos (Spratly and Paracels, respectively). In record time between December of that year and June 2015, China carried out the first phase of the operation: the filling phase. From 2015 onwards, they have dedicated themselves to consolidate that territory through the construction of infrastructure such as landing strips, hangars, ports, radars and support structures. According to the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, between December 2015 and October 2015, China had built artificially about 12 km² of land on the Nansha reefs. While the United States said it with concern, the Chinese media confirmed the information with pride. Before and then How they do it. They did not use overly complex methods to do so. On the one hand, they cut the coral bottom and pumped sediments to shallow areas. The earth was deposited as fill to later build dikes and retaining walls around the reef. The next step was to deposit more fill and, finally, large steamrollers and shovels were compacting that earth to give consistency to the whole. The last thing was to create paving, landing strips, roads and other infrastructure. The result is more than 12 km², and put in context they represent “17 times more land claimed in 20 months than all the other international claimants have achieved during the last 40 years.” In action. Seeing the satellite photos that show the before and after, something easy to do using the history function of Google Earth, is interesting, but seeing a timelapse of how one of these new territories has been built is, as I said, something hypnotic. An example, the following video ‘tweet‘ (if you can’t see it, click on it): Narrative. What motivation does China have for such a deployment of resources and money? It depends who you ask. On the one hand, the Chinese government has defended that the creation of these islands serves the support in rescue missions on the high seasalso to fishing, scientific research, navigation support points thanks to these radars and the collection of data for its meteorological service. Finally, it also serves for defense if necessary. The neighbors are not convinced by the explanation and, in fact, think that it is a strategy that responds to a single interest: claiming territories that China considers its property. The Ministry of Defense of Japan assures that these infrastructures allow a permanent Chinese presence in waters that do not belong to it, with offensive capacity in practically the entire South China Sea. Military. Recent reports, such as the one from CSIS in 2025, underlines that China’s recent near-perennial activity in the South China Sea has only been possible thanks to that decade-old construction work. Western analyzes they point that the runways for aircraft are prepared for combat aircraft and land transport, as well as the presence of ports for warships, underground facilities and even missile platforms. The tension is evident because Beijing claims sovereignty over territories that its neighbors deny. Those neighbors are Vietnam, Taiwan, Japan or the Philippines. And Vietnam, in fact, is doing the same thing as China in 2013: throwing land into the sea. Their progress has also been considerable in a short time in an area that has become a real hotbed. The ecological impact. But beyond the intentions of each other, something undeniable that cannot be hidden under any narrative is the environmental damage that these artificial islands cause to their surroundings. In some articles it has been indicated that this ‘island’ desire has caused the loss of some 12 to 18 km² of reef, damaging some of the best preserved reefs in the region directly, but also affecting distant systems due to the ‘clouds’ of sediment formed during the dumping of sediments. Chinese scientific articles have also shown that these practices eliminate completely the ecosystem of the occupied area and negatively affects currents and sediment patterns, causing the aforementioned degradation of neighboring areas. However, the State Oceanic Administration of China defend that all projects were thoroughly evaluated and do not harm corals. The fault of it? Global trends such as sea acidification or climate change. Images | Ma Wukong In Xataka | China is building something that looks like an oil well. It is actually a nuclear bunker with a command center

The plan is to convert the ocean into its energy muscle

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Invisible, but there are. Much of the seabed is occupied by very long roads that connect virtually all countries. ANDl map of submarine cables It does not stop expanding and, if something has shown us the war in Ukraine, is that it is a key infrastructure. They are vital for communication systems. Beside him, there are other types of pipes: Those that transport fuel and those that allow connecting all the Offshore energy infrastructure. And China has just achieved a milestone in its network: they have installed More than 10,000 kilometers of underwater pipes with the aim of continuing to develop its energy independence. China and the offshore. China has a vast terrestrial territory, but although it is exploiting it with Huge solar ‘farms’ and the largest hydroelectric plant in the world (more another one on the way), they are also developing offshore energy. It is the one that allows access to resources at sea, such as Marine wind (For what they are developing science fiction wind turbines), natural gas, solar or oil. The country is promoting megaprojects such as Chaozhou wind park either floating solar plants while drilling Looking for oil independence (Something complicated Due to the volume they need). It is a strategy that responds to two objectives: the aforementioned energy independence and decarbonization betting on renewables. And, to grow in installed capacity in the sea, they need pipes that connect with land plants. Accelerated development. That is where the more than 10,000 kilometers of pipes that China has already installed, one “megaconstruction”, In its own way, which has experienced an accelerated development in recent years. Only between 2021 and 2025, the country installed more than 1,500 kilometers of new pipes, some at depths of more than 1,500 meters, entering the ultra -proprafundas waters. These pipes have different diameters. Thus, there are some of less than three centimeters in diameter, but others much larger that exceed 120 centimeters. Imagine a pipe with the diameter of a 50 -inch TV. Independence. This huge investment translates into projects such as Hohai Bay. It is the one that concentrates the densest pipe network in the country, with more than 3,200 kilometers and focused on both crude and gas transport. Another project is Deep Let No.1the first “field” of Ultraprofundo Gas developed entirely by China that opera 1,500 kilometers deep. Resistant. To install these pipes, the country developed the Hai Yang Shi You 201. This is its first boat designed to tend pipes at even greater than DEEP is No.1. We are talking about that you can perform facilities at depths of 3,000 meters and, for this, the pipes themselves must be resistant. They are designed to resist both high temperatures and a very high pressure, but also They tell with anticorrosion treatment and internal capacity to transport gas and oil currents that reach 120 degree temperatures. Its thickness is considerable: about four centimeters. Projection. In the end, this pipe network is both a technical achievement and the foundations on which the China’s independence desire at energy level. The idea is to exceed 13,000 kilometers of pipes by 2030, further strengthening the country’s energy transport network, while continuing to develop its offshore capacity. And, although we talk about gas and oil, we cannot forget that the country also has an interest in transporting ‘green’ fuels such as hydrogen or shale gas, fuel they recently discovered Gigantic deposits that will help in that objective of reduction of import dependence. Images | BAIR175, Boh In Xataka | A ghost fleet has mapped the entire submarine structure of the EU. The question is what Moscow will do with that information

Ferrari has won on land, but now points to the ocean. His new challenge is a ship that works without a drop of fuel

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Ferrari has already conquered the circuits. Now he wants to do the same in the ocean. Its new project has no wheels, nor ailerons, nor a V12 engine. Is called Hypersail And it is a Monohull of regattasalthough that description barely scratches the surface. The Italian brand has decided to build an extreme boat, designed to challenge resistance and engineering. The challenge is not less: to create a 100 -foot monoccasco that literally rises on water, driven only by renewable energies. Without a drop of fuel. A brand that is no longer limited to asphalt For decades, Ferrari has been synonymous with competition, engineering and prestige. Its history has been written in the most demanding paths and in the most select garages in the world. But times are changing. The brand continues to manufacture sports cars, yes, but it is also expanding its playing field. Today Ferrari not only innovates in his vehicles, he also does it in his strategy. Part of that evolution It has to do with the public. The Z and millennial generation They already suppose 40 % of their new buyers. They are younger customers, interested in design and technology, but also in impact and sustainability. And Ferrari is adapting. In that context, Hypersail It does not seem to be a whim or a marketing maneuver. It can be a way to apply everything learned in the asphalt to a different environment, although later also carrying that experience obtained in the water to their cars. Ferrari describes Hypersail Like a floating laboratory. And it is not an exaggeration. The boat, designed by the Naval Architect Guillaume Verdier and directed by the navigator Giovanni SoldiniIt has little to do with a conventional ship. Its structure is designed to keep the helmet out of the water by means of three support points: a foil coupled to a tilting keel, another in the rudder and one side that acts alternately. This provision Reduces friction to a minimum and literally allows “flying” on the waves. The most radical aspect of the project is not seen with the naked eye: it does not carry a combustion engine. All the energy necessary for its operation – from the control of hydraulic systems to navigation computers – is generated on board while sailing. The source is exclusively renewable: solar, wind and kinetic. It is not just about installing panels or captors, but of redesigning each system to be as efficient as possible. There are no hidden generators or plans B. According to the company itself, for many, this combination of total autonomy and oceanic navigation It seemed unfeasible. Ferrari wants to demonstrate that it is perfectly possible. Ferrari not only contributes his name, he actively participates in development. The equipment has applied to the sailboat many of the tools already used in its cars: aerodynamic simulation, advanced structural calculations and a flight control system adapted to the marine environment. That joint work has already resulted in nine patents, with another six in preparation. The ship reacts in real time to sea conditions, adjusting its position as a racing car would make it trace a curve. According to Ferrari, the development of Hypersail is also contributing to the evolution of its sports. The company has not specified specific models, but this technological approach would fit with its current hyper -sports linelike him Ferrari F80a hybrid of 1,200 hp called to continue what Enzo and Laferrari left. Hypersail It is not a finished product. It is an idea under construction. His assembly has already begun in Italy and the launch is scheduled for 2026. For now, Ferrari has shared very few images of the project, and everything indicates that we will have to wait to see more details of its development. Until then, the sailboat will continue to evolve as an open innovation platform. Images | Ferrari In Xataka | In Australia they already have the ‘infinite train’. To batteries, without catenary and unlimited autonomy, but with a great asterisk

Between 1946 and 1990, Europe sank 200,000 radioactive barrels in the Atlantic Ocean. France prepares to recover them

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France will undertake this month of June a mission to map and study the state of the more than 200,000 drums with radioactive material that several European countries sank at the bottom of the sea. The objective: evaluate their environmental impact and study if it is viable to recover them. A practice today unthinkable. For more than four decades, between 1946 and 1990, the norm for several European countries was to pour radioactive waste of very low activity in the oceanic depths. More than 200,000 barrels loaded with gloves, laboratory materials and nuclear samples were sunk in the northeast Atlantic abyssal plains, more than 4,000 meters under the surface of the oceanan internationally prohibited custom by the 1993 London Convention. Better late than never. Although a good part of the radioactivity has disappeared thanks to the short half-life of the CESIO-134 or iron-55 isotopes, so far there has been no state-level effort to recover them. The National Center for Scientific Research in France (CNRS) will be launched at the middle of June With the nodssum missionwhich does not have as its immediate objective the recovery of the 200,000 barrels (a task of titanic proportions), but an exhaustive analysis of the containers, the behavior of the radionuces in the deep ocean and their interaction with the marine ecosystems to make a decision on which one to recover and how to recover them. A robot submarine and fishing networks. The Nodssum project will take place in two major campaigns. The first phase will be a recognition mission that will sail on June 15 and will run until July 11. The protagonist will be the ULYX Submarine Autonomous Robot of the French oceanographic fleet, capable of descending up to 6,000 meters. In its first scientific dives, Ulyx will navigate about 70 meters above the seabed to map with a high resolution Sónar the main discharge zone and identify the location of barrels. Then, it will approach up to 10 meters to photograph them. This phase also includes the initial shot of water samples, sediments and fauna, but without approaching the drums. Scientists will use nasas to capture fish and crustaceans with which to determine the effect of waste on marine life. The barrels will not move until 2026. Taking advantage of the data collected in the first phase, the second mission will use a robot with remotely operated arms, Victor or Nautile, to directly observe the barrels and take samples around it for a more detailed analysis. These data will be those used to determine if necessary, and feasible, selective recovery operations in the future. Security will be the axis of the entire project, which includes a robust radioprotection protocol supervised by the France Nuclear Safety Agency. In addition to amending past errors, the mission will be a unique opportunity to measure the long -term consequences of storing at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean hundreds of thousands of radioactive waste. Image | CNRS, Greenpeace (1978) In Xataka | Thus, radioactive waste is “buried”: how are nuclear cemeteries inside

The SS United States was the largest and most rapid transatlantic of the ocean. Now it will be a gigantic submarine reef

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A transatlantic of 301 meters in length. It is a figure that perhaps does not impose today when we talk about cruises, especially having moles such as the Oasis of the Seas of more than 316 meters or the Harmony of the Seas With its 362 meters, but if we go back to 1950, the thing changes. In the middle of the last century it is when the SS United States was over, an imposing transatlantic that did not go to the History like Titanicbut it should. Merits are not missing, but after a more than remarkable service, it was abandoned in a shipyard in which it was gradually oxidizing without anyone paying or attention. And so for almost 30 years … until now, since he will be given a deserved tribute at the bottom of the sea. The other cold war missile. During the Cold warcountries like the United States invested a lot, a lot of money in Improve your weapons. Specifically its nuclear arsenal that, together with that of Russia, grew uncontrolled. But other things had to be done and, in 1950, in the Newport News Shipbuilding shipyards in Virginia, the world’s largest transatlantic was being cooked: the SS United States. A ship postcard A Burrada. Its construction term In 1952 and that was when the world knew an absolute beast of 301 meters in length, a 31 -meter sleeve and a displacement of more than 47,000 tons. The Titanic, as colossal as it was, measured 269 meters in length and a couple of meters less manga. Interestingly, he displaced practically the same tonnage, but the protagonist is now the American ship. Not only was it the largest built in the United States: it also moved like a fish in the water. It had a cruise speed of 39 knots (about 59 km/h) and I reached A surprising maximum speed of 38.38 knots (70.97 km/h). Its deposits allowed to travel more than 18,500 kilometers at a sustained speed of 64 km/h, which allowed rescue or long -distance missions to be carried out if there was any emergency. It was much faster than current cruises. The Titanic II. Its construction cost about 78 million dollars, but there was a trick: the United States contributed 50 million because the ship could be used in military missions, moving until 15,000 soldiers if the situation required it. It was never used for that purpose, but that the government entered the equation not only allowed to finance most of the ship, but also to improve construction materials. On his inaugural trip in 1952 he showed what pasta he was made, getting the speed record in both directions when completing the trip in three days and ten hours. He continued to carry out passengers until 1969, being the pride of the United States during the Cold War. Retirement without gallons. His iceberg, however, came in the late 60s. The rise of transatlantic commercial aviation caused no sense to invest money in the maintenance and operation of a ship so huge that it took much longer to bring passengers from one destination to another. After just 17 years of service, he was removed from it and was lying from one port to another until, in 1996, he tied in the port of Philadelphia. Interestingly, in view of the whole world while their helmet was more and more oxidizing. Since then, I know tried Give a second life to the pride of the nation, which went through several owners, but attempts to turn it into a hotel or a floating museum did not prosper. Oscar posthumous. It was a sad end to a symbol like this, but the SS United States Conservancy achievement become with the ship and have planned to remove it the way it deserves. After 28 years, a few days ago he undertook his last trip helped by several tugs and, after a journey of about 3,000 kilometers, arrive to the coast of Mobile, in Alabama. Recreation of the SS United States for the Terrestrial Museum. The radar tower and other elements will be the originals The plan, now, is to sink it at some point in 2026, and will be at the bottom of the sea where it will become a huge artificial reef that will delight the submarine. On the coast there will be A museum and visitors center in which the story of a ship that marked a naval era will be remembered and was sadly set aside due to progress. Now, you can rest with dignity. Images | Ssusc, Chuck Homler D/B/A Focusonwildlife In Xataka | The largest passenger ships in history, ordered in a fabulous infographic

Reviewing data almost 30 years ago, scientists believe they have identified a new ocean in one of Jupiter’s moons

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On September 21, 2003 the Galileo probe He was immolated in Jupiter’s dense atmosphere, the planet he had been investigating for almost a decade. 30 years after the arrival of the probe to the Jovian orbit and more than 20 years after the end of its mission, the NASA probe continues to offer us new information thanks to the old data that it sent us in its day. A new oceanic world. The study in question has indicated that Calisto is “most likely” an ocean world, a rocky body covered by a layer of water at least in a liquid. The key to the new study has been in a more exhaustive use of the data provided by the Galileo mission, including all its magnetic measurements. Callisto Callisto It is the satellite farther from your planet of Among the so -called four Galilean moons of Jupiter. It is also the second largest moon of Jupiter, with a simular size to that of mercury but with a remarkably smaller mass. One of the most striking details is its surface full of craters which gives Callisto an appearance “similar to a golf ball” The suspicion that this satellite hid an ocean inside It is not newbut the intensity of his ionosphere had been a limit to our ability to study the interior of the Jovian moon from a distance. The reason is that researchers They believed That the satellite ionosphere, an electrically and located conductive region located in the highest layers of Calisto’s atmosphere, could be “imitating” the magnetic footprint that would emit a hypothetical salt and conductive water ocean. That is, astronomers could not know if the magnetism detected proceeded from outside or inside the moon. A new look. New data and analysis tools have allowed to solve this issue. The team responsible for the new study incorporated the set of measurements Magnetic available from the eight occasions in which the Galileo probe survived Callisto. Combining methods. The team combined the analysis of the data obtained by Galileo with a model that simulated Calisto’s ionosphere. They compared the results of the observations with what the suggested in the theoretical model. From the results obtained, the team responsible for the study concludes that the satellite ionosphere cannot by itself explain the magnetism detected, but that the existence of a salt water ocean under the surface of the moon could contribute to the observations. The results therefore suggest the existence of such an ocean. The details of the analysis and its results have been published In an article In the magazine AG ADVANCES. The oceanic worlds of our solar system. Calisto is just one more in The list of candidates To oceanic worlds in our solar system, a list that includes different bodies in which we believe, with greater or lesser degree of certainty, that there are oceans. This list includes other moons such as Europe, Ganymedes, Lord it, Triton, and also a dwarf planet: Pluto. These planets are of great interest to astrobiology since they are the main candidates to house life or the appropriate conditions for the emergence of this in our space neighborhood. That is why a whole new generation of probes is focused on The study of this type of environments. The list includes NASA’s Europe Clipper Mission, and Juice (JUPITER ICY MOONS EXPLORER) of the European Space Agency. The first will be focused on analyzing in depth the moon Europe while the European mission will travel to several of these frozen worlds to collect information about what their layers of ice hide. To these missions, China Tianwen-4 could be added, whose observations could also give us important data about Calisto and his hidden ocean. In Xataka | Juno has just given us an image we had never seen: lava rivers in a Jupiter satellite Image | NASA/JPL/DLR

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