sea Archives - Page 2 of 7

Some archaeologists have found 80 tons of stones under the sea. Everything points to one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World

May 9, 2026 by usatoday24

At the end of the 19th century, several fishermen in the port of Alexandria began to accidentally catch huge fragments of stone entangled in their networks. Some were so large and strange that stories circulated for years about giant ruins hidden underwater off the Egyptian coast. Long before underwater scanners or digital archeology existed, the Mediterranean was already hinting that beneath its waters remained buried a monumental part of the ancient world. 80 tons to return a wonder. Archaeologists and divers they have been finding for years huge blocks of granite and limestone under the waters of Alexandria, but the latest works have triggered a fascinating idea: everything indicates that the Mediterranean is returning key fragments of the legendary Alexandria Lighthouseone of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Some of the recovered blocks weigh up to 80 tons and were part of monumental entrances, platforms and gigantic structures that for centuries remained dispersed on the seabed. The discovery is not only allowing us to reconstruct what the lighthouse really was like, but it is also changing many of the theories that existed about its size, its engineering and its final appearance. A gigantic tower that dominated the Mediterranean. The Lighthouse of Alexandria began to be built at the beginning of the 3rd century BC under the reign of Ptolemy I Soter and it was designed by Sostratus of Cnidus on the island of Pharos, opposite the Egyptian port. Ancient sources described a structure of more than a hundred meters higha type of Hellenistic skyscraper visible dozens of kilometers out to sea thanks to its enormous night fire and complex reflective systems. For more than sixteen hundred years it served as a guide for ships arriving at one of the most important ports in the Mediterranean, also becoming a political symbol of the Ptolemaic power and the ambition of the Alexandria founded after the death of Alexander the Great. Some Roman chroniclers even stated that its light was so intense that it could be confused with a star. 3D reconstruction of the Alexandria Lighthouse The sea ended up swallowing the wonder. The structure withstood earthquakes for centuries, but several huge earthquakes between the 14th and 15th centuries they ended up destroying it almost completely. Part of its stones were later reused to build the Qaitbay fortresswhich still occupies the same coastal area, while the rest of the ancient city began to slowly sink under the sea due to geological movements and the relative rise in the level of the Mediterranean. Over the centuries, the lighthouse eventually disappeared beneath murky waters filled with sediment, architectural remains, and huge stone fragments scattered across dozens of underwater acres. For a long time, historians even thought that ancient descriptions of its size had been exaggerated. Remains of a lighthouse in the Mediterranean Sea A gigantic puzzle. Everything began to change when French and Egyptian archaeologists began to systematically map the eastern port of Alexandria in the 1990s. Sphinxes, columns, colossal statues and gigantic door frames weighing up to seventy tons appeared under the water, but recent work from the PHAROS project They have taken the process much further. Only in recent campaigns have rrecovered 22 huge blocks of granite using special cranes mounted on barges, including lintels, jambs and pieces of a hitherto unknown structure that mixed Egyptian architectural elements and Greek construction techniques. Each find reinforces the idea that the lighthouse was not just a functional tower, but a monumental demonstration of the multicultural power of Hellenistic Alexandria. Reconstructed block by block… but digitally. The New York Times said last February in an extensive report that the great advance of the PHAROS project is not only in removing stones from the water, but in virtually rebuilding the lighthouse with a never seen before precision. The researchers have scanned thousands of fragments using photogrammetry to create a “digital twin” capable of recomposing the building piece by piece without continually moving extremely fragile and heavy materials. Thanks to this, engineers and archaeologists are discovering how the blocks really fit together, how they worked the joining systems and what techniques allowed such a gigantic structure to be built more than two thousand years ago. Investigations have also revealed that the lighthouse used advanced assembly systems with clamps and huge interconnected blocks, something that helps explain how it was able to survive so many centuries against earthquakes and storms. The modern Mediterranean like ancient earthquakes. Archaeological work is also carried out in an increasingly complicated environment. The waters off Alexandria have very poor visibilityare full of pollution and suffer a progressive rise in sea level while the coast itself continues to slowly sink. The researchers they warn that the Mediterranean is warming faster than many other regions of the planet and that the accumulation of waste and sediments makes underwater documentation tasks increasingly difficult. Paradoxically, while technology allows one of the greatest wonders of Antiquity to be digitally reconstructed, the environment where its physical remains remain becomes more hostile and vulnerable year after year. One of the Seven Wonders reappearing. The most striking thing of all is that the project has already managed to dismantle many historical doubts about him Alexandria Lighthouse. Researchers now believe that the ancient chronicles probably they did not exaggerate: The tower really must have been as colossal and advanced as classical authors described. The recovered blocks, some almost impossible in size even for modern engineering, are allowing locate monumental entrancesplatforms and structural elements with unprecedented precision. Little by little, under the waters of Alexandria, one of the most famous constructions in all of human history is ceasing to be a myth and once again taking on a real form. Image | PHAROS, SciVi 3D studio, Roland Unger In Xataka | Some 5,000-year-old tombs went unnoticed for millennia. Until we look from the sky In Xataka | The “Gate of Hell” has been burning in the middle of the Turkmenistan desert for half a century. And now it’s fading

The almadraba has a reputation for being an ancient, artisanal and sustainable art. But behind it lies one of the wildest industrializations of the sea

May 8, 2026 by usatoday24

The Phoenicians arrived on the coasts of Andalusia about 3,000 years ago looking for gold, silver and copper. They stayed for everything else. By the 5th century BC, the factories on the coast of the Strait were already shipping amphorae and amphorae filled with salted tuna throughout the Mediterranean. As we believe, that was when the almadraba was invented. Or so we think. It’s only half the story. The other half is what happens with the tunas that, despite falling into the codend, do not die that day. Many of these tunas (the smallest ones) end up captured and, while still alive, are transferred to marine cages where they remain for up to four months feeding on fish (sardines, mackerel, horse mackerel or chinarros) until they reach the ideal level of fat required by the market. In contrast to the three-millennial trap that enters the codend “with blood and fire” and sacrifices the tuna (to deep-freeze it), there is another that borders on the world of aquaculture, de-seasonalizes the supply and improves the quality of the product. The second, without a doubt, is the most unknown. And that fattening system images They are spectacular. But it’s a logical move. After all, Cádiz traps only catch fish in a short window of time. Normally between the end of April and mid-June. By reserving the smallest tuna and baiting it until September, the product can be sold much more expensive. And it is the only reason to do so because the feed conversion ratio of bluefin tuna in cages is the highest of any species raised or fattened in captivity. While our tunas need between 20 and 30 kilos of oily fish to gain a kilo (20:1-30:1), salmon only need one kilo and pork three. It is not without problems, of course. We already know that filling the sea with fish farms It is a huge source of ecological problems. It is true that it has had a brutal effect on the democratization of fish consumption, but the cost is decimating wild fish populations. However, the case of tuna is different. Its impact on the populations of oily fish that serve as food is great, of course. But it is still small, simply because we have not learned to raise it from scratch: you have to fish to fatten it up. If the efforts of institutions like the CSIC are successful, the Strait will have a problem that will be counted in thousands of tons of exports. Image | SLADE | Big Dodzy In Xataka | Spain is going to continue fishing for eels until we have no more eels to catch

squeeze out wells in the North Sea that had been abandoned for 30 years

May 7, 2026 by usatoday24

Norway is, on paper, the green Eden of the planet. Nine out of every ten new cars sold on its streets are electric and 98% of its electrical system is powered by renewable sources. However, its main economic engine is exporting what it internally rejects: fossil fuels. The official figures are conclusive: in 2025, the value of Norwegian exports of crude oil, condensate and natural gas will be around one trillion crowns, which represents 57% of its total exports of goods. An unprecedented geopolitical trigger has been added to this Norwegian paradox. The war in the Middle East and the resulting blockade in the Strait of Hormuz have turned the country into “a European gas station.” Resurrecting ghosts of the North Sea. To address this demand, the Norwegian government has made a historic decision. As confirmed by the Ministry of Energy in an official press releasethe country is going to reopen three gas fields in the Ekofisk area (Albuskjell, Vest Ekofisk and Tommeliten Gamma). These wells were discovered in the 1970s, produced between 1977 and 1988, and had been closed since 1998. A consortium operated by ConocoPhillips (along with Vår Energi, ORLEN and Petoro) will invest around 19 billion Norwegian crowns (about 1.5 billion pounds) to reactivate these facilities through four new subsea systems. They are expected to pump again at the end of 2028, operate until 2048 and extract between 90 and 120 million barrels equivalent. This operation will not only generate some 7,600 direct jobs during its useful life, but the extracted gas will go directly to Emden (Germany), while the condensate will travel to Teesside (United Kingdom). It’s not just about reliving the past. Oslo has also offered 70 new exploration licenses, most in extremely sensitive areas such as the icy Barents Sea, getting closer to the coast than ever. According to Norwegian government dataonly about half of the country’s estimated gas resources have been produced, so the remaining 52% is yet to be extracted. In 2025 alone, the country exported approximately 122 billion standard cubic meters of gas. International responsibility. Terje Aasland, Minister of Energy, argues that Norwegian production It is “an important contribution to energy security in Europe.” The data support this extreme dependence: In 2024, Norway exported a volume of gas equivalent to more than 30% of the total consumption of the European Union and the United Kingdom. Furthermore, the government wields an environmental argument: Globally, replacing coal with natural gas in electricity generation reduces CO2 emissions by half. They also argue that gas is the perfect backup for intermittent renewables, providing flexible power when the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing. However, not everything is purely altruistic. While the state oil company Equinor registers historic profits, the country’s famous sovereign fund accumulates assets worth 1.9 trillion dollars. The voice of discord. According to Guardianleft-wing parties and environmental associations accuse the government of greenwashing (ecopostureo) and warn of the catastrophic risk that an oil spill near the coastline would pose. The contrast is also evident in the region itself. As Norway turns on the tap, the UK Labor government bans new drilling licenses on climate grounds. The result, just as it is revealed The Telegraphis that British production falls by 15% annually, forcing London to spend 20 billion pounds buying from Norway the energy that it refuses to extract from its own waters. The European dilemma of Oslo. Norway is fully aware of its hypocrisy and is trying to compensate for it with cutting-edge technology. The country inaugurated Northern Lightsthe first large commercial underwater warehouse in Europe. This project injects liquefied CO2 from European industries into the Aurora reservoir, 2,600 meters below the seabed. It is their way of showing that they can extract fossil fuels and, at the same time, lead the way in decarbonization technology. However, Norway has the resources and technology, but lacks direct political decision-making power. as he prays the maximum in Brussels: “If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu.” The umbilical cord that unites Norway with Europe It is physical and politicalsince it has a vast network of underwater gas pipelines. This mutual dependence has reopened a debate that seemed settled: Should Norway enter the European Union? Although the population rejected accession in 1972 and 1994, the current geopolitical isolation in the face of giants such as China, the United States and Russia is forcing both Norway and its neighbors (Iceland and Switzerland) to reconsider whether they should sacrifice sovereignty in exchange for sitting at the table where their main market is governed. The fossil sunset. Norway has perfected the art of looking to the future with pockets full of the past. The country has become the giant that heats the homes of a scared and war-torn Europe, squeezing an outdated energy model to finance an ultra-developed and clean welfare state. As the financial analyst Thina Saltvedt stated: for the BBC: “More and more people realize that there is a sunset on the horizon. But it’s going to be painful.” For now, while that climatic sunset arrives, Europe has decided to postpone the cold by turning on, once again, the old Norwegian boilers in the North Sea. Image | Norskpetroleum Xataka | No more greeting the driver: Norway launches the first bus where there is not a single human in control

Gibraltar has never had a wastewater treatment plant. So they have been throwing them into the sea for decades

May 7, 2026 by usatoday24

In 1999, after centuries of dumping its sewage into the bay of Algeciras, Gibraltar transposed Directive 91/271/EEC urban wastewater treatment. It was something historic, something unprecedented, something that would mark the future of the region. Immediately afterwards, the Government of the Rock did something totally unexpected: absolutely nothing. Now, an investigation by Rachel Salvidge for The Guardian has revealed something that everyone in the area knew: that a few months after the entry into force of the EU-United Kingdom Treaty, the city is not prepared to comply with European environmental obligations. Nor does it seem like it will be. Wait, how come it doesn’t have a purifier? That is to say, how is it possible that a strategic point as important as Gibraltar does not have a basic infrastructure that any European municipality of 40,000 inhabitants would have more than resolved? The answer is curious. On the one hand, due to technical problems: unlike any standard infrastructure, the flat network use sea water for toilets and toilets. It is not the only place where this occurs (places like Hong Kong or the Californian island of Santa Catalina also do it), but the reality is that it complicates biological treatment quite a bit. On the other hand, it’s not like they haven’t tried. In the last 25 years, Gibraltar tried to put in place two awards that failed to be executed. Furthermore, as if that were not enough, the last attempt (financed by the European Investment Bank) coincided with Brexit and left the project without funds. Furthermore, the problems are not limited to Gibraltar. In fact, the Commission also has opened files along the Línea de la Concepción, making it clear that the waste management problem was on both sides of the fence. However, Spanish efforts have improved the situation on this side: Gibraltar, beyond a screening and roughing system, has not been able to. And all this is worrying because the impact is concentrated in one of the most unique areas of the western Mediterranean: the only corridor with the Atlantic, an irreplaceable habitat for common dolphins, bottlenose and common porpoises and a key seasonal migratory route for marine ecology. And there is no solution? As of June 2025, another project is underway, but the company had five years to get it started. In other words, in the best of cases the systems are not even close to being operational: and no one has any idea if, with the entry into force of stricter European regulationsthe plant will be able to meet the standards. Meanwhile, Punta de Europa will continue as before: being a natural paradise that hides a pipe full of waste from more than 30,000 people. The race against the clock, in reality, has just begun. Image | Michael Mrozek In Xataka | If the Strait of Hormuz is a conflict, imagine that of Gibraltar: Spain has found 134 shipwrecks off Cádiz

a material that “fishes” it in the sea

May 2, 2026 by usatoday24

Building a nuclear power plant costs a fortune. It is estimated that between about 24,000 and 60,000 million, depending on the characteristics of the plant. However, China has taken the lead in this race and account with 56 nuclear reactors, as well as almost another thirty under construction. It takes half as long to build a plant and it is cheaper, which puts them in the race to be the greatest nuclear power by 2030. But these plants need to ‘eat’, and China has realized that it has to get uranium from wherever. His latest invention is a metamaterial that fishes that uranium in the sea. Prevailing need. Being a powerhouse in renewables is not enough for a China that needs energy both to satisfy its population and its industry and, above all, its data centers. With his Big Tech thrown into the roboticsthe chip creation and the artificial intelligence, all the energy It is welcome to dump it into the grid, but as we say, a nuclear power plant needs fuel. They need a lot, a lot of uraniumand the problem is that their mines do not produce enough. It is estimated that, in 2023, production was only 1,700 tons. In 2024 they imported 22,000 tons and, if they want to continue at that pace, they need more. They have found important reserves in Ordosbut they also want to exploit the sea. The oceans have uranium. It is estimated that there are about 4.5 billion tons of it, but it is found in an extremely low concentration of just three micrograms per liter. Due to the vastness of the ocean, there is a thousand times more uranium in the seas than in known land reserves and China wants to apply the “whoever extracts it first, keeps it.” The metamaterial. For that, the Qinghai Institute of Salt Lakes, of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, presented A few days ago a peer-reviewed study detailed a metamaterial that, in essence, is like a sponge for hunting uranium. It is extremely small, just two micrometers in diameter (much thinner than a human hair). The ‘device’ is a metal-organic framework (MOF) micromotor that moves autonomously in two ways. When exposed to small amounts of hydrogen peroxide, it travels at about seven micrometers per second. When exposed to light, it doubles that speed. According to the researchersby moving passively, is more efficient and environmentally friendly than other materials. Uranium as prey. But… fishing? According to the investigation, in laboratory tests they achieved that each gram of material captured up to 406 milligrams of uranium. It is an amount that may seem ridiculous, but the idea is to have swarms full of these uranium ‘sponges’ hunting in unison. The researchers point out that, in the tests, they noticed patterns reminiscent of hunting, with the swarm of sponges chasing the uranium particles. According to them, the application of the metamaterial goes beyond uranium fishing and could be used to recover other strategic elements such as rubidium and cesium. These are alkaline elements that are very valuable in advanced navigation technologies, electronics, ion propulsion or atomic clocks. In short: like uranium, it is a very valuable element in technology, defense and the aerospace industry. Work to go. However, although the laboratory results are promising, the Qinghai researchers’ work has important challenges to overcome. Micromotors, for example, are in their early stages of development and also ensure that high-salinity environments limit system performance. They are not the only ones. For now, this uranium-hunting sponge is a successful proof of concept, but it will take a lot of work before it can be applied to the real world. Now, China is promoting not only its nuclear programbut everything that has to do with high technology and strategic elements, and the one from the Qinghai Institute of Salt Lakes is not the only uranium-fishing MOF metamaterial that we have known recently. The Frontiers Science Center for Rare Isotopes at Lanzhou University is also developing a similar concept capable of absorbing up to 588 milligrams of uranium per gram of material. In the end, the idea of fishing for uranium is not new, since Japan began developing the technology in the 80s and other countries are developing the technologybut with a China that, esteemwill need 40,000 tons of uranium by 2040, it is not strange that they are the ones taking giant steps to get uranium out from under the stones. Images | Esin Üstün, RobertoUderio In Xataka | Much of the world economy right now consists of Google and Amazon buying GPUs: 95% are idle

Five years ago, Venice spent more than 5 billion on a system of barriers against the sea. Now look for a plan B

April 21, 2026 by usatoday24

There was a time when Venice looked at the Adriatic with ambition. The sea not only shaped the city, permeating its DNA, it also propelled it until it became a naval power who fought for dominance of the Mediterranean. Today things are different. The Serennissima (turned into tourist power) observes with increasing concern the coming and going of the tides, the same ones that in 2019 submerged it under 187 cm of water, flooding 80% of the city. The reason is very simple. Everything indicates that the multimillion-dollar system that Venice was equipped with a few years ago to protect itself from the threat of high water It won’t take long for it to become obsolete. And it is not very clear what the alternative is. One figure: 18. The threat of flooding is not new in Venice. In fact, one of the worst in memory was suffered six decades ago, in November 1966when an intense storm caused the water to reach 194 cm, flooding much of the city. However, experts have been detecting worrying signs for some time. It is not just that Venice sink or the sea level rising (which too). There are increasingly clear signs that suggest that floods will become more frequent in the future. Recently, a group of researchers dedicated themselves to analyzing the “extreme” episodes suffered by the city, those in which 60% of its surface was flooded. Throughout the last century and a half, it counted 28 incidents of those characteristics. The surprising thing is that the vast majority of them (18) were concentrated during the last 23 years. One measurement: 0.42 m. Today more than half of Venice is alone between 80 and 120 cm above the average sea level and projections show that this scenario will soon worsen: in the best of cases, if we manage to drastically reduce our polluting emissions, the sea will rise 0.42m by 2100. In the worst case, it will be 1.8 m, which would greatly complicate the outlook for the Serennissima. In fact, now the high tide already leaves St. Mark’s Square only 30 cm above the water level. One name: Mose. Aware of how much is at stake in Venice, the Italian Government has long been looking for a way to protect itself from floods. The result was Mose (experimental elettromechanical module)a system made up of four barriers and 78 independent mobile gates that allow authorities to protect the Venetian lagoon from what is known as high watertides that flood the city. The objective: to temporarily isolate the Adriatic lagoon and thus protect Venice from the most dangerous tides. To achieve this, the barriers were strategically installed in the inlets of Lido, Malamocco and Chioggia. Each gate also measures 20m wide and between 18.6 and 29.6 m long. An investment: 5,000 million. It is said that the project mobilized an investment of more than 5.5 billion of euros (its execution was marred by corruption). Its work began in 2003 and after several delays it carried out a first test in October 2020, in an event led by the then Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. A year earlier, Venice had suffered a of the worst floods that are remembered, during which the water reached 187 cm, flooding part of the entrance to the Basilica of Saint Mark. An indicator: frequency. The problem is that the authorities are turning to Mose much more often than expected. EuroWeekly assures that in less than a month, between January 28 and February 19, the system was activated 30 times. Other media report that since their inauguration at the end of 2020, the barriers have saved Venice from flooding in 154 occasions. The problem is that the use of Mose does not come free to the region, neither in economic terms nor on a social and environmental level. Setting up the enormous Mose floodgates has a direct cost, but it also has another indirect cost: by isolating the lagoon, the system alters, for example, the activity of the port sector and interrupts maritime traffic with the port of Marghera. Guardian points out that pressing Mose’s button has an economic impact of more than 200,000 euros for Venice. For this year’s Carnival alone the total bill would be around five million euros. An extra concern: the lagoon. Not everything is measured in operational cost, maritime traffic and economic impact. Altering the tides in the area also has an impact on its ecosystem and that is something that worries experts like Andrea Rinaldo, from the scientific committee of the Lagoon Authority. Especially if two fundamental data are taken into account: first, the frequency of use in recent years; second, the forecasts for sea level rise. “With one more meter, the Mose barriers would have to be closed an average of 200 times a year, which means that they would practically always be blocked,” explains Roinaldo. “When this happens, the lagoon loses its function as a transitional environment. It would become a pond.” A victim: the lagoon itself. As explains GuardianBy blocking the flow of water, the barriers encourage the growth of algae. The problem is that when these die and decompose they directly affect the quality of the water and the rest of the flora and fauna. Does that mean Mose was a mistake? Rinaldo thinks not. The changes are simply happening much faster than engineers expected, forcing authorities and technicians to think about the future in the medium and long term. At the end of the day, if Mose taught anything, it is that projects of his importance are not approved and executed overnight. One question: What to do? The great unknown. Those responsible for Mose are looking for ways to reduce its impact, but it is not an easy decision. Among other things because the Venetians themselves have become accustomed to the barriers and gates coming into operation at the slightest risk, points out Giovanni Zaroti, one of the system technicians. Rinaldo mentions the possibility of launching an international call … Read more

China has understood better than anyone where the space launch bottleneck is. Your solution: the sea

April 18, 2026 by usatoday24

On April 18, China will launch a space rocket from open waters for the first time. The Dong Fang Hang Tian Gang vessel has been modified to function as a launch platform, minimizing many of the problems that terrestrial platforms currently represent. The facts. This aquatic launch platform is a vessel that measures 162 meters long and 40 meters wide. The Jielong-3 rocket will be on board31 meters, designed by the Chinese Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology for commercial flights. It will be launched from the South China Sea, marking the first time a launch has been carried out from open waters. If all goes well, China’s goal is to make it far from the last time. A huge waiting list. China has decided to launch rockets from the sea to address various problems. The first, without a doubt, is the saturation to which conventional launch platforms are currently exposed. The rise of the satellite industry, both for telecommunications as with other crazier purposeshas led to more and more launches scheduled on all launch platforms around the world. As a result, each new release must go onto a long waiting list, which can get complicated when you consider that there is usually only a few days’ release window available. It’s cheaper. Another advantage of aquatic launch pads is that they are very easy to build. To build one on dry land it is necessary to acquire a large amount of land and install all the necessary infrastructure. The result is not only complex. It is also very expensive. In the sea, on the other hand, a platform adapted to the immensity of the ocean is enough. Also safer. On the other hand, these types of offshore launch platforms are much safer than land-based ones for several reasons. To begin with, methane is increasingly being used as fuel. It is very powerful, but also very explosive. Therefore, large safety zones must be established around the launch pad. This is vital in case of an accidental explosion. In the ocean, however, it is not necessary. On the other hand, space launches cause great noise pollution for surrounding populations. If we add to all this that they could suffer the risk of falling parts, the truth is that living near a launch pad is not almost anyone’s dream. All of them are problems that are solved by launching rockets in the middle of the ocean. If there are accidents, the pieces must be removed to avoid contamination, but at least there are no populated areas that are at risk. The rocket to be launched will be a Jielong 3 Proximity to the equator. As a bonus, the ability to move barges wherever needed makes it easier for the Chinese Academy of Sciences to take its launches closer to the equator than land enclaves allow. This is very advantageous, since at this point the benefit of the Earth’s rotation can be maximized, giving greater momentum during launch. It’s not the first time, but there is a nuance. Actually, China has already launched rockets from water platforms in the past. A good example of this is Ceres-1S, which even used the same boat. Gravity-1 was also launched from a cliff. However, there is a difference. While Jielong-3 will be launched from open waters, Ceres-1 and Gravity-1 were launched near the coast, with logistics controlled from land and some of the same drawbacks that a land launch would have. A launch from open water, far from the coast, is another step forward. China continues to advance. In recent years, China has been positioning itself as a major space power. Just look at the progress it has made in lunar exploration. His plan to take humans to the Moon advanceswhile that of NASA does not stop finding impediments. Furthermore, its space station, Tiangong, continues receiving astronauts at a good pace, robotic exploration of Mars It is quite advanced and even They have found in Europe a great partner to explore solar inclemencies. Having an aquatic platform that gives agility to your throws can be another big step forward. Images | Freepik | China News Service In Xataka | China has the Moon between its eyebrows: it has now created the first chemical map of the hidden face

China is building a tunnel under the sea for its high speed. It has already reached a record depth

April 13, 2026 by usatoday24

Under the seabed, dozens of meters deep, there is a work that is progressing with a minimal margin of error. It cannot be seen from the surface, but it is part of a railway infrastructure key in southern China. According to CGTNthe country has reached a new milestone in the construction of a high-speed underwater tunnel: the excavation has already reached 113 meters under the seabed. The figure is not minor, because it places the work at a point where the geological conditions and water pressure significantly increase the technical difficulty. This advance is part of a much larger infrastructure that is taking shape in the south of the country. The 116-kilometer Shenzhen-Jiangmen high-speed line is designed to connect both cities in less than an hour, integrating into the rail corridor that runs along the Chinese coast. In this way, the project has entered a particularly demanding phase, in which the tunnel under the Pearl River estuary becomes one of the most technically complex points of the entire work. A section under the sea that concentrates the greatest technical challenge At the center of this phase of the project is the underwater infrastructure that requires refinement of each step. To execute it, the work relies on a large diameter tunnel boring machine developed in China. The machine, known as “Shenjiang-1”, has kept the excavation going continuously, even during festive periods such as Qingming. It not only drills the ground, it also allows progress while the interior lining of the tunnel is being built, a system that seeks to gain efficiency in one of the most delicate points of the route. From there, the challenge stops being just mechanical and becomes conditioned by the terrain. The TBM must traverse 13 different strata, with five types of composite geology and six fault zones along the route. These types of conditions force the operation to be constantly adjusted, because each layer can respond differently to the excavation. In this context, moving forward does not depend solely on the power of the machinery, but also on maintaining control in a challenging environment. Added to this complexity of the terrain is a less visible, but equally determining factor: the pressure of the water at those depths. The tunnel is planned to reach a maximum of 116 meters below the seabeda level at which hydraulic conditions become especially demanding for the machinery and the structure itself. To operate in this environment, the system uses a sludge circuit that fulfills a double function: on the one hand, it reduces friction at the excavation face and, on the other, it transports the extracted material to the surface, where it is separated and reused in the process. While the machine advances, the tunnel is not far behind. Just behind the excavation face, the teams are assembling the prefabricated concrete segments that form the interior lining. Each one measures around two meters wide and nine are needed to complete a ring in a structure that exceeds 13 meters in diameter. This system allows excavation and construction to progress at the same time, reducing time and helping to maintain the pace of execution. The magnitude of this work is better understood when put into perspective. Official information indicates that this section extends over 13.69 kilometers and crosses several waterways at the mouth of the river, located between Dongguan and Guangzhou. It is a key piece within a line designed to improve the connection in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Beyond the depth already achieved, the project seeks to strengthen regional connectivity and support economic integration in one of the most active areas of the country. Images | CGTN In Xataka | Singapore is literally coming into its own: reclaiming 25% of land from the sea and turning wastewater into drinking water

Do you think we’ve had a cold winter? Arctic sea ice has things to tell you

April 12, 2026 by usatoday24

It’s easy to look out the window on a January morning, see the frost on the car, feel the icy wind on your face and think: “What a winter we’re having.” Our perception of the weather is often terribly local; However, while we shelter ourselves to combat the seasonal coldthe global thermometer tells a very different story. And if we want to know how “cold” this winter has really been, the best place to ask is not our street, but the top of the world, that is, the Arctic. A technical tie. Every year, during the dark and frigid months of the northern winter, the Arctic Ocean freezes, expanding its ice sheet until it reaches its maximum annual extent. Something that normally occurs between February and March. but this year control data of this ice expansion have pointed out that the winter limit of Arctic sea ice was reached on March 15, 2026 with an extension that reached 14.29 million square kilometers. This is a number that in isolation may seem like a large amount of ice has formed, but the reality is that 2026 has tied statistically with the historical minimum recorded in 2025. It’s a problem. Although this year’s extent is nominally lower by just 0.02 million km² compared to last year, the NSIDC considers any fluctuation within a margin of 40,000 km² a “technical tie”. In other words: we have never had two winters with so little ice in the Arctic since satellite records have existed since 1979. It’s a problem. To understand why we should worry, we have to look back. Here climatologists usually use the average of the period 1981-2010 as a base reference, and if we compare the maximum of 2026 with that historical average, the reality is that we are missing a piece of ice the size of 1.3 million square kilometers. We are talking about a reduction of between 8% and 10% of the frozen surface, and to put it in perspective, it is as if a block of ice equivalent to the surface of Spain, France and Germany combined had disappeared. Something that confirms a trend that already points to a loss of this maximum limit of 12% per decade since the end of the 70s, since the ice is not recovering, but is systematically retreating. It’s not just quantity. The drama of the Arctic is not only read in two dimensions, but also in three, since thickness is essential in this situation. And to measure it the mission comes into play ICESat-2 from NASA, which has already ‘seen’ how much of the current ice, especially in the Barents Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk, It’s much finer than in past decades. Thinner ice is bad news, since it means it is much more fragile and fractures sooner in spring storms and, more critically, melts much faster in summer. Its consequences. This last point is fundamental, since seeing how the winter maximum falls is bad news, since the structural weakness of that ice guarantees that, when summer arrives, the thaw will be more aggressive. And if we continue advancing in this chain of events, we find in the end that the dark ocean will be able to absorb a greater amount of solar heat, which will heat the waters even more and make it difficult for ice to form in the following winter. In the end we are seeing a textbook vicious cycle. Images | Cassie Matias In Xataka | China has turned the Arctic into its own “Panama Canal.” And that explains the US obsession with Greenland

CATL is the largest battery manufacturer in the world and has a new goal: electrify the entire sea

April 12, 2026 by usatoday24

CATL, the Chinese giant that dominates the global battery market for electric vehicles, it has become entrenched to move towards a new front: the electrification of maritime transport. It makes more sense than it seems, but it is still a great technical challenge. Although the company is not caught by surprise. Below these lines we tell you all the details. What you are already doing. The company, which controls 37% of the global market for batteries for electric cars and 22% of the energy storage market in electrical networks and data centers, has been working in the naval sector since 2017. It has so far deployed its battery systems on about 900 vessels, although mainly on small ships operating near the Chinese coast, in ports or on rivers. Its subsidiary dedicated specifically to powering ships already exists, and this year it plans to more than double the team’s staff, reaching around 500 people, according to confirmed Su Yi, the head of that division, told the Financial Times. Why now. As the media shares, the maritime sector is responsible for 3% of global carbon emissions, and the International Maritime Organization has set itself a goal halve those emissions by 2050. But there is another more recent catalyst that has made many companies reconsider: the recent escalation of war between the United States and Israel against Iran and the temporary closure of the Strait of Hormuz. The war in the Middle East has once again highlighted the fragility of energy supply chains and CATL has a good margin of maneuver there. According to counted To FT Neil Beveridge, an analyst at Bernstein specializing in energy in China, the long-term consequence of this type of situation will be an acceleration of the “global mega-migrant towards electrification.” CATL shares on the Shenzhen stock exchange have risen about 13% since the conflict with Iran broke out. The challenges. Electrifying boats is not like electrifying cars, up to this point I think we are all clear. But seriously, batteries have a much lower energy density than traditional fuels, making them impractical for long-distance ocean crossings. The middle shared the study by the Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Navigation, in which they concluded that the most promising approach in the short term is hybrid: combining electric propulsion with combustion engines. Added to this are extra risks that come from the marine environment itself: greater exposure to humidity and salinity, much more difficult evacuation conditions in the event of a fire, and the need for more demanding maintenance than in any car. Replicate the truck business model. CATL does not want to limit itself to selling batteries, as it wants to build an entire infrastructure around it, just as share in FT. It already operates in China a network of battery exchange points for trucks on highways, and now intends to take that same model to the sea. The idea is that ship operators can change their batteries in port without having to charge them, which would also eliminate that cost from the ship’s acquisition price. The company is working with municipalities and ports to develop this ecosystem from scratch; Cities like Guangzhou, one of China’s major shipbuilding centers, already offer subsidies for electric-powered vessels, according to share the middle. A personal story. There is a rather curious detail in all this. And just as account FT, Robin Zeng, founder of CATL, studied marine engineering at university before switching to electronics. “Naval engineering was his original discipline and passion,” Su Yi explained to the outlet. It has its advantages, because over time this discipline could end up becoming the next great industrial transformation of your company. Financial muscle. CATL closed 2025 with a net profit of 72.2 billion yuan (about 10.4 billion dollars), 42% more than the previous year, driven mainly by demand for energy storage. From this position of financial strength, the company has the muscle to invest long-term in a sector where margins are still uncertain. We’ll see how the company ends up doing. Cover image | Wikipedia and Elias In Xataka | In 2022, Europe forced energy companies to swallow the cost of the gas crisis. Now she’s willing to do the same.

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