Perovskite crystals may represent the future of solar power
Their efficiency rates far exceed those of conventional silicon panels
IT is commonly claimed, and also true, that enough sunlight falls on Earth in the course of an hour to meet a year’s worth of global power needs. Some of that sunlight is currently converted into electricity by arrays of solar panels: by the end of 2023, these panels covered almost 10,000 square kilometres of Earth’s surface, producing some 1,600 terawatt-hours of electricity, about 6% of that generated worldwide.
SpaceX is NASA’s biggest lunar rival
The company’s successes are also showing up the agency’s failings
Tubeworms live beneath the planetary crust around deep-sea vents
The conditions are hot, sulphurous and low in oxygen
Elon Musk’s SpaceX has achieved something extraordinary
If SpaceX can land and reuse the most powerful rocket ever made what can’t it do?
Could life exist on one of Jupiter’s moons?
A spacecraft heading to Europa is designed to find out
Noise-dampening tech could make ships less disruptive to marine life
Solutions include bendy propellers and “acoustic black holes”
Meet Japan’s hitchhiking fish
Medaka catch rides on obliging birds, confirming one of Darwin’s hunches