steel

In 1919 the Germans decided to sink their entire fleet in the North Sea. The steel from those ships ended up in space

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At 11:20 in the morning of June 21, 1919, Admiral von Reuter’s ship began to signal to the rest of the German ships in Scapa Flow Bay, England. The taps and water intakes were opened, the pipes were destroyed, the portholes were dismantled: no one noticed anything. Until around midday, the Friederich Der Grosse began to list to starboard. It was already late, the German flag was flying from the 74 masts. Scapa Flow. The image tells the story of Scapa Flowthe sinking of the German fleet immediately after World War I. While the Allies negotiated the terms of the Armistice with Germany, the fleet was held captive and stationed off the British coast. Von Reuter feared that the Allies would divide up the ships, so he decided to sink it completely, at any cost. The British naval ships that were on maneuvers arrived at 2:30 p.m. and were only able to save one ship. The last to sink was the battlecruiser Hindenburg. Nine Germans were killed, 16 were wounded, 1,774 were detained. 52 ships were sunk on June 21 at Scapa Flow. But they are no longer there: they are on the Moon, Jupiter and beyond the orbit of Pluto. steel is steel. A tough guy, with bad temper and few words. But in 1945 (or a little before), everything changed. We didn’t realize it at first, but we quickly discovered that although all steels are equal, there are some steels that are more equal than others. I’m not going around the bush: what happened in ’45 was the atomic bomb, the device of the Devil that made us change geological era. The problem. Since the first atomic bombs exploded on the Earth’s surface, the air contains traces of radioactive elements. They are there, dissolved in it, but the amount is so small that they are harmless. Unless for some strange reason you have to blow in enormous amounts of air in the manufacturing process of some material. It’s almost useless to us. That is, all steel manufactured after the explosion of the first atomic bomb is radioactive. Very little, almost nothing. But enough so that some medical, physical or astronomical instruments do not work correctly. For example, radioactivity monitoring systems used by spacecraft. He tells it David Bodanis in “E = mc². Biography of the most famous equation in the world“, a book that, although it has become somewhat outdated, is still a delight. You may have heard the story, but it is a good story. Steel = expensive. In the book, Bodanis explains that, faced with this problem, uncontaminated steel became very expensive. Above all, because before ’45 we did not make steel in quantities so industrial as now. I imagine dozens of NASA engineers rummaging through their family’s cutlery so they can send reliable machines into space. Until someone remembered Kaiser Wilhelm’s ships. The peculiarity of Scapa Flow. There are sunken ships in many places, but there are not many shallow inlets with 52 sunken ships in their waters. Not all of them were there, but a few were enough for us to manufacture the equipment that the Apollo mission left on the lunar surface, that which the Galileo probe took to Jupiter, and that which the Pioneer probe is taking even further. The evil, the sea. In Xataka | Quantum find in Cambridge points to solar ‘Holy Grail’: single-material solar panels In Xataka | The Atacama salt flat is the key on which the electric car industry pivots. And it’s starting to dry

The bridge with the largest steel span has completed its most difficult challenge. And it’s in China, of course.

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There is not a month that does not release one mega constructionand in that area, China leads with an iron fist. Both due to the magnitude of his works, the technique used or the land they save with the structurethe Asian giant has become an example of perseverance when it comes to creating, above all, infrastructure that connects all its regions. After the highest bridge in the world, in the province of Chongqing, they are involved with another record-breaking bridge. One with the largest steel span in the world. Fenglai Daxi River Grand Bridge. As is often the case with these works, something that stands out as much as its magnitude is the construction time. In just three years, they have up a bridge in an extremely complex area. It clears two cliffs and the causeway will be 310 meters above the water surface. But more than because of the terrain, if it is news for something, it is because of the opening, that space between two columns. The total length of the bridge will be 1,136 meters when it is finished and the span is almost half of it: 580 meters that are suspended leaning on an arch-shaped structure made of steel. The height The arch in its central part is 116 meters and both the photos and videos show the complex lattice-type structure. Precision. More than a whim, it is necessary if you want to bridge that distance while looking for a bridge that can withstand both the weight and the possible tremors that are frequent in the region. To build the structure, engineers turned to BIM methodology (either Building Information Modeling) that simulates by computer all the processes of both the construction of the structure and its future maintenance. This is common, but essential in this lattice structure where many embedded components require an accuracy of less than a millimeter of deviation. On November 28, the team complete the union of each of the pieces weighing more than 300 tons that form that great puzzle of the lattice span, and now it remains to create the road that will consolidate the union between regions. Necessary. Because the Fenglai Daxi River Grand Bridge is not simply a feat of engineering: it is a catalyst for something China is aggressively pursuing. The country wants to carry out an economic and social transformation of the most challenging regions of its geography, and the Chongqing region falls into those plans as it has a large number of mountain ranges that have traditionally challenged communication with large centers. When completed, the bridge will be part of the Wu-Liang Expressway that will link the urban center of Chongqing with the Wulong district in approximately one hour, when with the current detour it takes approximately three hours, having to do a mountain route. And it is just one piece of a much more ambitious plan, which includes 52 construction projects, more than 1,200 kilometers of highways and a total investment of 155 billion yuan, about 19 billion euros. Megathings = tourism. Thus, the bridge will seek to become an element that will facilitate the flow of goods between the regions, but also of people with the objective of promoting tourism. Currently, in Wulong About 350,000 people live there and it has traditionally been a poor area due to the soil not being the best for farming and its natural isolation. However, since 1994, tourism has transformed it, especially since the Karst Geology National Park out including on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2007. Now, Wulong aspire to become a global tourist destination, and this improvement in infrastructure seems key to achieving that goal. Furthermore, it is no longer just that China’s megaconstructions facilitate mobility: The buildings themselves are designed with the aspiration that they become points of interest. An example is Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridgean immense construction 625 meters above the level of the river that is used to cross from one side to the other, but It has a cafeteria and some adventure activities. Another is the Three Gorges Damwhich can not only move the axis of rotation of the Earthbut it also has a museum that documents the construction, an example of how the dam itself works and multiple observation points. Images | Xinhua Sci-Tech In Xataka | Young tourists from China have begun to visit random places en masse. There is an explanation: Xiaohongshu

The largest steel producers in the world, exposed in this graphic that shows two totally different leagues

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On our way to decarbonization, Steel is a problem. For each ton we produce, They emit two of co₂ to the atmosphere, but although We are studying alternatives further sustainableremains indispensable in a world where there are countries wrapped in a Loca Carrera for Megaconstructions. Someone must produce all that steel we need, and as is the case with the Aluminum industrythat of steel has an indisputable own name: China. And it is something that can be seen perfectly in this graph elaborated by Visual Capitalist: The Chinese monster. The data comes from the World Steel Association and reflect an overwhelming reality. If the world produced about 1,884.6 million tons of steel in 2024, more than half were the work of China. The rest of the countries are very, far away and, removing India with the giant Tata Steel Group that benefited from an increase in infrastructure investment in recent months, the rest of the producers are quite aligned. That China leads this sector is not a coincidence. After the Foundation of the Popular Republic in 1949, the State considered that the production of steel was something crucial For industrialization. Domestic demand is gigantic due to the boom of both manufacturing and infrastructure and construction in general and,, although they exportown consumption is very important. USA wants to recover land. That domain is a problem for the rest of the countries. That China produces more steel than the rest of the world together makes us depend on its product (as with the solar panels wave Rare Earth Production). The United States, another historical steel producer, does not want to lose so much land and in recent months it has started movements to recover control of its industry. Us Steel is one of the historic steel producers who was about to be bought by the Japanese giant Nippon Steel. Joe Biden, in one of the last movements of his mandate, decided to block the purchase claiming national security motifs. This decision sent a message, but also fed ghosts from the pasttensing relationships with Japan. Europe out of the photo. In Europe, the bastion of steel is Germany. Its production is among the highest in the world, but we will have to see for how long. As we read in The New York Times, the Airías have experienced a fall of 11.6% during the first half of 2025. In addition, despite the high technology of factories such as Tata Steel in the Netherlands, environmental regulations, the Chinese dumping and tariff hostility are pushing Europe to a situation in which he paints less and less in the photo of the steel worldwide. HE esteem that Spain produced 11.9 million tons in 2024, assuming a 3.7% increase compared to the yearterior, but although some countries have experienced a Alcista trend in its production, demand remains high, the need to reduce emissions and imports from the EU – especially asian steel – increases pressure on internal production. Without limit. And it’s a problem. Now, another interesting element of all this is that, although there is a steel hunger, the main producers produce … too much. According to the OECD, the excess world capacity will reach the 721 million tons in 2027. China herself is Taking measures to stop the blind expansion of your industry. For example, a production control, asking companies to only produce under a firm order or suspend the expansion of steel production capacity, decision made in August last year. They are measures to limit overcapacity and that Your industry does not die of success Due to the low price that steel could reach worldwide, but although it seems a very local measure, taking into account its enormous production, any movement in this sense is something that has an impact on the rest of the world. In Xataka | Before the lack of steel, the ships of World War II began to be built with an unusual material: concrete

The great promise of obtaining a stronger material than steel

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Inventwood, a company that emerged at Maryland University, The Superwood Commercial Manufacture will begin After seven years of development. The material, invented by the scientist Liangbing Hu In 2018, it has 50% more tensile strength than steel and a ten-times higher resistance ratio. Why is it important. The construction industry generates high CO2 emissions: producing a ton of steel emits almost two tons of carbon dioxide. This supermadera not only eliminates these emissions, but carbon capture when manufactured with sustainable farm wood. In addition, it offers natural resistance to fire, humidity, termites and fungi without chemical additives. The context. What began as an academic discovery documented in Nature In 2018 It has evolved to become a technology that promises to be commercially viable. The company has managed to reduce the manufacturing time of weeks to hours and has raised $ 15 million to build its first plant in Maryland. In detail. The process requires two main steps: First, lignin is partially dissolved – the polymer that hardens wood – using food degree chemicals. Then, the wood is compressed at 65 ° C, collapsing its cellular structure in a dense matrix. The result is a material five times thinner than the original, but twelve times more resistant and ten times harder. The figures: The first installation will produce a million square meters per year from this summer. A second phase in autumn of 2025 will introduce outdoor panels. The initial price will be “Premium” but competitive with tropical high-end wood: between 12.50 and $ 25 per pound (between 27.5 and 55 per kilo), compared to the $ 1-2 of steel (2-4 per kilo). Yes, but. Although the supermadera is initially more expensive than steel by weight, its upper resistance-peso ratio means that a 5 kilos beam could match the load capacity of a 45 kilos steel beam. This reduces its effective cost to 2.75-5.5 dollars per kilo when we adjust for yield. Much more interesting and less far from steel. The panoramic. Inventwood A second installation already plans of more than 30 million square meters for infrastructure and large developments. Contractors can cut, pierce and hold this overmaster with standard carpentry tools, which should facilitate its adoption. The material could also be extended to other sectors such as vehicles, aircraft or furniture, but for now the company is focusing on construction, where steel and concrete suppose 90% of the carbon impact of buildings. Outstanding image | Inventwood In Xataka | China was for decades the largest CO2 issuer on the planet. Renewables are correcting what seemed impossible

The Steel Tank of the huge Cz-9 rocket has just manufactured

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Spacex continues years away from any competitor, including the Chinese government. Like the rest of the world, China has been late for reusable rockets and the Starlink satellite constellation, which has an undeniable strategic value. But with Starship, the giant rocket that Spacex is developing in Texas, China is determined to cut distances. The Chinese starship. While Spacex continues to put the highest and most powerful pitcher in the world (not without some difficulty), China has stepped on the accelerator in the development of its own reusable superpesado rocket: the long march 9 (CZ-9) of 114 meters high. The renders are over. This time, the Chinese Academy of Release Vehicle Technology (CALT) has presented two real -scale prototypes of stainless steel tanks of the CZ-9. Its dimensions are not trivial: they measure 5 and 10.6 meters in diameter (Starship has a width of 9 meters). While the 10.6 meter tank fits perfectly with the CZ-9, the purpose of the 5-meter prototype is … less evident. Perhaps CALT is exploring a stainless steel version of the CZ-10, the rocket with which China wants to send astronauts to the moon, or simply using this diameter as a test bench to validate rapid manufacturing technologies (it took only 60 days to design and manufacture the tanks). The SpaceX recipe. While Spacex has the manufacture of stainless steel dominated, for China the production of tanks of this size steel is an advance, since the rockets usually be made of aluminum and carbon fiber. Calt has encountered the challenges of the material: it is more difficult to mechanize than aluminum, and more prone to buckling and deformation in the welds. Overcoming these obstacles has required, according to the state company, “several key technical advances” in assembly, welding and forming. But there are two good reasons why Spacex chose steel: its price (it is cheap and can be manufactured on a large scale) and its resistance (Starship has demonstrated a great capacity to resist the atmospheric braking), a crucial feature for a rocket that aspires to be total and quickly reusable. From partial to totally reusable. China’s plan is first develop a partially reusable version of the CZ-9, scheduled for 2030, and then evolve towards total reuse with version CZ-9BR at some point between 2033 and 2035. Another similarity with Spacex is the number of engines and the chosen fuel: 30 YF-215 methane with 200 tons of thrust each in its first stage, for a total load capacity of 150 tons to the low orbit. So that. The potential uses of CZ-9 They are so varied As in the case of Starship: establish a manned lunar base, display central gigantic solar energy in spaceto launch space telescopes and, yes, manned missions to Mars. Image | CALT In Xataka | Elon Musk’s warning to the US government is true: China is getting closer to having its own starship

Before the lack of steel, the ships of World War II began to be built with an unusual material: concrete

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Close your eyes and think about the main material of a ship. Quite possibly Wood is the first Let it come to mind, and it is normal: we have millennia sailing in wooden ships, and we continue to do so. But it is also logical that the steel that dominated the XX and XX shipsand the Current marine monstersit is around ideas. And most likely you have not thought of another material: the concrete. But yes, for 150 years we were creating concrete ships, and far from crazy, it was the most logical idea. And even used in the first and Second World War. A Frenchman. A good day from the mid -nineteenth century, a French man named Joseph-Louis Lambot It occurred to him to build a boat. Not anyone: one of reinforced concrete. There was a problem: in 1848, they had no idea what reinforced concrete was. This material, basically, is the mixture between concrete and steel. Both combine to create something with much greater structural resistance and has been since their invention the basis of the most imposing, dams and almost any construction of the last century. Well, it was Joseph-Louis that came up with the two materials. At least, I know attribute The invention of reinforced concrete to this man. As always, there is controversy with the dates, with whom he patented the reinforced concrete, who built the first slab, etc. But well: Lambot wanted to prove his invention and built a small boat less than four meters with the aim of exhibiting it in the Universal Exhibition of Paris of 1855. Enough advantages. Basically, the interior was wire mesh covered by cement and Lambot’s idea was to completely replace the wood. The invention liked it, but it really did not attract the attention of ship manufacturers. Some barges were created for European channels, but little else. Everything changed when the Italian engineer Carlo Gabellini built the Liguria in 1896. It is the one we consider as the first reinforced concrete ship designed to navigate on the high seas. And, really, it made sense to create reinforced concrete ships. It is a material that has great corrosion resistance, so the marine environment does not damage the helmet, reducing maintenance (that also has it) and extending its useful life. It offered good thermal insulation, so perishable resources could be transported in better conditions and there were no fire problems. The Namsenfjord In the absence of bread … A few years later, the construction of these concrete ships expanded and other countries began to build, especially freighters. But of course, we are in 1914 and that means something happened: the World War I. And beyond the advantages of concrete against other materials, the world was forced to create concrete ships for a very simple reason: There was no steel. The militarization and industrialization of the belligerent forces caused a situation of Steel shortage. The ships were important, since the naval supremacy It has always been a determining factor in a conflict, but with the steel necessary for a destroyer you could create many other things. And the problem is that they had to continue building ships because there were resources to move worldwide. World War I. The revolution came with the Namsenfjorda Norwegian ship that, in 1917, showed that self -propelled concrete ships could be made. It was 26 meters in length and weighed a whopping 400 tons and most importantly: the United States saw that there was a potential in these ships beyond serving as charges propelled by an auxiliary ship. Thus, they created the Emergency Fleet Corporation program with the aim of producing 24 concrete ships. It was a failure: those who completed themselves, did it after the war, so it had to be allocated in other things. One was the SS FAithwhich was going to serve in the war, but in the end it remained to be used in transport work in the United States. It was thrown in 1919, it was in service until in 1921 it was sold to Cuba and had a length of 97.54 meters. A year after Faith, the SS Selmaa huge reinforced concrete mole of 129.54 meters in length that was launched just the day when Germany signed the Treaty of Versaillesending the First World War. It ended up using as a oil tanker in the Gulf of Mexico. With candles and a secondary support motor Demolish disadvantages. With the finished war, interest in the construction of concrete ships deflated. It still had advantages, because building them was much cheaper than making them in steel or iron, but if we mentioned a series of advantages, it is important to know the disadvantages (which exceed them, and by far). To match the resistance of a steel helmet, the concrete is thicker, which has several limitations. On the one hand, it weighs more, so it also has a major draft, the displacement of the ship is slower and more fuel is needed. That is thicker implies that there is less interior space for load, since the useful volume is reduced. That weight makes engines must be more powerful and that fuel tanks are also greater, so the investment in this part is greater. The dike to build it must also be monstrous because you cannot weld parts, such as steel, and then there is resistance to impacts. Second World War. The metal breaks, yes, but it has a greater elasticity than the concrete. This material, however, is much more fragile to impacts. A collision causes a crack in the helmet, and this on a ship that weighs so much is a conviction. That is why, after the great war, the concrete ship project was abandoned, leaving its construction practically limited to the loading barges, but then World War II arrived, and the steel needs of the previous one were repeated. However, the US program was not as ambitious as the one that began 20 years before and yes, concrete ships were … Read more

Trump’s blow to the wind and steel

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On his first day as president, Donald Trump signed an executive act in which he canceled wind projects and announced new oil perforations. Now, Spain has been harmed. Short. The United States International Trade Court (CIT) has imposed a 28.55% tariff for exports from Spanish companies Siemens Gamesa and Windar renewable. The court has ruled that these companies were selling wind towers manufactured in Spain at lower prices of the market value, which constitutes a practice of dumping. The decision was made on January 28, but has been published on February 11 in the Federal Registry. This new rate represents an update with respect to the tariff Antidumping Provisional of 73% established in 2021. The sentence. Four years ago, the Cit discovered that some Spanish companies sold wind towers at prices below the right value in the US. Siemens Gamesa challenged the initial decision that imposed a tariff of 73%, claiming that it was illegal. In a new review, the Commerce Department reduced the margin of Dumping to 28.55%. Finally, the judge confirmed this decision, rejecting the allegations that Siemens Gamesa should not be investigated or that there was an illegal fusion with Windar. He also dismissed the claim that the export price was determined incorrectly. The real impact of the tariff. Although the anti -dumping tariff has alerted more than one, it is expected that it has no impact for the sector, since the export strategy to the US was already influenced by the administration’s protectionist policies. In the case of Siemens Gamesa, the imposition of this rate would not affect him, since He stopped exporting Torres manufactured in Spain to the United States two years ago, after a provisional tariff of 73% in 2021 that made competitiveness unfeasible. In this way, Spanish companies of wind towers have been reoriented towards closer and more stable markets, mainly in Europe. The answer from Spain. The affected companies have not issued an official statement, but they have done so from the political sphere. In the Congress of Deputies, President Pedro Sánchez has expressed Its rejection of the imposition of tariffs by Trump in important sectors such as steel, aluminum and wind towers. In addition, Sánchez has declared that, in case others initiate a commercial war, the country will support the European Union in the defense of its economic interests. More tariffs. In addition to wind towers, Donald Trump’s administration has imposed more rates On steel and aluminum imports, a measure that had already been implemented during its first mandate. As stated by the US president himself, This 25% tax Its objective is to protect national producers, but has generated tensions with allies and increased costs for US manufacturers who depend on these metals. Statements from Europe. The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has issued a statement in which she rejects the Trump policies related to the imposition of tariffs on European exports of steel and aluminum. The president has stressed that these measures are harmful to both companies and consumers. In addition, he has warned that the European Union will take countermeasures to safeguard the economic interests of the block. Image | Unspash and Daniel Torok Xataka | The future of Temu and Shein in the United States has two problems: tariffs and doctrine “of Minimis”

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