thermal

why the head is not the thermal “chimney” that we have always been told

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When winter approaches, many people cannot go outside without some basic items, such as a jacket, gloves and also a hat. The latter, in addition to being a complement that suits some very well, has also represented a mantra that has been repeated on different occasions: heat ‘escapes’ largely through the head. There are nuances. This is something that is accompanied by stratospheric figures, such as between 40 and 50% of our body heat ‘escapes’ through the skull. But the truth is that science adds nuances to these data so that we can be much calmer, although in the case of newborns we can have an interesting debate. The origin. To understand why half the world believes that the head works like a human chimney, you have to travel to the 1970s. And more specifically to the United States Army Survival Manual. At that time, experiments were carried out with subjects exposed to extreme cold temperatures. The methodological problem, or rather the subsequent interpretation, was that the participants were wearing arctic survival suits that covered the entire body… except the head. Logically, when measuring the heat loss, the researchers found that most of it escaped through the only area that was bare. And from here arose the need to wear a hat because almost all the heat was released from this part. What is known now. Subsequent studies have been responsible for dismantling this belief. that 40-50% of the heat is released through the skull. The conclusion of science indicates that physical reality is much simpler, since heat loss is proportional to the surface of exposed skin. In this way, if the head of an adult represents approximately 7% of the body surface, it will contribute only to diffuse 7-10% of body heat that is being lost. They have proven it again. In addition to the most classic studies that have been done, science has also wanted to analyze this phenomenon in cold water swimmers. using neoprene suitscomparing when their head is submerged and when it is above the water. Here it was seen that the skull does not dissipate heat disproportionately, but is simply exposed skin with nothing special that indicates that it should be protected more than another part of the body. The cold of the head. Although the percentage of heat lost here is low, there are physiological reasons to protect it. Specifically, the head, and especially the face and scalp, are areas with very little fat or muscle insulation compared to other parts of the body. In addition, they have a large number of blood vessels and thermal receptors on the surface, which makes them much more sensitive to the sensation of cold. This means that, although 50% of the heat is not lost through the skull, cooling the head gives us greater thermal discomfortso by covering it we feel much warmer. In addition, it also acts on cardiovascular reflexes and lowering core temperature. Therefore, wearing a hat in winter is useful, but it works the same as wearing gloves or a good scarf: it is another layer of insulation, not a magic cap. An exception. There is always an exception to every rule, and in this case they are in babies. in a newbornthe head is enormous in proportion to the rest of the body, occupying a much greater percentage of body surface than in an adult. This means that they do lose more heat here than in any other part of the body, and that is why we always see a baby with a hat on almost from the time they are in their first days of life. Science has pointed out Because in full-term newborns, an insulating hat can reduce total heat loss by 75% and oxygen consumption by 85% compared to being naked. In low resource settings or in low weight babies, the use of wool hats is clearly associated with a lower incidence of hypothermia. But with control. In healthy, full-term babies who are in warm rooms, or practicing the skin-to-skin method, the evidence suggests that the hat does not always provide a clear extra benefit and even, if combined with excessive warmth, it can promote overheating. With or without a hat. In conclusionit must be taken into account that the head is not a special part where a large amount of heat is released. However, in everyday life it is usually the only part of the body that we wear naked in winter and it has little natural insulation, so covering it is an efficient strategy to improve thermal comfort. Images | Jonathan J. Castellon In Xataka | The cold is so savage that Ukraine has activated the most kamikaze option: the “50,000 Russians per month” or giving Moscow what it wants

thermal lurches have weeks left

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Suddenly and without warning, the cold has crept into Spain. More than half the country is waking up with temperatures close to zero And, although it is true that the afternoons are still mild, millions of people are faced with the big question of the moment: is it time to change clothes? Or what is the same, translated into meteorological terms, is the cold here to stay? What has happened? In reality, it is not so much what has happened, but what is happening and what is going to happen. Because in the coming days, we are going to see very rapid temperature jumps (“from ice to sun in 48 hours“, with increases and subsequent decreases). We have already seen it: Ciudad Real went from a minimum of 13 to a minimum of 5 from one day to the next. Teruel, Salamanca or Palencia dropped below zero degrees. And, although in the abstract it is not strange that as we approach November the days are increasingly colder, the heat is holding so much so that the “saw teeth” are much more pronounced. Temperature changes are so marked that they are no longer just meteorological curiosities: they are causing problems in people’s daily lives. Is it going to continue like this? This is interesting. According to AEMETNovember is going to be relatively warm at least during the first fortnight. Warm anomalies and above-average precipitation. However, the ECMWF suggests That’s where the “heat” ends. To that first fortnight with thermal values ​​still above average and strong Atlantic circulation (i.e., more generous rainfall on the western slope); It seems that a second half of November will follow in which a possible pattern change will bring more normalized temperatures. Because? On a technical level, what we are seeing is the product of an alternation of warm ridges and cold fronts. We are talking about mild days, open skies and thermal rises, followed by abrupt drops as cooler maritime air enters. What does all this translate into? In a very pronounced thermal variability. That is to say, a heightened risk of isolated frosts in the interior despite the fact that the days are mild and pleasant. This will have strong impacts in agriculture (especially stone fruits and autumn products), in energy demand (at such an uncertain time) and health (the early arrival of respiratory infections). All this punctuated by a series of Atlantic storms that will repeatedly impact the west; while the Mediterranean will be relatively calm with probable scares against DANAs or undulations of the jet stream. So, is the cold here to stay? In the short term, no. The models point to a soft first half of November compared to the average, with occasional declines. The stable cold seems to be delayed until the second half of November. Image | Tomer Burg In Xataka | A group of researchers is trapped in an Antarctic base under a threat: that of one of them.

It is so hot in Granada that there has been one of the most extreme phenomena of the weather: thermal burst

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This Sunday on the Tropical Costa de Granada An unusual phenomenon has been recordedbut it has caused great ravages. While people were trying to pass in the water the heat wave in which we are now, in a few minutes everything changed to have a hurricane and scorching wind on top. It reached such a speed that made the umbrellas and chairs shot as projectiles. And it was not a simple summer storm, but a phenomenon known as thermal burst. What happened on the Granada coast. The sequence of the facts was dizzying. Shortly before 19:45, 112 emergency services The first calls began to receive Notice. The alerters, from different points of the Tropical Costa, talked about hurricane winds that even threw palm trees of the promenade. The climax of the phenomenon, According to the Aemet, It was recorded at 19:50 with a temperature that shot sharply until 40.1 ° C. Jointly, wind gusts reached a speed of 86.8 km/h officially, although in different social networks users suggest that these speeds They reached 100 km/h. A phenomenon that concentrated in different municipalities such as Motril, Salobreña, Torrenueva, Carchuna and Almuñécar. Click on the image to access the publication. Chaos on the beach and bailouts in the sea. Shared testimonies on social networks paint a collective horror picture. A citizen He reported: “I was there on the beach and the situation has been horrible, I have not had worse in my life.” The disseminated images In social networks they showed people running to their cars, which caused traffic jams on the exit roads of the coast. Although the greatest danger materialized in the water. The rapid evolution of this meteorological phenomenon caused people to practice aquatic sports, and the wind caught several people who saw how they crawled inside and preventing returning to the shore by their own means. This triggered an operation where Seven people had to be rescued in front of the beaches of Torrenueva Costa and Carchuna. A rescue that was carried out by maritime rescue, but also by private vessels that prevented this situation from becoming a great tragedy. A rapid official response. Given the violence of such an unpredictable phenomenon, the beaches of the affected municipalities They had to be evacuated. At 20:20, the mayor of Motril, Luisa García Chamorro, launched an urgent notice Through its social networks which reflected the seriousness of the situation, asking not to go outside and have a lot of caution. A term comfort does not arise from nothing. They require an atmospheric configuration Very specifica “recipe” that this Sunday was perfect in Granada. The main ingredient was The extreme heat accumulated during the prolonged heat wave. This heat not only affected the surface, but created a deep layer of very hot air, and crucially very dry at the average levels of the atmosphere, several kilometers high from where the burst was given. Meanwhile, on the sea, the air in contact with the water was comparatively cooler and more humble. This stratification with a very hot and dry air in height on a cooler and more wet layer near the surface is the ideal culture broth. The scenario was completed with the formation of convective storms on the mountains of the interior of Granada, which acted as the trigger for the process. Of the rain that never falls to the scorching wind. The process of formation of a thermal burst is a fascinating paradox of thermodynamics, where a process that begins with an external cooling culminates in a burst of scorching heat. It can be broken down into four key steps According to the Aemet technical guides: The descendant current: everything begins within a storm cloud where a powerful current of descending air is generated that drags rainfall. Sudden evaporation: As this column of air and rain plummets, it meets the extremely dry and hot air layer that had been formed before. The dry air ‘absorbs’ voraciously all precipitation, causing it to evaporate completely before reaching the ground, something that is known as ‘virga’. Evaporation is a process that consumes energy, abruptly cooling the air of the descending column. This air, now much colder and dense than the one that surrounds it, collapses towards the ground at a dizzying speed. Compression warming: Once all the water has evaporated, the cooling process ceases. The air column, and if “refrigerant”, continues its free fall. When descending, atmospheric pressure quickly increases by compressing the mass of air. This compression is client at an extraordinary pace, known as dry adiabatic gradient. The impact or burst. Finally, this extremely hot, dense and dry air bubble violates the ground, like an invisible hammer. Unable to continue descending, it expands horizontally in all directions at high speed, generating destructive and sudden wind gusts and intense temperature rise that characterizes the phenomenon. It is not the same as a tornado. Sometimes this phenomenon can be confused with a tornado, but There are differences. While in the tornado the wind revolves around a vertical axis, in the bursting the winds are descending and linear. Climate change will make them more frequent. Thermal bursts are a natural phenomenon, but climate change is causing them to be more frequent. The report of the IPCC scientific experts It is unequivocal: heat waves are now more frequent, more durable and more intense due to global warming. The Granada event was no exception. It was the culmination of a historical heat wave in Andalusia. As explained before, the temperature is the fundamental ingredient that creates and dry the necessary atmospheric layer for the thermal burst to activate. An ordinary storm, in a less extreme environment, could have generated a cold front that refreshes the environment. However, when interacting with an “prepared” atmosphere by anomalous heat, the result was the violent explosion of scorching air. More energy and more extreme. The connection goes beyond heat waves. One of the most direct consequences of the increase in global temperatures is that the atmosphere can retain more … Read more

It comes from the Andalusian mountain and burns in French thermal

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While Europe profile new sanctions Against Russia in the energy sector, the clock runs to fill the reserves for winter. In this context, France has decided to look south to supply its thermal plants and reduce its gas dependence: Andalusian biomass is placed in the center of the solution. Short. From the port of Seville a new export operation of forest biomass has come out to an electricity generation plant in the French region of Provence and Costa Azul. As reported by the Junta de Andalucía through a press release4,200 tons of biomass have been loaded, from jungle treatments made in Andalusian mountains and managed by the Novalis company. This operation is part of a public-private collaboration model that seeks to value the forest resources of Andalusia and position biomass as an exportable energy alternative. A paradigm shift. This type of exports shows a deep transformation in territory management: what was previously a residue or a fire risk, today becomes a clean energy resource with international demand. Andalusian woody biomass not only generates renewable energy, but does it with a neutral fingerprint in carbon, contributing to the decarbonization objectives of the European Union. In addition, active jungle improves the structure of forests and reduces plant load, which helps prevent forest fires. “For years conservation was confused with inaction and that has led to the abandonment of many mountains,” has pointed out in Europa Press The general director of Forestry Policy and Biodiversity, Juan Ramón Pérez Valenzuela. The process. The model is based on the tender for forest exploits on public land, especially in areas of high ecological value and risk of depopulation. Cleaning tasks, clareos and jungle treatments are carried out by specialized companies. Once classified and shipyard, biomass is exported through logistics infrastructure to energy facilities in France, Italy, Denmark and Sweden. Since the operation started in 2019, the port of Seville You have seen come out More than 400,000 tons of biomass: wood, cork and even olive bone that now serve to generate clean energy in Europe. Only the Sevillana Novalis company has moved more than 100,000 tons. If the exports also carried out from Huelva, Puerto Real or Almería are added, the total already exceeds 640,000 tons to countries of the north and east of the continent. Now there is no bottleneck. Spain has been seen as a Cul-de-Sac energetic: With limited infrastructures and with hardly any interconnections with central Europe. But when he is interestedas this operation demonstrates from Seville, it can be removed to the sea and what was only gas in gas pipelines, now they are mountains converted into heat. It is not the only case, since companies like Burpellet, in the small bourgeois town of Doña Santos, They consolidate this idea. With a production of up to 150,000 tons per year, its plant demonstrates that biomass can be a viable industrial solution for rural areas, without losing its local scale. The mountain as the energy of the future. The Junta de Andalucía does not hide your bet. The operation in the port of Seville is a sample of the deployment of the Andalusian Forest Plan Horizon 2030, which mobilizes 300 million euros per year to promote the multifunctional management of the mountain. And it will also be the basis for a future mountain law that consolidates the productive and sustainable use of the territory. At a time when Europe fears the cold of winter and heat of energy crises, Andalusia sends more than splinters: exports clean energy, active forest management and future for their peoples. The mountain, finally, is again the protagonist. Image | Port of Seville Xataka | Sea water to heat the streets: the idea of a German city to have more sustainable heating

Thermal relief is already here but with a hand warning

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The heat, undisputed protagonist of the first half of summer, seems to give us A truce. This time it is not a two or three day truce in which storms lower the temperature for a couple of days before the return of temperatures even more extreme than the previous ones. More fresh. Meteorological models foresee a week closer to normal as far as temperatures are concerned. Moreover: during the next few days We can see negative thermal anomalies In much of the Iberian Peninsula, that is, cooler temperatures than would correspond to these dates. Looking at the polar jet. How have we gone from a record heat to this “normality”? The answer to this question seems to be, mainly, in the Polar jet. More specifically, in the undulations that this current draws over its course. The polar jet is a barrier that separates cold air masses from the warmer air pole from subrtical latitudes. When winding can make polar air masses reach lower latitudes, bringing instability to these areas, which is what is expected to occur this week. We continue in summer. Of course from the State Meteorology Agency (Aemet) Remember that we continue in summer, and near the cannula, so fresh temperatures do not imply that heat will be completely. The forecasts Aemet talk about temperatures that could continue to exceed 34º in areas of the south during much of the week. In fact the Keep several notices For high temperatures for the next few days, in some areas of Andalusia, Murcia and Alicante. These notices will live on Wednesday with storms and rain warnings in some areas of the Pyrenees. Thermal relief will not imply a somewhat revolt situation. A new trough. And it is that thermal relief will not imply a less revolt situation. A trough driven by the polar jet will bring storms that can be intense in areas of the north and west. It is expected that the worst of this episode will begin to be noticed on Wednesday north of the Mediterranean aspect, extending during the following days to Levante and Balearic Islands. According to Describe Geographer Samuel Biener In Meteored, “it is not an episode of generalized rains, but of torments of a very irregular nature and capable of generating adverse phenomena, something that is common at this time.” On Friday the trough will lose its influence on our territory. Back to heat? By the weekend the situation could change again, which seems to indicate the return of heat for next week. Although There is still uncertaintysome models indicate the return of the heat at altitude, which would advance the arrival of new warm episodes such as those we saw the month of June. It may be more if we take into account its proximity to the days of cannula. In Xataka | The hydrological bonanza could not be eternal: drought is a real threat after an extremely warm, and also dry June Image | ECMWF

Planting the heat of Córdoba in summer is impossible. I have tried a personal thermal dissipator to at least try

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I do not discover anything to anyone if I say that In Córdoba it is hotter than on Charmander’s birthday. We have many good and beautiful things, such as the Mosque-Catedral, Medina Azahara or the Alcazar of the Christian Kings. This is the only city in the world with four assets of humanity, The first person to fly did in Córdoba And for having, we have even A traffic light with artificial intelligence. But if there is something we have and that we are left over, it is, without a doubt, heat. There are those who fight this excess of Celsius degrees leaving Fuengirola (also called Córdoba II). Others put in front of the fanunder the air conditioning or call the friend who has a pool at home with the excuse of “how long without seeing us.” I, for my part, have tried in a less conventional way. I have done it with a personal thermal dissipator of Sony: the Reon Pocket Pro. It is put below the shirt, but so you can see the size better and where it should be placed | Image: Xataka Terus dissipator … what? I know it sounds a bit strange (not as much as Go to the gym with an exoskeletonwhich also made), so we go in parts. The Sony Reon Pocket Pro is a portable thermal device that cools and heats the part of the body with which it comes into contact. That part is precisely the upper back area, just below the neck. It is not a portable air conditioning, much less. How does it work? The device incorporates two independent thermal modules in the rear that cool or heat according to the context (then we return to this) and a fan that extracts the heat from our body and expels it above. The two thermal plates alternate, so that when one reaches a certain temperature, the other is deactivated and activated so that the sensation of freshness is constant. These two plates work independently and cool or heat | Image: Xataka How do you get? We have to place it so that the two plates touch our body and the upper air exit protrudes slightly from the shirt. If we wear a shirt, we can use the adapter. The device is slightly curved, thus respecting our natural curve, and has a pair of flexible tubes that are placed around the neck and keep it subject. These, by the way, are not seen, but they stay under the shirt. And yes, they are noticed. The air exit should stay above the neck of the shirt | Image: Xataka These moorings should also be placed below the shirt | Image: Xataka Is it comfortable? Depends. It is acceptable if we take it while we walk or We are perfectly seated (With a straight back), and that weighs about 200 grams. If we change posture, for example, more reclined in the chair or lying on the couch, impossible. As for noise, I have not appreciated that the fan makes more account noise. I wear it right now and in my office, where only the noise of my mechanical keyboard is heard, I do not appreciate it in excess. However, I must say that it seems like a device too large and that finding the exact location in which it must be placed is complicated. It is not so “of remove and put” as perhaps you could expect a device like this, but you have to place it well, in its place, if we want it to work correctly. That it is more or less comfortable will depend, in large part, on the position we adopt | Image: Xataka Ok, but it cools? Let’s go to the point. The Reon Pocket Pro can be used in two ways: manual or automatic. If we establish it in manual, we can configure (via buttons or via app) the target temperature and the device will be in charge of reaching it. If we establish it in automatic, it will use, in addition to the data of the device itself, those of the Reon Pocket Tag to determine the objective temperature depending on the ambient temperature, the humidity and even the exposure to direct light. The problem is that this small sensor works well if it is abroad. If we carry it in the pocket (it is fully designed to hang it on the keys or in the pants), the data can vary. In any case, it works well and if we are going to use it in a room like an office for a while, just leave it on the table and forget about it. Reon pocket tag | Image: Xataka As for the sensation, it is … curious. As soon as we put it, we will notice how the surface of the neck begins to cool (or heat). It is almost instantaneous. With the passage of the latter, the sensation of freshness is improving and, thanks to the two thermal modules that are alternating, it is constant. And yes, cool. Now, the reality is that the one that is: the sensation of freshness, within that it relieves even going down the street, is very localized in the area near the location of the device. The cold mode sensation is the same as if you carry a bag of ice cubes on the back. In heat mode, it reminds me a lot of thermal blankets for neck pain. Image | Xataka On the battery. Using it at a medium cold temperature, the device lasts practically one day. A working day endures it without problem. At a lower or greater temperature, depending on the way we choose, less autonomy. In that sense, the use of hot mode spends more than cold mode, but for obvious reasons I have not used it just during these days. As for the load, it is completed in approximately three hours. So… Is it pleasant? It is, especially when you put it … Read more

We have discovered the largest underground thermal lake in the world. It is at the bottom of a more than 100 meters aser in Albania

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Albania has just been crowned on the world geological map. And big. There, on the border with Greece, a tens of meters deep, an expedition has identified the largest underground thermal lake on the planet. His name, Neuron. Its figures: more than 183 m long, 42 wide and sufficient water to fill A few Olympic pools. The finding confirms the scope of a discovery that dates back several years ago but whose relevance has only been confirmed now, with the help of a Lidar scanner. Its history is as curious as its size. “A steam column”. To understand the scope of the discovery you have to go back a few years ago, at 2021 and 2002, when a team of Czech scientists launched Vromoner, in southern Albania, near the border with Greece. The area resulted especially interesting For geologists because for years the convulsive political context of Balkans had hindered that scientists could thoroughly examine it. There the experts found a vast underground system of thermal sources thanks to a curious track: a steam stream. “From the high vapor column that rose from the limestone massif we managed to locate a chasm of more than one hundred meters deep,” Marek Audy tellsHead of the expedition. They called her atmos. When exploring it, they took an even greater surprise (literally): they found an intense thermal activity and a “great lake.” How large and broad it was, however, it became an unknown that then, for technical issues, they could not clarify. A (huge) suspicion. Which I was clear Audy team was that it had found something big, huge. And again both words can be understood in their most literal sense. The team suspected that the water extension that had been located in Albania was the largest underground thermal lake in the world, at least among those known today. Hence, later the researchers returned to the Sima in a new expedition provided with a reinforced technical arsenal. Thanks to the support of the Neuron Foundation, which contributed funds, the geologists achieved a special lidar scanner and the software necessary to measure the area. The objective of the researchers –The Neuron Foundation reported Before the expedition left – it was to make a map, a 3D model of the underground cave and the lake and even collect samples of animals from the banks. The result of that incursion has been waiting, but it was worth it: today those responsible presume having identified the largest underground thermal lake in the world. A “unique” lake. In a wink to the foundation that supported the project to the lake, Neuron has been baptized. What surprises however is not its name, but its size: 138.3 meters in length by 42 wide with a circle of 345 m. Inside it hosts around 8,335 m3 of thermal mineral water and those who have had the opportunity to visit it highlight the show of its dome, three times greater than that of the main room of the Prague National Theater. “The phenomenon has been subject to a thorough hydrogeological study to confirm its singularity,” The Foundation stands outwhich emphasizes that it is a “unique” lake. And how did they measure it? The team did not start from scratch. Richard Bouda, photographer and member of the expedition, Explain to Euronews that during the first visit they had already prepared a “basic map” with the resources they had. When they returned they did it, however, with a mobile lidar scanner and the system Geoslam which allowed them to precisely probe the cave and the lake. Not just that. They also traced a detailed map of Atmos, including other caves, such as sulfur. “We believe that this discovery will help protect the area and to better understand hydrological flows. Until now, nobody knew precisely how these groundwater connect to the surface,” Bouda comments. The team also trusts that the finding has an impact on the hydrological and geological studies of the region. Images | Neuron 1 and 2 In Xataka | A cave in France hid a strange rock formation. Some researchers believe that it could be a 3D map

The thermal expansion has been a headache for centuries. Now we are learning how to dodge it

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Heat tends to make the materials expand and gain volume, a volume that is then reduced when the temperature drops. This is a problem for architects and engineers since this effect is very noticeable in metals such as steel. What if we could avoid this problem? A new alloy. A group of scientists has created a new alloy that barely shows thermal expansion along a wide temperature fork. The key to development has been in invar, an alloy with similar properties that has previously been deciphered. 100 years of mystery. Invar is an alloy composed of iron, nickel and other elements with an extremely low thermal expansion coefficient, that is, an alloy that is barely dilated to an increase in temperatures. In a fork that covers more than 400 k (that is, more than 400º Celsius), invaria only expands 0.0001% of its length for each degree Celsius (or for each Kelvin). This alloy was created at the end of the 19th century by Charles Édouard Guillaume, who I would receive the Nobel Prize in Physics In 1920 “for its discovery of anomalies in the steel and nickel alloys.” We have needed a century since the award concession to begin to understand the underlying science in this low thermal expansion. Thermal expansion. The phenomenon of thermal expansion is an old acquaintance. As those responsible for the new work explain, this phenomenon is the result of the same movement of atoms (remember that the temperature is nothing other than that). When the atoms get hot, they move more and that makes more space need, then the material expands. This phenomenon, they continue to point out, is inevitable, but understanding it in detail opens the door to create new materials that somehow balance this effect. To study it, the team resorted to computer simulations that allowed analyzing the behavior of magnetic materials on tiny scales. “This allowed us to better understand the reason why invaria is hardly expanding,” said Segii Khmelevskyi, co -author of the new study. The effect is due to changes in the state of the electrons that occur as the temperature increases. These changes counteract “almost exactly” the thermal expansion of the material, adds Khmelevskyi. From theory to practice. Knowing the theory opens the way to the creation of new alloys capable of overcoming thermal expansion. It is precisely what the study responsible for the study did, put their findings into practice. And the result is what they have called Pyrocloro magnet. The new alloy combines more than two compounds: zirconium, niobium, iron and cobalt. “It is a material with an extremely under thermal coefficient above a range of unprecedented temperatures,” says Yili Cao, development co -author. “The effect is because certain electrons change its status as the temperature increases. The magnetic order of the material decreases, which makes the material contract, ”explains CAO. This effect is precisely analogous to the one seen in invar. The secret is irregularity. The team explains that the marked of the effect is also to the fact that the Pyroclloric magnet does not have a perfect network structure, that is, with the atoms arranged forming a regular and repeated pattern, but more heterogeneous. Some areas contain more or less cobalt which makes the material expand and contract in an almost identical proportion. Development details were published In an article In the magazine National Science Review. In Xataka | Cheaper, durable and ecological: a new material with the help of ruthenium wants to change the rules of green hydrogen Image | Your Wien

It was inaugurated in 2014 as the largest solar thermal energy plant in the world. Will close after setting fire to birds

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The huge Ivanpah thermosolar energy plant, opened in 2014 in the Mojave desert, will close after just 11 years of operation. An accelerated end for its history of technical, economic and environmental problems. Context. The thermal concentration energy, once considered one of the most avant -garde technologies for clean electricity generation, is not going through its best moment. Especially in Nevada, where Crescent Dunes fiasco was already very popular. The concentration thermoso use thousands of mirrors, or “heliosteats”, which follow the trajectory of the sun to concentrate its light on central towers. In these towers, extreme heat is used to heat water and produce steam, which drives turbines connected to electric generators. The Ivanpah case. The Ivanpah plant was built with an investment of 1.6 billion dollars in loans from the United States Department of Energy and long -term contracts for important electrical companies. It was the world’s largest solar thermal energy Until the inauguration of Port Augusta In Australia. 11 years after its inauguration, the huge thermosolar has begun to close by not fulfilling its initial expectations. The lack of profitability condemned her. A succession of failures and complaints from environmental groups for their impact on wildlife accelerated their end. A complex technology. One of the main problems has been the difficulty of maintaining mirrors aligned precisely. Technology, which requires an exact monitoring of the sun, has proven unstable and unreliable in practice, says a CNN report. The maintenance of the complex mechanisms and the management of the turbines in turn generate high operating costs, which has made concentration thermosar loses competitiveness compared to other renewable technologies, especially photovoltaic solar, whose prices have collapsed. A Bird Incinerate Machine. Criticisms are not limited to technical aspects. The Ivanpah plant has been questioned for years for its environmental impact, especially in the wildlife of the desert. Environmental groups denounce the irreparable damage in the habitat of species such as desert turtle. But also The death of birds that are incinerated by intense rays concentrated by mirrors. A second Crescent dunes. The case of Crescent Dunes, also occurred in Nevada, reinforces this image of failure of the thermosolar energy. This project, which was intended to be one of the milestones in energy innovation and storage through molten salts, ended up becoming a multimillionaire waste. Developed By the Spanish group ACSpromised continuous production of electricity, even during the hours without light, thanks to the thermal storage in salts. In practice, Crescent Dunes never managed to deliver the amount of promised energy and ended up breaking due to engineering and management problems. In the shadow of the photovoltaic. In short, the rapid drop in photovoltaic technology and its lower impact on wildlife have obsolete concentration thermos. While solar panels have gained efficiency and reducing their installation and maintenance costs, thermosolar plants have lagged behind in terms of competitiveness, which has led to investors and electrical companies reconsidering their bets in this type of projects. In Xataka | The first solar plant of Central Torre to explode commercially is in Seville: a pioneer that has survived more ambitious

In 2011, a collector bought in Morocco a meteorite. It has turned out to be a direct test of thermal water on Mars

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A black stone that had fallen from the sky was discovered in the Sahara desert by a Saharawi group. Selling to the highest bidder, we have known for a long time that it comes from the Mars cortex, but they have had to spend more than 10 years for scientists to desert one of their best kept secrets. A meteorite called “Black Beauty”. Officially called Northwest Africa 7034, the 320 grams rock was found in 2011 in the Sahara desert, in Western Sahara, and later sold to an American collector in Morocco. Its composition is unique among known Martian meteorites. It contains very old and very young minerals glued to each other, but coincides with what was observed by NASA’s rovers on the surface of Mars, so it was part of the Martian cortex when it detached from the red planet. A time capsule. A Recent study It focuses on a zircon grain found in the meteorite. This zircon has no less than 4,450 million years, which places it in the earliest stages of Martian history. The majority of known meteorites that come from Mars are from later geological periods, so NWA 7034 provides invaluable information on what the surface environment of the red planet was long before becoming what it is today. The meteorite that contains the most water. What makes Black Beauty exceptional is that it houses 10 times more water than other Martian meteorites. It was known that by the interaction of the rock with the water present in the crust of the planet at the time of its formation, but the recent analysis of the zircon with modern microscopy techniques has revealed much more information. The fragment contains iron, aluminum and sodium, unusual elements for a zircon of purely magmatic origin. But it is above all the presence of tiny inclusions of magnetite (iron oxide) that suggests that it crystallized under hydrothermal conditions. That is, in the presence of water at high temperature, and in an oxidizing environment. Ancient hot springs. The magnetite is trapped in zones of the zirch that are not altered by radiation, which indicates that they were formed at the same time as the zirch, and not as a result of subsequent secondary processes, the researchers explain. What the study comes to say is that 4,450 million years ago, during what is known as the pre-ondic period of Mars, there were already hydrothermal conditions in the Martian cortex. The Black Beauty meteorite is a direct proof that Mars had water in its formation stages. Favorable conditions for life. The finding reinforces the hypothesis that Mars had from very early the necessary conditions to house life, or at least some environments suitable for microbial life. That there was life on Mars or that it arrived on earth through a meteorite is still two hypotheses for which we have no evidence. However, that a meteorite of 2011 has given us so much information and reasons to continue investigating demonstrates how important the Martian samples can be that NASA and China want to bring in the coming years. Images | New Mexico University, NASA

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