Self-reliant carbon-14 nuclear battery

"Millennium Source" series carbon-14 nuclear battery by China

The "Millennium Source, Nuclear Energy Innovation" independent and controllable carbon-14 nuclear battery full-chain technology achievement release conference was held in Lanzhou, co-hosted by Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou Municipal Science and Technology Bureau, and Lanzhou Anning District People's Government, and organized by Gansu Zhulong Technology Co., Ltd. and Lanzhou Anning District Science and Technology Bureau. The conference officially unveiled two core scientific research achievements: the new independent brand "Millennium Source Tianshu" carbon-14 nuclear battery and the "Millennium Source Nengshu" silicon carbide energy converter. Cross-sector team says device, which marks significant step in long-life power sources, was developed without foreign tech or parts. 

Chinese researchers have developed a new-generation nuclear battery that far surpasses its predecessor and marks a major step in long-life power sources. The Qianjiyuan Tianshu battery is a major upgrade from the team’s earlier Candle Dragon‑I, or Zhulong-1, prototype unveiled in November 2024. Compared with its predecessor, the new battery cuts radioactive material use to just 22%, boosting short‑circuit current to 2.5 times and maximum power to 2.6 times, all while maintaining the same voltage and stability. Among performance gains, the effective volume of the device shrank to just 17% of the original, resulting in a dramatic 15.5‑fold increase in volumetric power density. Su Maogen, who leads the project team at Northwest Normal University, said carbon‑14 had a half‑life of 5,730 years, giving the battery a theoretical lifespan of thousands of years. Su said the device operated reliably between minus 100 degrees and 200 degrees Celsius (-148 to 392 Fahrenheit), making it suitable for medical implants, use in deep‑sea and polar regions, and defence and aerospace applications.

The "Millennium Source" series carbon-14 nuclear battery results released this time represent a benchmark practice by Northwest Normal University in the full chain of national strategic scientific research, deep industry-university-research collaboration, and achievement transformation. Leveraging the profound disciplinary foundation, talent pool and research platform advantages of Northwest Normal University, Gansu Zhulong Technology Co., Ltd. undertakes the transformation of scientific research achievements, promoting engineering application and industrial implementation, achieving a key leap from the laboratory to engineering, marketization, and industrialization. “Nuclear batteries are vital for space exploration, polar missions, specialised equipment and unmanned operations, and are also a key part of China’s new-energy strategy,” China’s official Science and Technology Daily reported. “Earlier versions suffered from low power, poor integration and high costs, so the team focused on making the device compact, powerful, affordable and fully domestically produced.” Nuclear batteries differ fundamentally from nuclear power plant reactors. Instead of relying on chain-reaction fission, they harness energy from the natural radioactive decay of isotopes such as carbon‑14 or plutonium‑238.

Nuclear batteries are indispensable long-life energy sources for scenarios such as space exploration, polar scientific research, special equipment and unattended operations, and are also a crucial component of the national new energy system and strategic scientific and technological strength. For a long time, industry applications have commonly faced issues such as low output power, low structural integration, and high application costs. To address this, the project team focused on developing carbon-14 nuclear batteries with high output power, small size, and low cost, promoting independent and controllable technology and process innovation. One conventional approach uses thermoelectric materials to turn decay heat into power, but those systems tend to be bulky and operate at high temperatures. The new carbon-14 battery works differently: it directs beta particles (high-speed electrons) from decay into a silicon carbide semiconductor where they excite electrons to produce current. It is essentially a solar panel powered by radiation instead of light. 

Compared to the "Zhulong-1" carbon-14 nuclear battery engineering prototype released in March 2025, the "Millennium Source" series results released this time have achieved five major technological breakthroughs, covering radiation source adaptation technology, silicon carbide energy conversion technology, three-dimensional stacked packaging technology, intelligent power management technology, and wireless self-powered sensing technology, establishing a domestically produced independent and controllable technology system. This series of indicators breaks through the limitations of low efficiency, high cost, large size and low power density of carbon-14 nuclear batteries, achieving a systematic upgrade in miniaturization, high power, low cost and high integration. The current products have high industrial value. The battery, measuring just 16.8 cubic cm and using 129 millicuries (a measure of radioactivity) of carbon‑14, delivers a short‑circuit current of 0.713 microampere (µA), an open‑circuit voltage of 2.06V, a fill factor of 0.77 and a maximum output of 1.13 µW. Importantly, the critical energy‑conversion component, the silicon carbide transducer, is fully domestically made.

The developers’ breakthroughs enabled smaller, more powerful, cheaper and more integrated designs, offering great industrial value. Nuclear batteries are currently used mainly in deep‑space missions. Notable examples include NASA’s Voyager probes launched in 1977, the Curiosity Mars rover in 2012 and China’s Chang’e‑3 and Chang’e‑4 lunar mission rovers. At the conference site, Gansu Zhulong Technology Co., Ltd. signed strategic cooperation agreements with five enterprises: China Isotope & Radiation Corporation, CNNC Qinshan Isotope Co., Ltd., China United Engineering Corporation Limited, CCTEG Digital Innovation Technology (Chongqing) Co., Ltd., and Zhejiang Isotope Labeling Medical Technology Co., Ltd. The parties will engage in long-term cooperation in areas such as technology achievement transformation of carbon-14 nuclear batteries, multi-scenario engineering applications, supply of carbon-14 isotope raw materials and industry standard formulation, jointly building a complete industrial closed loop of "scientific research, product finalization, scenario testing, compliant use, standard formulation, mass production and waste recycling."

World’s most powerful and sensitive Radio Telescope

 Scientists readies to build world’s most sensitive and powerful Radio Telescope in Nevada         

Caltech researchers are preparing to build a radio telescope which will be the most sensitive ever constructed and survey the sky 100 times faster than any other radio telescope worldwide. Deep Synoptic Array will feature 1,650 dishes in Nevada, survey sky 100 times faster than existing telescopes. Schmidt Sciences has greenlit construction of the Deep Synoptic Array after the project completed its final design review. The milestone paves the way for construction to begin on the telescope, which is planned for a remote valley in Nevada. The array will consist of 1,650 radio dishes, each slightly more than 6 meters in diameter. The team plans to build the telescope by 2029, with science operations commencing soon after. This could become the most sensitive and fastest radio telescope array ever built. The ambitions are staggeringly vast. Once completed, the Deep Synoptic Array (DSA) will feature a whopping 1,650 radio dishes, each measuring just shy of 20 feet across, spanning an area of 12 by 10 miles in a remote Nevada desert valley. To put those numbers into perspective, New Mexico’s Very Large Array, one of the largest radio telescopes, is made up of just 27 radio dishes.

Arrays made up of large numbers of dishes have a key advantage: they can dramatically improve the spatial resolution of deep space observations by effectively acting as one enormous instrument. However, one drawback is that they are far less sensitive to light than one giant dish, making them only suitable for luminous astronomical objects, like pulsars, the highly magnetized remains of dead stars, and fast radio bursts, brief flashes of powerful radio waves. To reduce the chance of radio frequency interference, unwanted external electromagnetic signals or “noise” that have plagued astronomers for decades, the team chose an extremely remote part of the Nevada desert, not far from Great Basin National Park. “The DSA will survey the entire visible sky several times in its first five years at unprecedented speeds,” said Gregg Hallinan, principal investigator of DSA, professor of astronomy at Caltech, and director of Caltech’s Owens Valley Radio Observatory. “While all other radio telescopes combined have so far found about 20 million radio sources, the DSA will match that in the first day of operations. By the end of its initial survey, it will have discovered about 1 billion new radio sources.”

The telescope will discover radio emission from millions of stars, galaxies and other cosmic objects. It will address the mysteries of black holes, pulsars and fast radio bursts. It will also probe the physics of dark matter and gravity, and it will measure the structure and expansion of the universe. “Radio astronomy is about to go from sketch to photograph,” said Vikram Ravi, the co-principal investigator of the DSA and a professor of astronomy at Caltech. “The DSA is looking at a far larger volume of the universe far more often than any other telescope.” Scientists behind the DSA promise that the new array will improve on the sensitivity of existing radio telescope arrays while dramatically speeding up the process of scanning wide swathes of the night sky. Researchers are hoping to use the array to study mysterious and little-understood phenomena like fast radio bursts, as well as much broader concepts, like how dark energy influences the expansion of the universe. The speed of the DSA also offers a key advantage: it will give astronomers access to data in near-real-time, allowing them to start processing it almost immediately. Best of all, the public will have unfettered access from the get go.

“We want the whole world to also have access to the data just as quickly as we do,” DSA lead project manager Katie Jameson explained. “The DSA functions like a photo lab that is developing these radio images in real time for all to use.” The DSA will be capable of making images in real time. The numerous radio dishes will feed into a supercomputer which creates images instantly. The images will be immediately accessible to the worldwide astronomical community. “Without the radio camera, we would have to store 100 exabytes of data to complete our survey,” Hallinan said. “This would require 5 million hard drives in a multi-billion-dollar facility the size of multiple football fields. The radio camera solves this problem.” The DSA’s radio camera will convert the raw data to images in real time with the help of an off-site supercomputer built from Graphics Processing Units. The radio camera images will be given freely to the public with no proprietary period.

To keep costs down, Caltech researchers turned to a highly unusual manufacturing partner: cake pan maker Fat Daddio’s. The team contracted the company to produce thousands of baking pans, which turned out to be the perfect shape to help convert electromagnetic waves to electrical signals. “It’s all about metal fabrication, and this is something Fat Daddio’s has a lot of experience in!” DSA lead project engineer Francois Kapp explained. The DSA will have the ability to detect more than 100,000 intensely powerful flashes of radio light from fast radio bursts and to localize them to their home galaxies. The DSA will also reveal more than 20,000 new pulsars. “The science that can be done is endless,” Hallinan said. “There will be enough discoveries to occupy every radio astronomer on the planet.” The DSA is led by Caltech and funded by Schmidt Sciences. It is part of the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Observatory System. Two pathfinder projects which led to the DSA, the DSA-110 and the OVRO Long Wavelength Array, were funded by the National Science Foundation.

World's first underwater data center

 China starts operations of world's first underwater data center 

China has begun operations of the world's first undersea data center directly powered by offshore wind, as the country races to solve the soaring energy demands of artificial intelligence with greener and more efficient infrastructure. Project combines renewable energy and AI-focused digital infrastructure. The Shanghai Lingang undersea data center demonstration project, built by a subsidiary of China Communications Construction, officially entered operation in the waters off Shanghai's eastern coast. Just over seven months from completing phase one of this mega-project, Chinese engineers have finished the build and switched on the world's first underwater data center (UDC) powered by offshore wind turbines. What's more, it doesn't need freshwater and cuts land use by more than 90% compared with above-ground centers.

The project combines offshore engineering, renewable energy and AI-focused digital infrastructure in a model Chinese officials and engineers describe as a potential template for next-generation computing systems. Located about 10 km's offshore in Shanghai's Lingang area, the project has a planned capacity of 24 megawatts, which is enough to power roughly 20,000 households. According to state media, the center is currently operating at 2.3 MW. This "room to move" is essentially future-proofing the UDC's usefulness, as companies turn their attention from initial builds to longevity when it comes to hardware upgrades and compute capacity. It was reported on the big build earlier, when the first stage had been constructed. At the time, there was no projected timeline for it to become operational. The underwater infrastructure, off the coast of Shanghai in the Lin-hang Special Area, was officially switched on recently, and it's far more impressive than it may sound on paper.

Its core innovation is what developers call a "direct offshore wind connection" model. Electricity generated by offshore wind farms is transmitted directly to submerged data modules through subsea photoelectric composite cables, bypassing traditional grid-routing systems. The system also uses seawater as a natural cooling source through a circulating copper-pipe heat exchange design, reducing electricity consumption by 22.8%, eliminating freshwater use entirely and cutting land usage by more than 90%. This center, built by a subsidiary of China Communications Construction, uses a circulating copper-pipe heat exchange system that reportedly reduces electricity consumption. Offshore wind farms are also estimated to generate 95% of the electricity needed to run its 192 server racks across four levels, significantly reducing reliance on existing power infrastructure. "For an undersea data center of the same scale, the electricity used for cooling would only account for about one-tenth of total power consumption," Tsinghua University Professor Li Zhen said. "If data centers of the same scale were placed underwater, even allowing extra margins, cooling consumption could fall to around 30-billion kW. That would save about 50 billion kWh of electricity each year."

The move is not only an engineering breakthrough, but also a paradigm shift in the relationship between computing power, energy and geographic space in China, industry experts said. The launch comes as China's AI boom fuels a rapid rise in demand for low-latency, high-density computing infrastructure. Shanghai has become one of China's leading AI hubs, home to large-model developers, autonomous driving firms, biotech companies, fintech groups and advanced manufacturing enterprises, industries where milliseconds can determine commercial performance. Data centers don’t need freshwater to function, but it remains the simplest cooling option, as it puts fewer demands on surrounding infrastructure, thanks to its lower levels of salts, minerals and biological impurities which can corrode pipes or reduce cooling efficiency over time. Unlike many inland facilities that still rely on freshwater, UDCs instead use the surrounding ocean as a heat sink, transferring this heat through sealed cooling systems.

The project also reflects a growing global scramble to tackle the energy and cooling crisis facing AI infrastructure. Data centers have become one of the world's fastest-growing electricity consumers as companies expand AI model training and inference capacity. Cooling alone accounts for a large share of energy consumption in conventional data centers, particularly in densely populated urban markets. Nonetheless, while UDCs may reduce freshwater demands and land use, underwater computing is still a largely unknown at commercial scale. Questions remain around how these facilities will endure, and what the ecological effects of continuously releasing heat into local marine environments might be. But considering tech companies are racing to put data centers in space to meet rising demand, real-world projects like China's UDC could serve as valuable test cases in the AI age, revealing whether moving computing infrastructure into new environments can offset existing land-based issues, or reveal entirely new ones.

Tsinghua University Professor Li Zhen said conventional data centers typically use about one-third of their total electricity consumption on cooling systems. China's data centers currently consume around 250 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, with roughly 80 billion kWh used for environmental cooling. It is estimated that the reduction would be equivalent to not burning roughly 15 million metric tons of standard coal annually, significantly lowering carbon emissions. Globally, major technology companies are searching for new ways to reduce the environmental footprint of AI infrastructure as model sizes and inference demand expand rapidly. The combination of offshore renewable power and seawater cooling could become increasingly attractive in coastal markets where land, electricity and freshwater resources are constrained. For China, Li said, the country that has built the world's largest manufacturing supply chains is now attempting to build a new generation of industrial infrastructure for the AI era, one where electricity, cooling and computing are engineered as a single integrated system beneath the sea. Others can also get lead from it.

World's largest floating wind turbine by China

China’s world's largest 16MW floating wind Turbine generates enough energy to power 4,200 Homes with clean energy

An energy company has successfully installed the world's largest single-unit floating offshore wind turbine off the coast of southern China. Company deployed a 16MW floating wind turbine in deep waters off Guangdong province, powering 4,200 homes with renewable energy annually. The project marks a major step in expanding renewable energy generation beyond shallow coastal regions. The turbine is designed to operate in harsh ocean conditions while producing enough electricity to power thousands of homes every year. Three Gorges Pilot marks a major step for deep-water renewable energy and the future of floating wind farms. The 16-megawatt system, was completed in waters too deep for a traditional fixed-bottom foundation near Yangjiang in Guangdong province. Floating wind turbines are designed to operate where depths make conventional offshore wind farms, which need to be anchored to the seafloor, impractical. Instead, the turbine sits atop a massive, floating platform which can be anchored in place, dramatically expanding the amount of ocean area available for wind power development.

The Three Gorges Pilot was built for harsh marine environments. Engineers designed it to withstand waves up to 20 meters and wind speeds up to 264 km's/ hour. Those conditions are comparable to a Category 5 hurricane. The platform uses a complex mooring system to remain stable in deep water. It combines suction anchors, heavy anchor chains and high-strength polyester lines. These systems help prevent drifting while keeping the turbine balanced during rough weather. The structure also includes ballast systems and real-time monitoring equipment. Ballast systems help maintain stability by controlling weight distribution inside the platform. Monitoring systems track movement, stress and environmental conditions during operation. Floating turbines face major engineering challenges because ocean waves constantly move the platform. Engineers must protect the blades, drivetrain and power systems from continuous motion. Long-term durability is important because repairs at sea are difficult and expensive. The design includes structural features which absorb and distribute pressure from strong winds and waves. These improvements reduce the platform’s stress over time. Engineers expect the system to achieve a longer operational lifespan as a result.

Built by China Three Gorges (CTG) Corp., Three Gorges Pilot is a 16-megawatt turbine mounted atop a semisubmersible platform. The rotor spans 827 feet (252 meters), with the blade tip rising more than 886 feet (270 m) above the water. The design follows on the heels of a turbine deployed last year by China Huaneng Group and Dongfang Electric Corp. Its primary improvements are at the structural and system engineering levels. The new platform is designed to survive inclement conditions in the deep ocean, including waves higher than 66 feet (20 m) and wind speeds up to 164 mph (264 km/h), the equivalent of a Category 5 hurricane. The design also includes several features intended to help absorb and distribute the force of the wind and water, thereby increasing the platform's durability and extending its operational lifespan. The new floating turbine was installed near Yangjiang in southern China. The company confirmed the completion of the offshore installation. The turbine has a power generation capacity of 16 megawatts. It stands on a floating semisubmersible platform instead of being fixed directly to the seabed. This design enables it to operate in waters too deep for conventional offshore wind farms. Floating offshore wind systems are becoming important for countries with limited shallow coastal areas.

Traditional offshore turbines need fixed foundations attached to the ocean floor. Floating systems remove this limitation and open larger ocean areas for renewable energy projects. The turbine features a rotor diameter of 252 meters. Its blade tip reaches more than 270 meters above sea level. This makes the structure one of the tallest and largest floating wind systems deployed anywhere in the world. Engineers completed most of the assembly work at Tieshan Port in southern China. The platform was later towed out to sea for final installation and testing. This method reduces construction complexity and lowers offshore installation time. The floating turbine uses a 66-kilovolt dynamic subsea cable to transmit electricity.  It's a specialized underwater power cable designed to carry high-voltage electricity while moving and flexing with the rest of the submersible platform. The cable uses reinforced armor layers and fatigue-resistant materials for long-term reliability. At full efficiency, the turbine is expected to generate around 44.65 million kilowatt-hours of electricity every year. According to US energy consumption estimates, this amount is enough to power about 4,200 homes annually. The project demonstrates how a single large turbine can support significant energy demand.

China has rapidly expanded offshore wind energy in recent years. The country is investing heavily in both fixed-bottom and floating wind technologies. Large-scale projects are part of its broader effort to increase renewable energy production and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. Adopting a wave-shaped design, it's engineered with high-flexibility conductors, reinforced armor layers for tensile strength and fatigue-resistant insulation and sheathing. Most of the turbine's assembly was completed on land, at Tieshan Port in southern China. It was then towed offshore and connected in its final location for testing. The installation is notable not just for its scale but for the integration challenges engineers managed to tackle: large rotor loading, platform stability, dynamic mooring and offshore grid connection. Floating turbines pose massive engineering challenges, as they are forced to endure constant motion from waves and currents without degrading drivetrain performance or blade clearance while also surviving extreme marine weather over long service lives.

The new system introduces improvements in structural engineering and offshore stability. It also highlights increasing competition in the global floating wind sector. Floating wind technology is gaining attention worldwide because many coastal regions have deeper offshore waters. Countries in Asia, Europe and North America are exploring similar systems for future energy development. Deep-water wind farms also offer access to stronger, more consistent wind conditions. For regions with a limited shallow continental shelf, projects like the Three Gorges Pilot could open up commercial-scale floating wind turbines for much deeper waters than fixed-bottom turbines can reach or survive. The successful installation of the Three Gorges Pilot shows how floating wind farms are moving closer to commercial-scale deployment. Engineers and energy companies continue working to improve reliability, reduce costs and increase energy output for people around the world.

Record 25.14% efficiency for perovskite/CIGS tandem cell

Perovskite-CIGS tandem solar cell achieve record 25.14% efficiency at Tokyo City University Japan

Researchers at Tokyo City University in Japan have reportedly achieved a new world record power conversion efficiency for a tandem solar cell which combines a perovskite top cell with a copper-indium-gallium-selenide (CIGS) bottom cell. The two-terminal device has an active area of 1 cm² and reached a certified efficiency of 25.14%. The result was certified by Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST). Researchers in Japan claim to have achieved a world record power conversion efficiency for a tandem solar cell based on a top perovskite device and a bottom cell based on copper, indium, gallium and selenium (CIGS). They said further efficiency improvements can be expected by optimizing the cell configuration to improve the short-circuit current. In addition, they aim to accelerate research and development toward practical application through improvements in additives and passivation technology, with no further technical details of the new cell design being revealed.

This surpasses the previous record of 24.6% for a perovskite-CIGS tandem, which was set by Germany’s Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) in February 2025, after which groups worldwide had been trying to push the technology beyond the 25% threshold. The Japanese team notes that, until now, this 25% mark had remained out of reach despite intensive international research efforts. The tandem device has a two-terminal (2T) configuration, an active area of 1 cm2, and an certified efficiency of 25.14%.  “Since then, improvement research has been conducted around the world, but the 25% barrier had not been broken,” the Japanese team stated. The layer promotes better crystallinity of the perovskite film by providing a more suitable growth surface. At the same time, it reduces interfacial recombination losses which would otherwise lower device efficiency. It also prevents unwanted chemical reactions between the CIGS layer and perovskite precursors.

The new record cell is built on a CIGS bottom device originally developed at AIST, paired with a perovskite top cell which uses an improved absorber layer with higher crystallinity. This enhancement is enabled by a newly introduced interfacial barrier layer between the two subcells, which provides a more favorable surface for perovskite growth, suppresses interfacial recombination losses, and blocks undesirable chemical reactions between the CIGS absorber and the perovskite precursor materials. The top cell was built with a substrate made of indium tin oxide (ITO), a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) known as MeO-2PACz, the perovskite absorber, an electron transport layer (ETL) relying on buckminsterfullerene (C60) and tin dioxide layer deposited via atomic layer deposition (ALD-SnO2), another ITO layer, an antireflective coating made of magnesium fluoride (MgF2), and silver metal contact.

The scientists explained that the cell is based on bottom CIGS device developed by AIST itself and top perovskite cell with an improved perovskite absorber with higher cristallinity, which was achieved via a new barrier layer placed between the two cells. In the top perovskite cell, the researchers employed an indium tin oxide (ITO) substrate, a MeO-2PACz self-assembled monolayer (SAM), the perovskite absorber, and an electron transport stack consisting of buckminsterfullerene (C60) and an atomic-layer-deposited tin dioxide (ALD-SnO₂) layer, followed by an additional ITO layer, a magnesium fluoride (MgF₂) antireflection coating, and a silver contact. The CIGS bottom cell uses soda-lime glass (SLG) as the substrate, a molybdenum (Mo) back contact, the CIGS absorber layer, a cadmium sulfide (CdS) buffer, and a zinc oxide (ZnO) window layer. Tested under standard illumination conditions, the tandem cell achieved an efficiency of 25.14%.

Under standard test conditions, the tandem device delivered not only 25.14% efficiency but also an open-circuit voltage of 1.845 V, a short-circuit current density of 16.25 mA/cm², and a fill factor of 83.5%. The team expects that further gains are possible by refining the device architecture to increase the short-circuit current, and they plan to speed up development toward practical applications through improved additives and passivation strategies, although detailed information on these aspects has not yet been disclosed. We have to wait for final outcome in near future. 

New world record with 3,413-meter hot-water drilling in Antarctic subglacial lake

A new record with 3,413 meters drilling of Antarctic ice and opened a gateway to a Lake Frozen in time     

China’s 42nd Antarctic expedition has set a new record with the country’s first hot-water drilling experiment on the Antarctic ice sheet, reaching a depth of 3,413 meters and surpassing the previous global mark of 2,540 meters. A jet of near-boiling water just opened a path to something buried under 3.4 kilometers of Antarctic ice. What waited below has been sealed since before recorded time. A narrow column of near-boiling water burned through more than three km's of Antarctic ice in early February, carving a clean shaft down to a lake sealed from the surface for millions of years. When the drill reached its target, China’s 42nd Antarctic expedition team had punched through 3,413 meters of ice, breaking the previous global record for hot-water ice drilling by nearly 900 meters. China’s Ministry of Natural Resources announced the achievement. The depth eclipsed the old benchmark of 2,540 meters and, the ministry said, now gives Chinese researchers the ability to drill into more than 90% of the Antarctic ice sheet and the entire Arctic ice sheet. The team deployed the drill above Qilin Subglacial Lake, one of the largest buried lakes discovered in Antarctica. China formally named the lake in 2022. It sits in Princess Elizabeth Land, roughly 120 km's from the country’s Taishan Station, deep in the East Antarctic interior.

Polar hot-water drilling is a cutting-edge research method to study Earth’s ancient environmental changes, predict climate change, explore the limits of life and expand human knowledge, according to Xinhua. For the Chinese team, this was a full-system trial under real polar conditions. The ministry’s statement noted that engineers had to integrate multiple pieces of equipment purpose-built for extreme cold. They solved problems that no previous domestic expedition had tackled: keeping the system stable at low temperatures, preventing surface contamination from entering the borehole, and managing the long hoses and winches with precision as the drill descended through thousands of meters of ice. Compared with traditional mechanical ice drilling, hot-water drilling offers greater penetration capability, higher drilling efficiency, less disturbance to the ice and greater ease in achieving large-diameter, clean operations. It enables efficient access to key interfaces such as subglacial lakes, the underside of ice shelves, and subglacial bedrock, making it the mainstream technology internationally for studying the deep environments of polar ice sheets and ice shelves. 

The method is simpler than it sounds. A surface unit heats water and pumps it at high pressure down a long hose. The hot water melts the ice on contact, and the hose descends as the borehole deepens. No grinding bits. No mechanical cutting. The result is a wide, clean hole that opens fast. The advantages over traditional mechanical drilling are substantial. Hot-water drilling causes far less disturbance to the surrounding ice. It leaves behind a contamination-free channel, a requirement that becomes non-negotiable when the target is a subglacial lake isolated for millennia. Mechanical drills risk carrying surface microbes, fuel or drilling fluid into pristine environments. A properly managed hot-water system reduces that risk sharply. Those qualities explain why the technique has become the mainstream choice internationally for reaching subglacial lakes, ice shelf bases and bedrock interfaces. The test demonstrated that the equipment works efficiently and stably in the environment it was designed for. The ministry’s announcement also underlined the mission’s focus on “green exploration” and environmentally responsible technology.

Subglacial lakes are so isolated that their waters function as natural time capsules. Cut off from sunlight and atmosphere, any microbes living inside have adapted to extreme pressure and near-total darkness. Their chemistry records ancient climate conditions. Their sediments hold geological stories that surface rocks cannot tell. These environments also serve as planetary analogs. Scientists studying icy moons like Europa and Enceladus, where liquid oceans are thought to exist beneath frozen crusts, look to Antarctica’s buried lakes for clues about how life might survive in similar conditions elsewhere in the solar system. The primary objective of this test was to demonstrate the application of a deep ice-sheet hot-water and thermal-melting drilling systems in Antarctica. By drilling through the ice sheet above the Qilin Subglacial Lake, it provided a contamination-free access channel and key technical support for subsequent in situ observations of the subglacial lake, as well as for collecting water and lakebed samples. Hot-water drilling gives researchers a direct path to other world. A clean borehole allows instruments to be lowered into the lake, water samples collected and sediment cores pulled from the lakebed without introducing contamination that would ruin the scientific value of the material. The test concentrated on proving that the access route could be established.

China’s 42nd Antarctic expedition has pushed forward on multiple fronts this season. In January, the team began formal operations at the Zhongshan-Taishan Ice Cap Atmospheric and Ocean Observation Station, a new inland facility on the East Antarctic Plateau built for sustained climate and environmental monitoring. The experiment targeted an ice sheet more than 3,000 meters thick, integrating multiple types of equipment suited to polar field conditions and meeting the requirements for high-precision, rapid, and clean drilling. The drilling result adds a subsurface dimension to that expanding research presence. By operating successfully, the team showed the hot-water drilling system can handle the most demanding targets on the continent. The operation signals a technical arrival. With this test, China joins a small group of nations that have demonstrated deep ice drilling capability in polar regions. When the sampling mission returns through that borehole, the investigation of one of Antarctica’s most isolated environments will enter a new stage. The next logical phase will involve sending sampling equipment through that borehole to capture the first direct measurements and biological samples from Qilin Subglacial Lake. Researchers overcame key technical challenges to achieve efficient, stable and clean drilling and filled a domestic gap in this field, showcasing China’s “green expedition” and “environmentally friendly technology” concepts.

Mysterious 650-foot mega-tsunami recorded by satellites

 Mysterious 'mega-tsunamis' sends seismic waves worldwide for nine days 

A new satellite has captured the first direct evidence of a mysterious nine-day seismic signal that shook the world in 2023. Scientists have made the first direct observations of a strange seismic event that shook the world for nine consecutive days and confirmed its cause: two "mega-tsunamis" that sloshed around an East Greenland fjord. Greenland’s eastern edge rarely causes a stir. Then, with no warning, seismic instruments across the world lit up at the same time with a slow, steady rhythm which lasted for nine full days. The pulse rose and fell every ninety-two seconds. The rumble was far too soft for people to feel, but strong enough to rattle bedrock from Alaska to Australia. No typical earthquake behaves that way. Scientists soon linked the signal to Greenland’s Dickson Fjord, a narrow inlet hemmed in by 3,000-foot cliffs on each side. Fresh satellite images showed a new scar where a section of mountain had vanished. Something colossal had struck the water and set the fjord in motion.

The gigantic waves, one of which measured 650 feet (200 meters) high, or about half the height of the Empire State Building, entered East Greenland's Dickson Fjord and rocked back and forth for nine days in September 2023, sending seismic waves reverberating through the planet's crust. The signal was initially a mystery to scientists, but ground and satellite imagery traced the likely culprit to landslides in the fjord. These landslides unleashed the waves, known as seiches, following the climate-change-induced melting of a glacier behind the fjord. However, no direct evidence of these seiches was found. On 16 September, 2023, more than 25 million cubic yards of rock and ice, enough to fill 10,000 Olympic-size pools, broke loose and plunged into Dickson Fjord. The impact hurled up a mega-tsunami wave, reaching about 650 feet high. The surge barreled down the two-mile corridor, bounced off the headland, and tore back again, wrecking roughly $200,000 in equipment at an empty research post on Ella Island. Water did not calm after the first pass. Instead, it began rocking from wall to wall. Computer models later showed the surface rising as much as 30 feet, then sinking the same amount in a steady rhythm that pressed on the seafloor like a giant piston.

The mystery drew seventy-plus researchers from forty-one institutions. “When we set out on this scientific adventure, everybody was puzzled and no one had the faintest idea what caused this signal,” said Kristian Svennevig of the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland. “All we knew was that it was somehow associated with the landslide. We only managed to solve this enigma through a huge interdisciplinary and international effort.” Now, the theory has been confirmed by a new satellite that tracks water on the surface of the ocean. Field teams measured fresh gouges high on the cliffs, while supercomputers recreated the avalanche’s path and the fjord’s response. “It was exciting to be working on such a puzzling problem with an interdisciplinary and international team of scientists,” said Robert Anthony of the US Geological Survey. “Ultimately, it took a plethora of geophysical observations and numerical modeling from researchers across many countries to put the puzzle together and get a complete picture of what had occurred.” Conventional radar altimeters see only a thin line beneath each spacecraft. By contrast, the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission launched in December 2022 maps a 30-mile-wide swath with 8-foot resolution. “Climate change is driving the emergence of unprecedented extremes, particularly in remote regions like the Arctic, where our ability to monitor conditions using traditional physical sensors is limited,” explained Thomas Monahan of the University of Oxford. “SWOT represents a breakthrough in our ability to study oceanic processes in areas such as fjords, places that have long posed challenges for earlier satellite technologies,” Monahan continued. This study highlights how next-generation Earth observation satellites can transform scientific understanding of these dynamic environments. “This study demonstrates how advanced satellite data can finally illuminate phenomena that have eluded us for years,” remarked Professor Thomas Adcock, also from Oxford. “We’re now gaining new insights into oceanic extremes like tsunamis, storm surges, and rogue waves. To fully harness the potential of these new datasets, we’ll need to push the boundaries of both machine learning and our understanding of ocean physics,” Adcock concluded.

Climate change is giving rise to new, unseen extremes. These extremes are changing the fastest in remote areas, such as the Arctic, where our ability to measure them using physical sensors is limited. This shows how we can leverage the next generation of satellite Earth observation technologies to study these processes. Glacier ice once buttressed the failing slope, but warming air and ocean water have eaten away at that natural brace. “Climate change is shifting what is typical on Earth, and it can set unusual events into motion,” Gabriel noted. Similar instability elsewhere triggered a deadly tsunami in Karrat Fjord in 2017 which destroyed eleven houses and claimed four lives. Though no passengers were present last year, the episode highlights rising risks as Arctic travel grows. Authorities are now reviewing early-warning options which combine satellite feeds with real-time seismic data. Seismic stations normally record frantic scribbles during earthquakes. This time, the trace formed smooth peaks spaced a minute and a half apart and barely weakened over the better part of two weeks. No seiche had ever produced such a persistent global signature. One modeling group pegged the slosh at about 8½ feet; a second group estimated 23 to 30 feet. The disagreement stemmed from different assumptions about Dickson fjord’s shape, but both sets of simulations agreed on the source: the landslide-driven wave.

Typically, scientists study the movements of tsunami waves using a method called satellite altimetry, in which radar pulses are sent to the ocean's surface from orbit to measure a wave's height based on the time it takes for the pulses to return. But because satellites have long gaps in coverage and their instruments can only measure what's beneath them, they are unable to measure the differences in water height in confined areas like those within the fjord. “It was a big challenge to do an accurate computer simulation of such a long-lasting, sloshing tsunami,” said Alice Gabriel of UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography. To confirm the existence of the seiches, the scientists turned to data captured by the new Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite, a joint project of NASA and CNES, France's space agency. Launched in December 2022, the satellite uses an instrument called the Ka-band Radar Interferometer (KaRIn) to map 90% of the water across the ocean's surface. KaRIn works by using two antennae mounted across a boom on each side of the satellite to triangulate the return signals of radar pulses with unprecedented accuracy, measuring water levels with a resolution of up to 8.2 feet (2.5 m) along a 30-mile (50 kilometers) arc.

SWOT data taken above the fjord during the two mega-tsunamis revealed two cross-channel slopes moving in opposite directions between it, confirming their presence. Seismic observations made thousands of miles away, alongside weather and tidal readings, further enabled the researchers to reconstruct the waves and conclusively link them to the mysterious seismic signals. Researchers are now combing through seismic archives looking for similar slow pulses, which may uncover other natural disasters from the past that evaded detection. “This shows there is stuff out there that we still don’t understand and haven’t seen before,” said Carl Ebeling of Scripps. “The essence of science is trying to answer a question we don’t know the answer to – that’s why this was so exciting to work on.” Every new discovery will refine models of how slope failure, fjord geometry, and water depth interact. Better forecasts could one day provide critical minutes of advance warning for ships and settlements in high-latitude waters. Even the quietest corners of the planet deserve a closer listen. "This study is an example of how the next generation of satellite data can resolve phenomena that has remained a mystery in the past," Thomas Adcock, a professor of engineering science at the University of Oxford, said. "We will be able to get new insights into ocean extremes such as tsunamis, storm surges and freak waves," he added. "However, to get the most out of these data we will need to innovate and use both machine learning and our knowledge of ocean physics to interpret our new results."

Record-breaking 35.6 tesla magnet

 Record-breaking 35.6 tesla magnet is 700,000 times stronger than Earth’s magnetic field

China has generated a steady magnetic field 700,000 times stronger than Earth’s using a magnet made entirely from superconducting materials, establishing the strongest stable field of its kind ever reported. The magnet enabled extreme-condition experiments for global research teams and build an ultra-low temperature high magnetic field quantum oscillation experimental station at Synergetic Extreme Condition User Facility in Huairou District, Beijing. China has set a new benchmark in extreme magnet science after researchers built the strongest all-superconducting user magnet ever. Such sustained strength turns extreme magnetism from a brief laboratory stunt into a controllable force which researchers can plan around and depend on. Chinese Academy of Sciences announced that a new magnet reached a central magnetic field of 35.6 tesla at a national experiment facility in Beijing, marking a global first for this class of research equipment and opening fresh possibilities for high-field science. The experiment was carried out at the Synergetic Extreme Condition User Facility, a major platform designed to host scientists from China and abroad. The result places the country among the leaders in high-temperature superconducting technology and gives researchers access to magnetic fields far beyond what is available in conventional laboratories.

Inside the Synergetic Extreme Condition User Facility in Beijing (SECUF), the magnet produced that field through a 1.4-inch (3.6-cm) opening designed for real experiments. Engineers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) built and operated the system to deliver that strength reliably, verifying that the field could be sustained without instability. Unlike earlier high-field attempts that spiked briefly, this magnet held its record intensity under controlled conditions meant for repeat use. This stability sets the stage for understanding how such strength was engineered and what limits still remain. The new magnet is an all-superconducting user system, meaning it relies entirely on superconducting materials to generate intense magnetic fields with minimal energy loss. It provides a usable bore of 35 mm (about 1.38 inches), allowing experiments to be conducted directly in the field. The magnetic intensity achieved is roughly 12 to 24 times stronger than that of a hospital MRI scanner and more than 700,000 times stronger than Earth’s natural magnetic field. This scale of performance is essential for studying how materials behave under extreme conditions which cannot be replicated otherwise. Designed as a shared research tool, the magnet has already been opened to domestic and international users. According to the Chinese Academy of Sciences, it is intended to support frontier experiments in materials science, life sciences and other fields where strong, stable magnetic environments are critical.

Stronger magnets also sharpen instruments which probe matter, especially tools that read tiny signals from atoms and molecules. In nuclear magnetic resonance, a method which reads molecules in a strong magnet, higher field strengths separate signals which would otherwise overlap. Clearer spectra help chemists and biologists map complex structures, which matters for materials research and drug design. Because the new magnet is a user system, those gains can spread beyond one lab which owns rare gear. The development was the result of close cooperation between multiple research bodies under the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The Institute of Electrical Engineering led the design, manufacturing, and system integration of the superconducting magnet itself. At the same time, the Institute of Physics focused on addressing technical challenges in system health monitoring and precision measurement for high-temperature superconducting components. Earlier versions of the system reached lower field levels in 2023. Since then, researchers have upgraded materials, optimized structural design and refined manufacturing processes. These changes allowed the team to push performance higher without reducing the bore size, a key requirement for user experiments. The achievement signals that China now has internationally advanced capabilities in applying high-temperature superconductors to large-scale scientific instruments.

Regular metal wires heat up when current flows, and this heating limits how strong a magnet can run. A superconductor, a material which carries current with no resistance, avoids that heat and allows far larger currents. Cold temperatures keep the material in that special state, so the magnet can stay powered without wasting electricity. Even so, high fields push the materials close to failure, and one weak spot can force a fast shutdown. Getting higher fields will require stronger conductors and sturdier supports, since forces rise fast as magnets scale up. Teams involved in the project have already pointed to a next target of 40 teslas in a larger bore. Lower operating costs will matter just as much, because refrigeration and power controls dominate the budget for user access. Each improvement turns a high-field magnet from a headline into equipment which other scientists can rely on daily. Beyond raw strength, stability and reliability, the value of an all-superconducting user magnet lies in its ability to deliver high performance. Such systems operate at extremely low temperatures, where electrical resistance drops to zero. This allows them to maintain uniform magnetic fields for long periods while consuming relatively little energy. “For example, it can stably maintain its maximum magnetic field for more than 200 hours, and can be well integrated with extreme experimental conditions such as ultra-low temperatures and high pressures,” said Luo Jianlin, a researcher from the Institute of Physics under CAS. “This enables a wide range of experimental measurements, including nuclear magnetic resonance, specific heat, and magnetostriction, greatly meeting the needs of the research community,” he said.

To reach record fields, designers nested a smaller insert coil inside a larger outer coil. The inner coil used a high-temperature superconductor, a superconductor which works at warmer cryogenic temperatures, to add extra strength. Around it, more traditional superconducting coils carried the bulk current and helped the field stay smooth across the bore. This layered approach lets each material handle what it does best, but it also complicates cooling and protection. As field strength climbs, magnetic forces squeeze and twist the coils, stressing metal, insulation and support structures. Tight demands for strength, stability and homogeneity turned the whole build into a cross-discipline problem. Wang Qiuliang, a CAS researcher specializing in high-field magnet engineering, noted the challenges facing the project. “However, the development of high-field superconducting magnets involves interdisciplinary integration and faces numerous engineering bottlenecks, with extremely demanding requirements for field strength, stability, and homogeneity,” said Wang. A single crack or warm spot can force a fast shutdown, dumping stored energy as heat. Most record magnets hit a peak for seconds, then fall, which limits what scientists can measure carefully. A steady field lets instruments collect weak signals and filter noise, so the results carry more trust. SECUF treats the setup as a user magnet, a shared magnet open to outside groups for scheduled experiments. This openness forces engineers to think about repeat runs, not just one dramatic moment in the lab.

The magnet is installed at the comprehensive research facility for extreme conditions in Huairou Science City, on the outskirts of Beijing. The infrastructure passed national acceptance in February 2025 and brings together ultra-low temperatures, strong magnetic fields, ultra-high pressure and ultrafast optical systems in one location. Fusion experiments heat a gas into plasma, a soup of charged particles, and magnets must keep it off walls. Earlier, a team in Hefei held 351,000 gauss, or 35.1 teslas, steady for 30 minutes, beating 323,500 gauss. Compared with Earth’s magnetic field of about 0.5 gauss, this run showed how far magnet builders have come. High fields like those make fusion designs more practical, but they still demand cooling systems that never miss a beat. High-field magnets feed research on electric machines which waste less energy, from motors to compact generators. Superconducting coils can carry huge currents in small spaces, letting engineers pack more power into lighter equipment. Magnetic levitation trains and some spacecraft thrusters also depend on strong fields which stay predictable under load. Real-world adoption will hinge on cost and reliability, since large magnets must run safely around people and machines.

Operating alongside other platforms at the site, the new magnet will help scientists probe the microscopic world of matter and accelerate discoveries tied to advanced instruments, medical technologies, energy systems and transportation. “Strong magnetic fields are an important tool for studying materials. They help scientists better understand high-temperature superconductors and quantum materials, and also play an important role in the precise analysis of bio molecular structures and the development of medical technologies such as magnetic-targeted therapy, contributing to disease diagnosis and treatment,” Luo added. China’s latest all-superconducting magnet shows how steady, user-ready fields can move from specialist shops into shared facilities. If engineers can widen the opening and keep costs down, the same approach could power new science and cleaner machines in the world around us.