What to Expect from coming 6G?

6G is the Next Generation of Cellular Tech  

It feels like 5G just came yesterday, but we're already looking ahead to 6G. Here's everything you need to know about it. After a long 5G rollout, we're finally at the point where flagship phones and networks no longer need to advertise the current cellular technology as a feature, it's the standard. To that end, we're seeing 5G coverage improve nationwide, and new form factors like smartwatches are starting to support the network, too. You may have just gotten used to using 5G instead of 4G LTE, but 6G is much closer than you think. When it succeeds 5G in 2030, the next-gen mobile network will focus on upload speeds, AI and radar-like “sensing” of vehicles, devices and people. 5G came with many promises. Remote surgery, where surgeons operate thousands of miles away from patients; driverless cars talking to each other and autonomously navigating highways; new killer apps which would change the world as Uber did. But the cellular technology which succeeded 4G LTE didn't live up to the hype. The networking tech brought real benefits to the world, from improved latency, reducing the time it takes for data to travel from one point to another, to broader and faster coverage in dense urban areas. But most people likely won't point to 5G delivering a meaningful change in their lives like many carriers suggested as they tried to justify mass spending on their infrastructure build-outs.

At MWC 2026, industry leaders like Qualcomm and Nvidia shared their visions for the upcoming 6G mobile network, with a boatload of corporate partners in tow. For the average user, the buildout of 6G infrastructure and companies working together isn't exciting. You want to know what you'll actually be able to do with 6G. We now have that answer, and it's pretty exciting. Right now, 6G is currently in development and in the research and study phase. It will continue into 2027 and 2028, when pre-commercial devices will be tested. Then, the commercialization of 6G will happen the following year. This means you'll be able to start using 6G at the end of this decade, with the mobile network likely going mainstream in the 2030s. It sounds far away, but it'll come sooner than you think, bringing new AI and XR experiences with it. Well, get ready to hear that aspirational, forward-looking, and sometimes maybe deluded language again, this time in the lead-up to 6G, which is being paired with “AI” to create a marketing bingo bonanza. Even if the tech won't deliver a night-and-day difference to average folks like us, the industry is moving the goalposts. At Barcelona, key players like Qualcomm, Ericsson, and Nokia kicked off the hype about the next G of mobile networks. Everything goes back to artificial intelligence these days, and 6G is no exception. However, there are signs that the AI-connected world we're building will demand more from our mobile networks, and that's where 6G comes in. Specifically, global wide area network (WAN) traffic is expected to jump by between three and seven times by 2034, compared to 2023 traffic data. AI is also going to account for roughly 30% of all network traffic, according to current projections.

The AI takeover will demand faster, lower-latency connections, hence the need to deploy 6G, but it's about more than just raw traffic spikes. Industry leaders see a future where AI agents become the centerpiece of mobile ecosystems. Right now, your phone is the heart of your technology portfolio, and it connects with earbuds, smartwatches, tablets, laptops and more. In the future, AI agents might be orchestrating these hardware categories, connecting them all with streamlined software. This sounds pretty interesting, but if AI agents are working across multiple wireless devices at once, they need fast connections. That's why 6G is being built to address these traffic and speed needs. We're expecting 6G to offer a five times greater traffic capacity than 5G, and 50% higher spectral efficiency for uplink and downlink connectivity. In simple terms, this means your AI devices will be able to connect with each other and cloud servers faster than ever before. 6G will deliver connected experiences that aren't currently possible due to latency limitations. Mobile networking technology evolves every 10 or so years. We can expect 6G to be deployed globally by 2030, though some carriers could launch it in specific regions a year or two earlier. Technical discussions are already underway by industry leaders, including the mobile broadband standards body, the 3GPP. As blueprints take shape, the official requirements for 6G performance will be set by the United Nations International Telecommunication Union Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R), which will be called International Mobile Telecommunications-2030, or IMT-2030. (Following the decade-long upgrade cycle, 5G was IMT-2020, 4G was IMT-2010, and 3G was IMT-2000.)

6G will elevate public infrastructure in the next decade. 6G will also enable a sensory network which can use RF signals and drones to map out environments, powering new kinds of infrastructure, like self-driving car networks. As self-driving car systems like Waymo become mainstream, you'll need a fast, low-latency network to connect cars to control centers. You'll also need to be able to process data from sensors like cameras, radar, or LiDAR, in a near instant, and 6G will make that possible. The rollout will start with new radios on cell towers and buildings and the build-out of the computer core that orchestrates interactions between the network and the public internet. Naturally, devices will need to support 6G, so you'll eventually have to upgrade to a 6G phone the same way you needed a 5G phone. Every generation of cellular attempts to do two things at a very broad level. It attempts to overcome the limitations of the previous generation, and it attempts to add new functionality which is considered to be important. If your goal was simply to have your phone perform better and get faster speeds, then 5G is a success because your phone now is typically getting in the range of 100 to 200 megabits of downlink. That's why it's pretty easy to load up a YouTube video when you're out and about today. But where 5G had to cut corners was the uplink, and this will be a big focus of improvement with 6G. The goal is to make upload speeds symmetrical with download speeds. Even so, you can expect the usual improvements in download speed as 6G may tap into the Terahertz (THz) spectrum, higher than mm wave used in 5G, though with even shorter range, and, like with every new generation, the number of devices served by a cell tower will also go up.

Robotics is another emerging technology that's not too far away, with companies like Tesla going all-in on humanoid robots which could be controlled remotely. Just like with self-driving cars, robots need a fast and efficient network to work properly. 6G's biggest feature might be its capacity upgrade, as new uses for mobile networks like AI, self-driving cars, and robotics will increase congestion. 5G isn't fast enough, nor does it have enough capacity for the expected traffic spikes. 6G aims to solve both of those problems, and you can expect to see advances in autonomous vehicles, robotics, AI, and spatial computing coincide with the upgraded mobile network when it's ready for a commercial release. Another big feature you'll hear around 6G is “sensing,” also called joint communications and sensing, or JCAS. Think of a network functioning as a radar system, where it can infer the presence of objects and people as high-frequency radio signals bounce back to towers. This could allow operators to know precise locations of objects, their shape and size, how fast they're moving, and what kind of materials they may be made of. “There's a lot of discussion around using the 6G infrastructure when it's deployed to detect the presence of drones flying through the air, vehicles on the ground,” says Richard Burbidge, principal technologist at the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions. “I wouldn't say everyone is convinced of the business at the end of the day, but some operators see there's going to be business in offering that kind of sensing information to third parties for whatever applications it could be used for.” Naturally, there are significant privacy implications for a network that can precisely detect people, objects and movement without the need for a camera, a similar parallel we've seen with Google's Soli technology, which can detect human movements using radar alone. There's plenty more on the horizon for 6G, whether that's improving power efficiency so that the cell network doesn't consume a large chunk of the global electrical grid or more deliberate integrations with satellites to plug the coverage gaps in terrestrial networks. 

6G will make XR and spatial computing mainstream. Speaking of connected experiences, 6G will go a long way in making mixed-reality XR experiences mainstream. Currently, devices like Meta Ray-Ban Display or Samsung Galaxy XR are bottlenecked by how much data can be transferred to deliver high-quality video, AI processing, and gaming performance. Then it arrives, 6G will improve these experiences by providing higher uplink speeds capable of supporting multiple 4K or 8K video streams. 4G LTE is still in use today in conjunction with 5G, so don't expect 5G to disappear once 6G starts rolling out. Carriers have made it clear that they want 6G to stand on its own two legs, without the kind of previous-gen dependence that we saw with 5G. Uplink is the data you send to the network. Demand for faster upload speeds has been growing for a few years, especially after remote work became the norm during the pandemic and we all came to rely on videoconferencing. Today, increasingly large files are being sent to cloud servers for AI processing, from security camera footage to generative AI photo and video editing. The demand for faster uploads will continue to grow as companies trot out new kinds of mobile devices, like smart glasses, smartwatches, AI wearables, and earbuds, that plug into the cloud. We are uploading a lot more to the network now because of AI. We're shoving unparsed, unanalyzed raw data to a cloud and hoping that AI will figure it out. If you think about it in a mobile context, then you have a problem of how much is being uploaded to the network. 5G also expanded Fixed Wireless Access, with carriers providing 5G home internet instead of fiber optic or cable connections. This will expand with 6G; it's another reason why upload speeds will become a main focus.

Outside of uploads, you'll likely hear a lot more about AI being “integrated into the network.” It's not the same as AI managing the 6G network itself, though that's a separate talking point. Take streaming a movie as an example. You're typically not receiving that stream from your streaming provider's servers, like Netflix. Instead, it comes from a content distribution node, hosted by your internet service provider. ISPs have public distribution nodes all over the network. When you're talking to your AI chatbot, usually your request is sent through your provider to your chatbot company's data centers far away, then it comes back to you, likely with a bit of a delay. With 6G, we may see “AI nodes” in the cellular network, which serve specific regions, distributing the load so that there's not one data center handling millions of requests, a process called edge compute. If we ever get to the point where we have, say, self-driving 18-wheelers, the smart thing to do would be to put the 6G network along the major highways so that at any given time, the self-driving truck is only talking to an edge device that is along the highway. They don't have to clock out into the network; it cuts down on load, and the network can speed up response time. Since most XR glasses and headsets rely heavily on streaming, tethering, or cloud processing to provide features, a high-speed and low-latency mobile network like 6G could make use cases like game streaming or remote desktop control actually usable. It's all about cutting down the time you have to wait for your devices to talk with your phone and the cloud to return a response. So, when you look at something and ask a question while wearing camera-equipped smart glasses, the response will feel nearly instant when 6G arrives.

With 6G already an early focus at events like Mobile World Congress, we're seeing companies hyping it up just like they did 5G. Qualcomm's 6G blog says 6G “represents new paradigms” and suggests new use cases, such as “hologram telepresence, collaborative robots, human augmentation and deeper immersion to the digital and virtual worlds.” There are a lot of lessons learned from the marketing hype of 5G and that a big part of 6G will be a focus on the practical, not the fabulous. We see that with every generation. Especially the earlier in the process, the more hype there is, because the world is our oyster. We'll build a network that can do everything: flying cars, remote tele-surgery. We're also likely to see yet another wave of unfounded health fears surrounding 6G. Every decade, when carriers apply for permits to build towers, there are objections to the process from communities who believe that cellular technology is dangerous, even if there's plenty of evidence that it's safe. 

World's largest lithium deposit

 World's largest lithium deposit confirmed under a US super volcano, valued at $1.5 trillion

A long-dormant super volcano on the Nevada-Oregon border is now at the centre of a trillion-dollar energy battle. Beneath its surface lies a lithium discovery so massive it could redraw the global battery map. Buried beneath an ancient volcanic crater on the Nevada Oregon border sits an enormous deposit of lithium rich clay. Scientists now think this quiet landscape may hold enough lithium to influence the global battery market for decades. A new study argues that McDermitt caldera may host about 20 to 40 million metric tons of lithium, likely the largest deposit yet identified. Using the recent US average contract price for lithium carbonate, about 37,000 dollars / ton, this estimate comes out to be nearly $1.5 trillion.

In the high desert along the Nevada–Oregon border, a quiet basin formed by an ancient super volcano is rapidly becoming a global focal point. Hidden beneath the McDermitt Caldera lies what scientists now believe is the world’s largest known deposit of lithium, the element driving the battery revolution behind electric vehicles, smartphones and renewable energy storage. The deposit sits inside a caldera, a large volcanic crater formed when a magma chamber collapses. This particular basin spans roughly 28 miles north to south and 22 miles east to west along the Nevada Oregon line. Work on this deposit was led by Thomas R. Benson, PhD, at Lithium Americas Corporation (LAC). His research focuses on how lithium rich minerals form in volcanic terrains. This site, called Thacker Pass, is already reshaping how geologists think about mineral formation in volcanic terrains. Early findings estimate the deposit could hold 20 to 40 million metric tons of lithium, potentially more than double Bolivia’s Salar de Uyuni, long considered the planet’s largest source. If fully confirmed and extracted, the lithium buried here could power hundreds of millions of EVs and make the US a key player in the clean energy economy.

About 16 million years ago, a huge eruption emptied much of the magma chamber beneath this area. The outburst left behind thick sheets of hot ash which later cooled into hard volcanic rock on the caldera floor. Later, the crater held a long lived lake which collected volcanic ash and mud. Those sediments formed lacustrine, formed in a lake environment, claystones that now trap much of the lithium rich clay. But the mine sits at the heart of a collision between mineral demand and environmental and cultural preservation. The project, backed by billions in federal support and major automaker partnerships, faces growing pushback from Indigenous tribes and environmental advocates. At stake is not just a trove of critical minerals, but a national test of how far America is willing to go to secure its clean energy future. Lithium today is best known as the heart of the lithium ion battery, a rechargeable battery which moves lithium ions between two electrodes. These batteries power phones, laptops, electric cars and storage packs which balance wind and solar energy on the grid. The same research group notes that global demand for lithium could reach one million tons per year by 2040, eight times the 2022 output. That is why such a concentrated deposit in a single basin draws so much attention from governments and companies planning long term energy transitions. Volcanic lake deposits like this are shallow and wide, which lowers the strip ratio, amount of waste rock per ton of ore. Compared with deeper hard rock mines, which often means less blasted rock and lower energy use per ton of lithium. Because the richest clays sit near the land surface at Thacker Pass, miners can target the most lithium dense layers directly. The combination of huge tonnage, high grades and relatively simple geometry makes this deposit unusual among known clay hosted lithium resources.

The McDermitt Caldera spans more than 1,000 square km's and was formed 16 million years ago. Over time, volcanic ash and mud accumulated at the basin’s centre, creating lakebed clays rich in lithium-bearing minerals. Recent research revealed that post-eruption hydrothermal fluids transformed magnesium-rich smectite into illite, a potassium-bearing clay containing significantly higher lithium concentrations, up to 2.4% by weight in some zones at Thacker Pass. The scale of this lithium enrichment is unmatched. Traditional lithium clay deposits average less than 1% lithium content; at Thacker Pass, the illite layer alone is about 100 feet thick, shallow enough for open-pit mining, which reduces operational complexity and cost. Deep below the basin, magma continued to release hydrothermal, hot water rich in dissolved minerals circulating underground, fluids long after the main eruption. Those fluids leached lithium and other elements from volcanic glass and carried them upward into the wet lake sediments. As that chemistry played out, the lake mud first turned into smectite, magnesium rich clay which can absorb lithium into its layers. Later, hotter fluids altered parts of that smectite into another clay called illite which locks in much more lithium. Analyses show that this clay can contain around 1.3 to 2.4 % lithium by weight, roughly double typical claystone deposits. A recent feature noted that the high grade illite layer sits close to the surface, which makes large pit mining possible. Investigators had reported lithium concentrations reaching about 1 % by weight, according to Thomas R. Benson, a geologist at Lithium Americas Corporation.

The US Department of Energy has approved a $2.23 billion loan to fund construction at Thacker Pass, part of the Biden administration’s push to onshore clean energy supply chains. The funding was granted through the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing program and is among the largest ever awarded to a lithium project. Project developer Lithium Americas Corp. began construction in 2023 and aims to reach 40,000 metric tons of lithium carbonate output annually in its first phase. Production will expand in stages, eventually reaching 160,000 tons/year over five phases, according to the company’s official technical report. The full operation is expected to span 85 years, making it one of the longest-lived lithium assets in the world. Such a giant deposit also raises difficult questions about water, wildlife and the cultural meaning of this landscape. Local tribes and ranching communities have voiced concerns about how a large mine might change springs, grazing areas and sacred sites. Supporters point out that a shallow clay deposit can disturb less land than multiple smaller mines spread across distant regions. Critics respond that even a single large pit can alter groundwater, produce dust and fragment habitat if not carefully managed. 

Unlike lithium from brines or hard rock, clay-hosted lithium poses unique challenges. The metal is chemically bonded within mineral structures, requiring a more intensive extraction process involving leaching and chemical washing. Still, the shallow geometry and unusually high grades at Thacker Pass offer a low strip ratio, which translates to less waste rock per ton of lithium, a critical metric for mine feasibility. The site’s formation, mineral composition, and access have positioned it as one of the most promising critical mineral deposits in North America. Processing clay-hosted lithium is technically tricky because the metal is bound inside minerals rather than sitting in salty brines. Engineers must grind the clay, use leaching, chemical washing with carefully chosen solutions, and then recover lithium while limiting water use and waste. Geologists studying McDermitt now see a recipe for rich volcanic lithium deposits which blends magma chemistry, basin shape and long lasting heat. The magmas here were peralkaline, igneous composition unusually rich in sodium and potassium, which tend to hold on to lithium as they cool. Later, magma rose again beneath the caldera in a phase called resurgence, renewed uplift driven by fresh magma pushing upward. The movement fractured the overlying rocks, opened pathways for hot fluids, and focused lithium rich illite formation along the southern rim of the basin. Armed with this model, exploration teams scan volcanic basins for matching chemistry, preserved lake beds, and signs of past hot fluid circulation. Only a few places worldwide seem to share McDermitt’s mix of large size, closed basin setting and long lived magmatic activity.

To secure its battery supply, General Motors has entered into a 20-year offtake agreement for 100% of Phase 1 production and a significant share of Phase 2. GM also owns a 38% equity stake in the project. Despite the support from Washington and Detroit, the project remains divisive. Tribal communities, including members of the Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribe, have expressed concern about the mine’s potential impact. A coalition of tribes and environmental groups has filed legal challenges, some still pending, against the Bureau of Land Management’s 2021 Record of Decision approving the mine. The McDermitt caldera lithium deposit is vast, shallow, and chemically unusual, qualities that set it apart from most other known sources. Decisions made over the next few years will determine whether this lithium mostly stays locked in clay or moves into batteries and power grids. Either way, McDermitt has already changed how scientists think about where critical minerals can hide inside old volcanic systems. For those thinking about climate and technology, this makes the link between distant geologic events and the batteries in their daily lives clear. Learning how minerals form in Earth’s crust becomes directly connected to questions about cars, phones and power grids.

Thacker Pass is challenging conventional thinking about lithium geology. Until recently, global lithium production was dominated by spodumene pegmatites (hard rock in Australia) and evaporite brines (salt flats in South America). The McDermitt Caldera adds a new category to the mix: volcano-sedimentary lithium systems, formed through a blend of magma chemistry, closed-basin lake environments, and long-lived geothermal circulation. In the case of McDermitt, peralkaline magmas rich in sodium and potassium helped retain lithium during cooling, making the surrounding ash and tuff highly fertile for clay formation. Resurgent magma movement fractured the overlying rock, creating conduits for hot fluids which concentrated lithium in illite deposits, especially in the southern portion of the caldera. These findings suggest that similar caldera basins could hold untapped lithium potential. Geologists are now revisiting other resurgent volcanic systems in the American West and abroad, looking for the same mix of mineralogy and heat-driven alteration. The discovery marks a shift in critical mineral exploration strategies as demand for lithium accelerates around the world.

Tesla PIFONE

 TESLA PIFONE

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

 Leaked Galaxy S26 Ultra new design renders 

Samsung has three new flagships coming in the near future, but not all of them are seeing revolutionary changes. While the usual base model gains a new suffix and the typical ‘Plus’ model is getting replaced by a slimmer smartphone, it’s looking like the Galaxy S26 Ultra is an evolution on what came before. Fresh CAD-based renders of the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra have surfaced online which show that the phone from different angles. The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra successor is expected to be unveiled early next year.

Published fresh leaked renders of the Galaxy S26 Ultra show the smartphone from every angle. The result is a device that looks practically unchanged from its predecessor, right down to its flat edges and curved corners. It’s not the photos deceiving you, either, according to the leaked dimensions. The S26 Ultra looks to be less than a mm taller and wider than the S25 Ultra, while its thickness gets shaved down from 8.2mm to 7.9mm. The Galaxy S26 Ultra is a flat display and slim, uniform bezels. The corners of the display appear to be more rounded than last year’s model. The edges of the phone are also slightly rounded compared to the S25 Ultra.

At least, when you aren’t factoring in the camera bump. Samsung’s Galaxy S26 Ultra utilizes a new design for its lenses seemingly inspired by the protruding plateau first seen on the Galaxy Z Fold 7. Previous rumours indicated a surprisingly bulky module, and the numbers shared within this leak support this. While the S26 Ultra does manage to break the 8mm barrier when it comes to the main chassis, Samsung’s cameras now extend an additional 4.5mm from the device, for a grand total of 12.4mm. Samsung’s Galaxy S26 Ultra is now with a slightly refreshed quad-camera design, with three lenses housed in a pill-shaped module and a fourth positioned to the right of the centre lens. Above the fourth camera sits the flash unit and an additional cut out for various sensors.

Despite the lack of big improvements to the actual lenses popping out from the phone. The main shooter is a 1/1.3-inch 200MP f/1.4, an improvement to aperture, but not much else. The 10MP 3x telephoto lens is not that good, with Samsung allegedly turning to a smaller sensor than the one used in this year’s Galaxy S25 Ultra, while the 50MP ultra-wide and 5x periscope lenses seem to remain unchanged. The rear camera island appears to protrude quite a bit, which corroborates recent rumours. Meanwhile, the front camera sits inside a punch-hole cut out as always. The Galaxy S26 Ultra is rumoured to pack a 200MP primary rear camera, a 50MP ultra wide unit, a 10MP 3x optical zoom camera with a downgraded sensor, and the 5x optical zoom unit found on the current S25 Ultra.

Assuming Samsung really is keeping its camera setup practically unchanged, which suggests a cosmetic change which is primarily about matching looks with another flagship in the company’s line up, and not about making more space for improved sensors. With a few months to go until the company’s eventual Unpacked, we have plenty of time to hear more about what might make the Galaxy S26 Ultra stand out from the pack. It is expected to be powered by the recently launched Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 SoC, but there are rumours of an Exynos 2600 variant as well. The phone is also rumoured to offer 60W wired charging support, a slightly larger 6.9-inch display, and a 5,000 mAh battery for all those interested around the world.

China’s BeiDou Navigation Satellite System

 China BeiDou system, rival of Global Positioning System (GPS) 

China has completely commissioned its BeiDou Navigation Satellite System earlier which could rival the US Global Positioning System (GPS). BeiDou Navigation Satellite System could boost Beijing’s security and geopolitical clout. From smartphones to e-bikes, the system has rapidly embedded itself in daily life at home. Now, Beijing eyes faster international expansion. Beijing has pledged to accelerate the global adoption of its home-grown BeiDou satellite navigation system, an alternative to the US-run Global Positioning System (GPS) which already dominates China’s domestic market.

Final geostationary satellite in the constellation launched and operating after having completed all tests. The satellite is part of the third iteration of the BeiDou system known as BDS-3, which began providing navigation services in 2018 to countries taking part in China’s sprawling “Belt and Road” infrastructure initiative along with others. As well as being a navigation aid with an extremely high degree of accuracy, the system offers short message communication of up to 1,200 Chinese characters and the ability to transmit images. Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang said the country was “enlarging its circle of international friends” after 31 years of developing the technology, which now accounts for over 70% of the domestic consumer market share.

The system is already in use in more than half the world’s nations and stressed China’s dedication to the peaceful use of space and desire to work with other countries. China is willing to continue to strengthen exchanges and cooperation in space and share the achievements of space development with other countries on the basis of mutual respect, openness, inclusiveness, equality and mutual benefit as stated by Chinese officials. BeiDou is increasingly integrated into daily life in China, with new terminals and devices compatible with the technology expected to exceed 400 million units by 2028, according to an industry blue book published. Compiled by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT), the report was released at the fourth International Summit on BeiDou System Applications in central China’s Hunan province, where Ding delivered a keynote speech.

While China says it seeks cooperation with other satellite navigation systems, BeiDou could ultimately compete against GPS, Russia’s GLONASS and the European Union’s Galileo networks. That is similar to how Chinese mobile phone makers and other producers of technically sophisticated hardware have taken on their foreign rivals. The official Xinhua News Agency said BeiDou is compatible with the three other systems but gave no details on how they would work together. The navigation system has come a long way since its first satellites launched in 1994. Following a milestone third-generation launch in 2020, BeiDou has “now entered a new phase of global development, with comprehensive improvements in service performance and widespread expansion of large-scale applications, becoming a critical new infrastructure serving global users,” Ding said.

For China, among the chief advantages of the system, whose construction began 30 years ago, is the ability to replace GPS for guiding its missiles, especially important now amid rising tensions with Washington. It also stands to raise China’s economic and political leverage over nations adopting the system, ensuring they line up behind China’s position on Taiwan, Tibet the South China Sea and other sensitive matters or risk losing their access. Named after the seven bright northern stars used for navigation in ancient China, the BeiDou system has dominated the domestic market by powering smartphones, wearable devices, shared mobility services and other products. Key to China’s success was the China Academy of Space Technology’s development of rubidium atomic clocks that provide time and frequency standards for BDS satellites. The system was proof that attempts by Washington to impose a “tough hi-tech blockage” and crackdown on Chinese companies such as Huawei had failed. In spite of such measures, China’s innovation capability has only grown stronger. Just as President Xi recently said: ‘No country nor individual can stop the historical pace of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation,” .

Power for 5,700 years without recharging

 Goodbye to chargers forever, Carbon-14 diamond battery designed to run for 5,700 years

Born from nuclear science and forged in diamond, this breakthrough could reshape space missions, medical devices and everyday tech, pushing the limits of what energy storage can mean. Imagine a battery that you never have to recharge, we are not talking about a power bank or a battery which does not need to be charged for days, but something capable of producing electricity for the next 5,700 years. Although, it is an exaggeration, but scientists are creating a diamond battery with carbon-14 which could be the solution for all requiring charging most of the times on their phones. Scientists are developing a new type of nuclear diamond battery capable of generating power continuously for thousands of years, without ever needing to be recharged. The technology, described by researchers at the University of Bristol in early studies and now pursued by start-ups such as NDB Inc., embeds radioactive carbon inside a synthetic diamond, creating what they describe as a long-lived and inherently safe power source.

The idea seems very simple as a concept (and a dream for a few), although it is something huge if we stop to think, taking advantage of nuclear waste, encapsulating it in synthetic diamond (generated in a laboratory) and turning it into a safe, stable and practically eternal source of energy. At the heart of the innovation lies carbon-14, a radioactive isotope produced in graphite blocks from nuclear reactors. With a half-life of around 5,730 years, carbon-14 releases a steady trickle of energy as it decays. By encasing it within a lab-grown diamond, researchers discovered they could not only convert this energy into electricity but also use the diamond itself as a protective shield to prevent harmful radiation from escaping. We know it sounds very pure science. But this element with half-life of 5,730 years and releases energy constantly, possibility is there. By putting it inside a synthetic diamond, it acts as a shield and, at the same time, as a converter of that radiation into electricity. Professor Tom Scott, one of the pioneers of the project, explains that these batteries have no moving parts, do not emit gases, do not need maintenance and also allow the reuse of nuclear waste that otherwise would be a problem.

Dr. Tom Scott said that the diamond battery could serve as a safe way to repurpose nuclear waste. While the power output of each cell is tiny, the near-eternal lifespan makes it uniquely suited for low-energy devices which cannot be easily recharged or replaced. Where something like this makes the most sense is in space exploration. Conventional solar panels struggle in shadowed regions or beyond the reach of the Sun’s rays, while radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs), used in missions like Voyager and Curiosity, rely on scarce and tightly regulated plutonium-238. A diamond battery, light and stable, could keep spacecraft instruments running for centuries, offering a potential solution for missions to the outer planets or even interstellar probes. NASA has already signalled interest in alternative long-duration power supplies, as outlined in its radioisotope power systems strategy. Experts say that if scalable, the diamond battery could drastically cut reliance on traditional RTGs, though its relatively low power density remains a major limitation. With a diamond battery, an instrument could run for centuries without shutting down, it could open the door to probes that travel farther than ever or to much longer interplanetary missions. It is no coincidence that NASA itself is paying attention to this discovery because it fits with its strategy of diversifying energy sources in future missions.

But we should not only look at what happens above, here on Earth it could also have very interesting applications. The idea of a battery that never needs charging sparks obvious interest for consumer electronics and medical devices. A pacemaker powered by such a battery, for example, could operate for decades without replacement surgery. It would also work for sensors in remote or dangerous places, able to operate indefinitely without depending on maintenance. Or even to keep a hospital powered (as a generator) in places where there are no resources or where natural disasters happen continuously. Start-up NDB Inc., based in California, has claimed in press briefings that its prototypes could eventually deliver higher power outputs, potentially extending the concept to mobile devices like smartphones or laptops. But independent testing and peer-reviewed data remain limited, and many experts caution against overhyping commercial timelines. In the future it could even power phones or laptops, we like that more! 

But experts call for caution because more tests and scientific reviews are still needed to confirm how realistic those promises are. Not everything is that simple. Manufacturing synthetic diamonds on a large scale is still expensive, and the use of radioactive material is subject to very strict regulations. Added to this is a perception problem which is convincing people that carrying a “nuclear battery” in their pocket is safe, with everything we know about what happens with nuclear materials. Scientists assure that the radiation it emits is lower than that of the human body itself, so we are talking about something safe, but that does not take away from the fact that the term scares anyone.

The potential is enormous, but no one expects this technology to become popular this very month. The most optimistic estimates talk about at least a decade before seeing these batteries in real use and useful to us. While the science appears sound, significant challenges remain. even if safely contained, carries regulatory hurdles. If it manages to overcome the technical challenges and gain users’ trust, this diamond battery could become a solution which would mark our century: transforming waste into clean and practically eternal energy! The promise of a 5,000-year battery continues to draw attention from researchers, governments, and industry leaders alike. As Professor Scott noted in his early findings, published through the University of Bristol, the key lies in demonstrating safety and reliability: “The amount of radiation escaping from a diamond battery is less than that emitted by the human body.”

'full-spectrum' 6G chip developed

 Scientists develop 'full-spectrum' 6G chip capable of transferring data at 100 gigabits / second 

Researchers have developed a 6G chip which uses a dual electro-photonic approach to send signals across nine radio-frequency bands. Current devices lack the components needed to tap into different radio frequency bands. Scientists in the United States and China have developed a full-spectrum 6G chip capable of transferring data at 100 gigabits per second. A tiny 6G chip which could make slow and unreliable data speeds in the countryside a thing of the past, and it's hundreds of times faster than your smartphone's current download speeds. 5G is the current gold standard for wireless communications, and it typically uses frequencies below 6 gigahertz, although this varies from country to country. The top-performing cellular network in the US in the first half of 2025 offered a 5G download speed of 299.36 megabits per seconds.

The 6G chip which uses a dual electro-photonic approach to send signals across nine radio-frequency bands is projected to be 10,000 times faster than 5G. The devices will need to be re-engineered. Current devices lack the components needed to tap into different radio frequency bands. 6G, which experts say will be ready in 2030, is expected to use multiple frequency bands and has the potential to be 10,000 times faster than 5G. The trouble with tapping into 6G, however, is that devices will need multiple components to tap into the different radio-frequency bands, something which modern devices lack. Scientists use quantum machine learning to create semiconductors for the first time, and it could transform how chips are made. Researchers have integrated the entire wireless spectrum covering nine radio-frequency (RF) bands, from 0.5 to 110 GHz, into a chip measuring just 0.07 by 0.43 inches (1.7 by 11 millimeters).

A new study published in the journal Nature found that experts have integrated the entire wireless spectrum covering the radio frequency band into the chip. The new chip is also capable of achieving a data transmission rate of more than 100 gigabits per second, including on low bands used in rural areas, where speeds can be very slow. Communication also remained stable across the entire spectrum, the researchers found. To put this data speed into context, 1,000 smartphones embedded with the chip could stream an 8K ultra-high-definition video simultaneously without weaker performance, according to Chinese state media Xinhua. This "one-size-fits-all hardware solution," as the scientists described it in the study, could be reconfigured dynamically to switch the frequency band depending on when this is required. This is important because devices tapping into 6G are going to utilize different wireless spectra, from microwave, millimeter wave (mmWave) to terahertz (THz) bands, the researchers noted.

It further revealed that the new chip measuring 0.07 by 0.43 inches is capable of transferring data at over 100 gigabits per seconds, including on lower bands used in rural areas. High-frequency mmWave and sub-THz bands, between 100 GHz and 300 GHz, will be used for applications which require extremely low latency, such as high-speed artificial intelligence (AI) computing and remote sensing. But sub-6 GHz and microwave bands are still needed to provide coverage across wide areas, the scientists explained. The researchers' new chip could potentially replace multiple systems by taking a dual electro-optic approach, using light to generate stable signals across the RF spectrum. A broadband electro-optic modulator converts wireless signals into optical signals, which are then passed through tunable optoelectronic oscillators, these circuits use light and electricity to generate radio frequencies, from the microwave band to the THz band.

The problem with current wireless hardware, the scientists said, is that it's designed to operate within a narrow frequency. As it stands, rolling out 6G would require several different systems for different bands, which would make wide-scale deployment costly and complex. The scientists made their chip from thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN), instead of traditional lithium niobate, which is used to modulate light at high speeds. TFLN has become the go-to for next-generation telecommunication hardware because of its ability to deliver higher bandwidths at a lower latency. When 6G is rolled out and more people demand more data, cellular networks will inevitably become crowded, like 5G networks are at peak times. Higher traffic could lead to congestion and slower data speeds. The new system avoids interference by using what the researchers describe as "adaptive spectrum management." Normally signals are crammed into one or two frequency bands, but with this new chip, signals can switch between multiple frequencies without data transmission being compromised. This could reduce the likelihood of signalling issues at big events or in crowded spaces, where tens of thousands of devices connect to a network simultaneously.

Chinese state media outlet Xinhua put the chip’s capability into perspective, stating: “1000 smartphones embedded with the chip could stream an 8K ultra-high-definition video simultaneously without weaker performance.”  While Wang and his co-authors believe their 6G "full-spectrum" chip has the potential to be embedded into all compatible devices, plenty of work needs to be done to build out the infrastructure for the next generation of wireless communications. "This technology is like building a super-wide highway where electronic signals are vehicles and frequency bands are lanes," study lead author Wang Xingjun, associate dean of the School of Electronics at Peking University, said. 

New world record for internet speed by Japan

 Japan’s latest breakthrough is rewriting the rules of speed : 4 million times faster than the average speed in US

Japan has just crushed records with a new internet speed so fast, it’s almost hard to believe. Imagine streaming entire libraries, massive data collections or ultra-high-definition videos in mere minutes. This isn’t science fiction, it’s happening now thanks to a ground breaking achievement from Japanese researchers. A team in Japan set a new world record in fibre optics, reaching a data speed of 1.02 petabits per second over roughly 1,123 miles with a new kind of optical fibre. The achievement yielded a capacity–distance product of 1.86 exabits per second per mile. This rate is about 4 million times higher than the US median fixed broadband download speed of about 285 Mbps. Lead researcher Hideaki Furukawa of the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) in Japan guided the transmission experiments and system work. They’ve developed an optical fibre system which can transmit over the equivalent of traveling from New York to Florida. To put this into perspective, this speed would open doors to a future where data moves at incredible rates.

The team in Japan smashed the previous world record of just over 50,000 gigabytes per second, doubling this accomplishment in a matter of months. This remarkable leap was made possible by creating a new form of optical fibre cable. Unlike conventional cables, this advanced fibre bundles 19 standard fibres into a tiny strand barely thicker than a single human hair, roughly five-thousandths of an inch in diameter. The cable fits 19 light paths inside a cladding that measures about 0.005 inches, the same size used by most existing lines. This design allows it to slot into current routes without changing the outside diameter. The cores share a single glass cladding and are engineered to behave the same way, so the light follows a uniform path through each core. This uniform behaviour reduces power swings and lowers loss in both the C band and L band, the primary wavelength ranges for long-distance links. The design also avoids the spacing penalties of uncoupled multicore layouts, where engineers minimize crosstalk by spacing cores farther apart. Less data loss means stronger signals and the ability to send information much farther without interruption. This optical fibre is specifically designed to optimize long-distance transmission, making it a game-changer for telecommunications infrastructure.

Interestingly, the design fits into existing cable installations since it matches the typical thickness of conventional single-fibre cables. This means upgrades won’t require costly, large-scale overhauls of the current network, a clever way to increase capacity while keeping costs and disruptions low. In a coupled layout, the system allows mixing between cores and later corrects it using digital processing at the receiver. Low fibre loss across wide wavelengths, combined with predictable coupling, made long range and high rate possible at the same time. Earlier projects achieved fast signals over much shorter spans, but this approach pushes capacity and reach together. A petabit equals one million gigabits, a unit that marks a leap beyond the gigabit tier common to residential plans. The capacity–distance product multiplies data rate by distance to compare systems which go fast, far or both. Before this breakthrough, the same research team had achieved similar speeds but only across a short span, less than one-third of the 1,120 miles covered this time. The major obstacles were finding ways to reduce data loss and boost signal strength enough to maintain quality over longer distances. Their latest system transmits data 21 times through the cable, ensuring it reaches the receiver after traveling over a thousand miles without significant degradation.

A multicore fibre places several cores inside one cladding so that many signals travel in parallel. MIMO is a digital filter which separates mixed signals from different cores or modes, allowing the original data streams to emerge cleanly. Long-haul optical links use the C band and L band as their main wavelength windows because standard amplifiers operate efficiently in those ranges. The 16-state Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (16QAM) method stores more information per symbol than simpler formats, raising data rates when noise and distortion are controlled. Looking back, it’s incredible how far we’ve come in such a short time. Just remember the frustration of dial-up internet, where waiting several minutes just to open a single photo was normal. Now, we’re talking about speeds which make those early experiences feel like ancient history. The team built 19 synchronized recirculating loops, each fed by one core of a 53.5-mile spool that included splitters, combiners, amplifiers and a control switch. A switch sent the signal around the loop 21 times before it reached a bank of receivers, producing the full end-to-end distance. They lit 180 wavelengths across the C and L bands and modulated each with 16QAM, a higher-order format which increases bits per symbol when conditions are clean enough. Multiple wavelengths across two bands gave the system a wide runway for total throughput. At the end, a coherent 19 channel receiver separated spatial channels while a MIMO engine untangled the mixed signals introduced by the coupled cores. Error correction code finished the job and produced the net payload figure used to report the result.

This progress is timely. With global data use expected to multiply rapidly in the coming years, the demand for new, scalable high-capacity communication systems is exploding. Japan’s advancement provides a promising roadmap to meet this demand, potentially transforming how governments, businesses and everyday users interact with data. So, what does this mean for you? Imagine streaming 8K videos or engaging in highly immersive virtual experiences without buffering or delays. Large-scale scientific research, cloud computing and even personal data backups could proceed almost instantly, reshaping what’s possible in almost every digital endeavour. Short bursts in a lab are one thing; dependable hauls between cities are another. Long spans expose loss, amplifier noise, nonlinear effects and chromatic dispersion which often remain hidden on short test beds. Engineers track progress in optical fibre systems with the capacity-distance product, which multiplies rate by distance to summarize both speed and reach in a single number. A higher product means a system can carry more bits for longer without running out of margin. This demonstration shows that dense spatial channels inside a standard-sized fibre, combined with broad wavelength use and shared amplification, can lift that product. It achieves this without changing the outside fibre size, a practical way to scale, since networks care about what fits in ducts, trays and connectors.

With data flowing from continent to continent at lightning-fast pace, the potential for innovation grows exponentially. Developers of the Internet of Things, augmented reality, and smart cities will benefit immensely from the existence of stable, ultra-fast networks. This breakthrough isn’t just about raw speed, it’s a foundation for a more connected and intelligent world. A key choice was keeping the cladding diameter at about 0.005 inches, which matches the size used by most installed fibre and the tools built around it. “For fibre fabrication and deployment, it is highly beneficial to use fibres with a standard cladding diameter,” said Menno van den Hout from the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology. Keeping dimensions and interfaces familiar lowers the barrier to field trials and later deployment if costs align. It also enables step-by-step rollouts, where multicore spans boost capacity on tough segments while other spans remain single-core. The idea of space-division multiplexing has been studied for more than a decade, and its value has been demonstrated across many experiments. “This Review summarizes the simultaneous transmission of several independent spatial channels of light along optical fibres to expand the data carrying capacity of optical communications,” said Benjamin Puttnam of the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology. This record from Japan illustrates the relentless human pursuit of pushing boundaries. Each technological leap sparks new opportunities and redefines the limits of what our devices and networks can do. It’s exciting to think about the possibilities this opens up, but also a reminder that innovation never stops around the world.