POWER FAILURE Researchers say new attack could take down the European power grid Power grid in Central Europe uses unencrypted radio signals to add and shed loads. Dan Goodin Jan 23, 2025 7:00 am | 1 Credit: Aurich Lawson | Getty Images Credit: Aurich Lawson | Getty Images Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreLate last month, researchers revealed a finding thats likely to shock some people and confirm the low expectations of others: Renewable energy facilities throughout Central Europe use unencrypted radio signals to receive commands to feed or ditch power into or from the grid that serves some 450 million people throughout the continent.Fabian Brunlein and Luca Melette stumbled on their discovery largely by accident while working on what they thought would be a much different sort of hacking project. After observing a radio receiver on the streetlight poles throughout Berlin, they got to wondering: Would it be possible for someone with a central transmitter to control them en masse, and if so, could they create a city-wide light installation along the lines of Project Blinkenlights? Images showing Project Blinkenlights throughout the years. Credit: Positive Security The first Project Blinkenlights iteration occurred in 2001 in Berlin, when the lights inside a large building were synchronized to turn on and off to give the appearance of a giant, low-resolution monochrome computer screen.The researchers, who presented their work last month at the 38th Chaos Communication Congress in Hamburg, Germany, wondered if they could control streetlights in Berlin to create a city-wide version, though they acknowledged it would likely be viewable only from high altitudes. They didn't know then, but their project was about to undergo a major transformation.After an extensive and painstaking reverse-engineering process that took about a year, Brunlein and Melette learned that they could indeed control the streetlights simply by replaying legitimate messages they observed being sent over the air previously. They then learned something more surprisingthe very same system for controlling Berlins lights was used throughout Central Europe to control other regional infrastructure, including switches that regulate the amount of power renewable electric generation facilities feed into the grid.Collectively, the facilities could generate as much as 40 gigawatts in Germany alone, the researchers estimate. In addition, they estimate that in Germany, 20 GW of loads such as heat pumps and wall boxes are controlled via those receivers. That adds up to 60 GW that might be controllable through Radio Ripple Control.The fact that the same receivers that are installed in street lamps are also used for smaller solar power plants did not surprise us too much, Brunlein wrote in an interview. When we understood just how much power is being controlled via this system, and it also being installed in the largest renewable power plants in Germany, that was more of a shock to us.When Brunlein and Melette realized how much power was controlled, they wondered how much damage might result from rogue messages sent simultaneously to multiple power facilities in strategically designed sequences and times of day. By their calculation, an optimally crafted series of messages sent under certain conditions would be enough to bring down the entire European grid. A grid security expert we contacted for this story doubts this assessment. More on this later.The continent-wide control system, formally known as Radio Ripple Control (Funkrundsteuerung in German), is derived from the older protocol Rundsteuertechnik, or Ripple Control. Implemented in the early 1900s, Ripple Control was made up of a series of decentralized tone (ripple) injectors at voltage conversion sites known as medium voltage transformers.Based on the messages in each telegram, the receivers would then send commands to connected devices that instructed them to perform a specific action. As radio technology became more prevalent, the cost of sending telegrams over the wire, compared with sending them over the air, grew large enough to prompt the creation of Radio Ripple Control, which is now used primarily today.Radio Ripple Control uses a frequency-modulation scheme known as frequency-shift keying to send telegrams. The earliest modems used the same scheme, which relies on electromagnetic waves to represent digital information over an analog channel. More specifically, frequency-shift keying encodes information by periodically shifting the frequency of a carrier between several discrete frequencies.The company that oversees this service is Munich-based EFR. Today, it operates three high-power, low-frequency transmitting stations, two in Germany and one in Hungary. A slide from the researchers' presentation showing a map with transmitter locations and bullet points. Credit: Brunlein and Melette Anyone can listen to these signals using a software-defined radio tuned to the frequency corresponding to an antenna within range. A Netherlands-based SDR that can be accessed here will receive the signal from the transmitter located in Burg, Germany, when the SDR is set to a frequency of 140 KHz and the modulation to LSB. The radio will sound a tone that is interrupted roughly every 10 seconds with encoded information.The Radio Ripple Control in use today sends signals not just for managing streetlights and grid allocations throughout Central Europe. It also controls various other functions, including those for delivering weather forecasts, synchronizing times, and controlling electricity pricing tariffs. Roughly 300 customers, most of them electric companies, use Radio Ripple Control for grid allocations from small- and medium-sized renewable facilities.These customersknown as EVUs, short for Energieversorgungsunternehmen (power supply company)use either a Web or VPN desktop app to send one of the three transmitters instructions to either feed power into or ditch power from the grid. The transmitter, in turn, sends the instructions as a telegram to a radio receiver located at the power facility the EVU wants to control. When grid supply exceeds the amount of power needed at a given moment, the telegram instructs the facility to withhold electricity from the grid. When supply runs low, the telegram will instruct the facility to feed in energy.These signals aren't encrypted to provide either privacy or authorization. That means anyone can listen in, record them, and play them back over the same frequencies. People can go much further, as Brunlein and Melette did, by learning to speak the same arcane language that Radio Ripple Control does.Among the first steps in the research duo's reverse engineering process was purchasing nine receiversknown as FREs in Radio Ripple Control parlancefrom different manufacturers of the devices. The researchers then implemented an emulator of the real transmitter. To do that, they used an ESP microcontroller outfitted with a waveform generator and, for an antenna, a coil from a wireless phone charger. They used capacitors to tune their emulator to the correct frequencies. With that, the researchers could now send and receive telegrams in their lab. Credit: Positive Security Brunlein and Melette eventually discovered that the message bits sent to the FREs are encoded using two protocols, one known as Versacom and the other Semagyr. The bits are then modulated through frequency-shifting keying to produce the radio signal containing the telegrams.The Versacom and Semagyr protocols are partially documented in standards set by the Germany Institute for Standardization.The researchers wrote:We collected messages that are sent by the original transmitters and tried to correlate it to what we read in the standards. Some information, however, is not described in the standard (e.g., EVU addresses and addressing usage). We could fill those blanks through PDFs we found online as well as from the actual data we recorded.To understand Semgyr, we also used some hardware reverse engineering (identifying chips, tracing PCB lines, etc.) and found one of the software solutions that technicians use to parameterize the receivers during installation, which also had some advanced functionality to read its memory and decode raw Telegram bytes to commands.The reverse engineering gave the researchers near-perfect fluency in speaking and understanding the Versacom and Semagyr languages. They put their fluency to use by using them to send telegrams that could indeed turn on and off simulated streetlights in their labs.More impressive still, they could use the language to send telegrams to FREs that control real electric systems in their lab, the same types that are connected to the real Radio Ripple Control system. The video below shows the researchers stopping a real 40 kWp photovoltaic system from feeding energy into the grid.Download video Photovoltaic system disconnect. For ease, they used a Flipper Zero device they had configured to send the proper telegram to the photovoltaic system. They did this after discovering that the Flipper Zero's RFID reading mode could be used to send signals modulated with frequency-shift keying to receivers within a one-meter distance. Credit: Positive Security With confidence that an attacker could send unauthorized Radio Ripple Control telegrams that instructed real electrical systems connected to the grid, the researchers got to wondering: What's the maximum amount of damage a malicious actormost likely one working for a nation-statecould inflict?The researchers surveyed the grid to measure the capacity of power that small- and medium-sized renewable facilities could feed into the grid. They arrived at the estimate of 40 GW. Combined with the 20 GW of load they theoretically can add, that amounted to an unbalanced capacity of 60 GW, enough to power roughly all of Germany. They posited that a sudden change that added or ditched that amount of electricity from the grid all at once could create enough instability to take it down entirely.In a published summary of last month's presentation, the researchers explained their thinking behind the estimate:To understand, we need to look at the grid frequency. Its 50 hertz, and it should always stay there.If it reaches 50.2 hertz or more, interventions are triggered to reduce the supply. For example, using the technology were discussing today to turn off solar parks.If the frequency drops below 49.8 hertz, other interventions occur, such as activating energy reserves or disconnecting industries that have contractually agreed to this happening. Also, the first hardware fails as it happened at Vienna airport.If the frequency reaches 49 Hz or less, automated stepwise load shedding begins, up to 50% at 48.5 Hz. That might sound a bit technical and sober, but what it means for the European grid is over 200 million people without power.At 47.5 Hz, power plants disconnect from the grid to protect themselves from damage. At that point, the grid needs to be rebuilt from scratch.In theory, with a fully loaded grid at 300 GW, creating a 1 Hz change to reach this private load-shedding threshold requires an imbalance of 18 GW. However, such a large imbalancethough not even that massive compared to the 60 GW estimatehas never been seen.In practice, one of the most recent incidents was in 2021, when approximately 3 GW of power were unexpectedly lost in Poland, causing the grid frequency to drop by 0.16 hertz. What this demonstrates is that the grid hasnt yet faced such a significant imbalance.But if we start talking about imbalances of 18 GW, or 60 GW, or even more when considering other countries, theres an additional issue besides the theoretical effect on grid frequency. That issue is power transfer.If a significant amount of power is missing in one region, it must be transferred there over power lines that could become overloaded. These lines might then shut off to prevent damage, which could overload other lines, causing them to shut off too.Such a domino effector cascadehappened in 2006, when a power line was shut off to accommodate a cruise ship transport. The planning wasnt thorough, and a cascade of failures followed. So, the theoretical limits of the grid dont fully capture the potential for much larger disruptions.Taking all of that into account, its clear there is enough power under radio control to cause serious trouble. Diagram showing strategies for creating a network of renewable energy sources. Credit: Positive Security There are enough obstacles to make triggering such a catastrophic disruption challenging at best (Brunlein's and Melette's assessment) or doubtful to unlikely (the assessment of an outside grid expert). The researchers noted three key requirements for such an attack.First, the attack must control a sufficient number of gigawatts (by the researchers' calculations (no one really knows how many). Second, it must overpower the legitimate signals sent by the three EFR transmitting facilities. And third, it must occur at an optimal time. Diagram illustrating conditions required to create serious instability in the grid. Credit: Positive Security The easiest way to trigger such a catastrophic disruption would be to take over the three EFR transmitters. One possible way for such a compromise is to hack into EFR's network remotely by, for instance, targeting vulnerabilities in the apps the EVUs use. Another is through a physical intrusion of each facility simultaneously. The researchers said that based on their observations, the transmitting facilities aren't particularly well-fortified against physical intrusions. Credit: Positive Security In either scenario, the threat actor would then use the hijacked EFR transmitters to send malicious telegrams to carefully selected power generators.Another attack avenue would be to create rogue transmitters that would broadcast malicious telegrams. To override the legitimate telegrams sent by the EFR transmitters, rogue transmitters would have to be present in carefully selected locations so they could (1) reach the correct FREs and (2) overpower the legitimate signals.The researchers estimated the required effort by calculating and simulating transmitters with 10 kW of power and antennas approximately 500 meters long. To meet those requirements, they proposed building an amplifier powered by portable battery systems. An antenna 500 meters high could be erected in several scenarios. Credit: Positive Security The most plausible scenario for such a transmitter is tethering a strong wire from a kite or weather balloon. Radio amateurs have been using such techniques for years to build antennas as high as 1 kilometer, so the researchers built a kite version prototype. To comply with local laws, they limited the height of their kite to 100 m line length and radiated less than 1 watt of power on the 2.2 km amateur radio band.Download video Kite antenna field test. The attack and the research behind it are elegant, but the grid security experts I talked to said they're doubtful it's possible to carry it out in the real world the way it's envisioned. And even if it is, they question whether the 60 GW estimate is accurate. Albert Moser, a RWTH Aachen professor with expertise in power grids, said both assumptions are very possibly not true."A sudden deficit of 60 GW will definitely lead to a brownout because 60 GW is far more than [the] reserves available," he wrote in an email. "A sudden deficit of 60 GW could even lead to a blackout due to the very steep fall of frequency that likely cannot be handled fast enough by underfrequency relays (load shedding)."He said he's unable to confirm that 60 GW of generation/load is controlled by radio signals. He was also unable to confirm that security measures for Radio Ripple Control are insufficient.Jan Hoff, a grid security expert with experience securing the European grid against malicious hacks, said he doubted that much electricity could be dropped quickly enough to cause even a brownout. He likened the grid to the roly-poly toys from the 1970s, which were built to be knocked around but not fall over. "That's a very good analogy for a grid," he said.Attacks like the ones Russian state-backed hackers used to cause blackouts in Ukraine in 2015 and again in 2016 attacked substations, the distributed facilities where many power wires come together and things turn on and off.He elaborated:Here, we're talking the potential to impact participants on the grid and not necessarily those interconnects. So we just have control over individual feed-in points, which just from the timing you have to get right with the amount of production you have in the grid and the amount of current load you need for the grid to be destabilized by simultaneously ending control messages to every single station. That's where I do understand [the researchers'] train of thought, and that's why it's still concerning. but it would be something different if those messages would be affecting substations directly.The immediate effect would be for the grid operators to see anomalies feed in and would see this equilibrium of load and generation shift in a way that they weren't anticipating. Then they would take their measures accordingly. So it would result in additional grid control actions. And those grid control actions are normal.They are a day-to-day thing.The ability of the described attack to take down the Central European grid is very much contested. There's less debate that it's time to retire Radio Ripple Control and replace it with something that's harder to tamper with.One possible replacement would be iMSys, short for Intelligentes Messsystem. It currently uses LTE, the same wireless transmission standard that carries traffic over 4G mobile networks. LTE uses encryption to provide confidentiality and antispoofing protection. Short for Long Term Evolution, LTE isn't impervious to hacks (see here, here, and here). However, it contains a robust security architecture that would add a significant layer of protection that is not possible with Radio Ripple Control.iMSys is currently used mostly for smart meters. Regulators are considering plans to run iMSys on a completely independent 450 MHz LTE infrastructure that's reserved exclusively for critical infrastructure. The researchers say that, unfortunately, the roadmap for rolling out this plan is slow and doesn't adequately prioritize securing the most vulnerable parts of the grid. Credit: Positive Security Further underscoring the lack of urgency in moving away from Radio Ripple Control, the researchers said, the city of Hamburg recently updated its infrastructure to adopt the standard.Neither EFR nor Germany's Federal Office for Information Security responded to requests for comment.Ultimately, the debate over the ability of malicious hackers to trigger a continent-wide blackout is moot and a distraction from the issue that really matters. The use of unencrypted radio signals that anyone can send to control power sent from generating facilities to the grid is never a sound practice and greatly violates a defense-in-depth approach to securing critical infrastructure.Dan GoodinSenior Security EditorDan GoodinSenior Security Editor Dan Goodin is Senior Security Editor at Ars Technica, where he oversees coverage of malware, computer espionage, botnets, hardware hacking, encryption, and passwords. In his spare time, he enjoys gardening, cooking, and following the independent music scene. Dan is based in San Francisco. Follow him at here on Mastodon and here on Bluesky. Contact him on Signal at DanArs.82. 1 Comments

As cybersecurity spending grows, so has cybercrime. According to the latest data from the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), in 2023, a record-breaking 880,418 complaints were filed by the American public, highlighting a significant rise in cybercrime reports compared to previous years.Cyber criminals are refining and scaling their attack methods using artificial intelligence and other tools, so companies must incorporate proactive methods powered by AI, in addition to defensive methods that minimize risks and maximize security.Red teams are an integral part of a proactive security approach that companies can leverage to enhance defenses against adversaries. They play a critical role in determining a companys readiness to prevent cyberattacks by measuring the current security of the target from the threat actors perspective and then recommending improvements designed to prevent harm.While blue teams tend to focus on strengthening defense strategies and responding to incidents, red teams look to identify weaknesses and act in the same manner as an adversary would. By studying the tactics of real-world threat actors and implementing exercises that mimic their attacks, red teams can offer recommendations to help prepare for and disrupt potential threats.Related:Since its inception, the Adobe security red teams value has been felt across the company. By performing active testing using customized toolkits, they can effectively evaluate our preparedness to defend against real-world adversaries and scenarios.Here are the top five strategies I recommend to others looking to implement an effective red team:1. Imitate real-world adversaries: Red teams should be familiar with adversaries and their actions to better understand motivations and possible future scenarios. A global knowledge base like MITRE ATT&CK tracks tactics and techniques based on real-world occurrences and allows companies to gather cataloged and recorded threat intelligence. Reviewing reports from the Cyber Security Review Board can yield ideas on security approaches that are known to be ineffective.2. Replicate hypothetical attack scenarios: Another important capability of red teaming is anticipating and getting ahead of malicious attempts. Simulating techniques by cyber criminals enables red teams to explore theoretical paths that could lead to services or data being compromised.During a simulation, the red team explores hypothetical attacks, such as escalating privileges and moving laterally between systems, which could ultimately cause harm to an organization if the right defenses arent in place. These simulations provide an in-depth understanding while analyzing a myriad of possible attack vectors. After the exercise, the red team should share findings with key stakeholders to enhance controls based on their expertise.Related:3. Develop a customized toolkit: A customized toolkit can help red teams more efficiently perform exercises similar to advanced attackers. These tools may include:Custom exploits that allow the red team to manipulate systems and gain initial access for further attacks. This doesnt necessarily mean identifying completely new vulnerabilities, you can leverage code that an adversary would write to tailor an exploit attempt to be most effective in your environment.Software to effectively communicate with compromised machines (often referred to as Command and Control or C2 for short).Post-exploitation modules that target a companys services and execute them after a system is compromised.Developing these capabilities over time allows teams to stay up to date with the rapidly growing complexity of cyber-attack methods. However, the cost of developing a custom toolkit can be high, so dont let it stop you from using whatever is available from the wider security community for your team to be effective.Related:4. Enhance operations with the help of AI: Because bad actors are using AI, companies benefit from using AI in their own efforts to stay ahead of threats. Red teams can leverage AI tools to better understand the actions of real-world threats. For example, AI can be used to scale the effort of testing defenses, helping red teams get better at discovering and subsequently defending against potential threats. It can save the team time on learning new coding languages and developing tools, since it can help a red teamer to better understand a piece of code more quickly.5. Collaborate with blue teams: Probably the most crucial piece of effective red teaming is the collaboration with blue teams to enhance detection and response capabilities. This allows blue teams to test whether their assumptions of the environment theyre trying to protect hold true. Purple team exercises are joint engagements between red and blue teams. The red team simulates attack actions for the blue team, which then verifies that it detected the attempt, and if not, would have had sufficient logs to detect the actions. The collaboration helps both teams develop more effective threat detection methods.When a company uses red teams to better understand and anticipate adversarial scenarios, they can be more focused and make security investments where they make the most impact. Red teaming is a helpful element of a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy. It should always be integrated with robust technical controls, and a culture that prioritizes security and threat awareness to defend against cyber threats effectively.

In a letter sent today, the acting DHS secretary terminated membership to all advisory boards, including the Cyber Safety Review Board (CSRB) tasked with investigating state-sponsored cyber threats against the US.

EarthThe shock discovery that metallic nodules could be producing oxygen in the deep sea made headlines last year now the team behind it is launching a new project to confirm and explain the findings 23 January 2025 Manganese nodules on the sea floor may be a source of oxygenScience History Images/AlamyMarine scientists who made headlines last year with their discovery that deep sea nodules could be producing dark oxygen are embarking on a three-year research project to explain their findings.Amid swirling controversy over their research, project lead Andrew Sweetman at the Scottish Association for Marine Science says he hopes the new scheme will show once and for all that metallic lumps of rock are sources of deep sea oxygen and start to explain how the process is working. We know that its going on, and what we need to now do is show it again, and then really start getting at the mechanism, he says. AdvertisementSweetman had spent more than a decade studying life on the sea floor before his shock discovery made headlines in July last year, and confounded the research community. Previously, it was thought that oxygen production relied on the presence of plants, algae or cyanobacteria to perform photosynthesis, powered by sunlight.But Sweetmans team found rising oxygen levels on nodule-rich areas of sea floor, thousands of metres below the ocean surface where no light can penetrate and no plants grow. The researchers suggested that the nodules could be acting as geobatteries, generating an electric current that splits water molecules into hydrogen and dark oxygen, produced naturally without photosynthesis.Sweetman found himself at the centre of a media storm. Life changed overnight, he says he even gets stopped on the street by people wanting a photograph with him. Its been very surreal, he says. Unmissable news about our planet delivered straight to your inbox every month.Sign up to newsletterBut the discovery also brought challenges. The research has attracted criticism from some scientists and deep-sea mining companies, who plan to mine the nodules for precious materials needed for the green energy transition.The Metals Company (TMC), which funded some of the research that led to Sweetmans 2024 paper, has been among the fiercest critics of his findings. Its scientists have published a paper arguing the discovery is completely unsupported by evidence and raising concerns about the studys methodology.They say faulty equipment or misuse of the landers could have produced unusual readings, claiming that other researchers using similar procedures have not been able to replicate the findings. They also raise questions regarding the data used in Sweetmans studies, claiming the research relies on flawed and inappropriate data.After decades of research using the same methods, no credible scientist has ever reported evidence of dark oxygen, Gerard Barron, the CEO and chairman of The Metals Company, said in a statement. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. Were still waiting.Concerns have also been raised with the journal that published Sweetmans study, Nature Geoscience. We have been looking into [these concerns] carefully following an established process. However, a decision as to what action may be taken, if any, has not been made at this time, a spokesperson for the journal told New Scientist.Sweetman insists his study is accurate and he will be responding to TMCs criticisms in a formal rebuttal to their paper. But he says his experience at the centre of the controversy has been extremely tiring and upsetting. Theres been lots of discussion. A lot of mining companies have been saying lots of different things, a lot of it not so nice, which has been a challenge to live through, he says. Its definitely had a bit of an impact on me. The online bullying hasnt been nice to be exposed to, and it has been continuous.Sweetmans new research project, funded via a 2 million grant from Japanese charity The Nippon Foundation, aims to lay some of the controversy to rest. Sweetmans team will use brand new, custom-built landers capable of descending to 12,000 metres below sea level, twice the depth reached by the previous study, to hunt specifically for dark oxygen production in the Pacific Ocean.The first of three research expeditions will set sail in January 2026 from San Diego, California, with the aim of confirming nodule-driven oxygen production in the deep ocean with fresh data. Once again, the landers will seal off samples of water and sediment from the sea floor to measure changes in oxygen concentrations. The researchers will also test for the presence of hydrogen, which would also be produced if seawater electrolysis is occurring. And they will inject isotopically labelled water into samples to trace any chemical changes to the elements.Sweetman is bullish about the prospects of finding dark oxygen production. I know its happening. We have found this now in six places. I know we are going to find it, he says.A further two expeditions will seek to investigate what microbial or electrochemical mechanisms may be at play, and start to explore the potential contribution of dark oxygen production in deep ocean ecosystems. It is the first research of its kind to directly explore these processes Sweetmans initial discovery was, by his own admission, serendipitous. I didnt set out to show this; we just set out to measure sea floor respiration, he says of his initial work.NASA is also interested in studying the nodules, Sweetman says, to investigate whether similar processes could be supporting life on other moons and planets.Deep-sea mining firms will be watching the project closely. They are hoping to start operations later this year, but are still waiting for the International Seabed Authority to finalise its rules on deep sea mining. More evidence of deep sea oxygen production would deal a severe blow to their hopes of establishing a mining industry on the sea floor.Sweetman says firms should hold off mining the seabed until scientists know more about the potential role of dark oxygen production in ocean ecosystems. All we are asking for is a little more time to go out and try to figure out what is going on, he says.Topics:oceans

Simone RotellaThere is something about wine experts that rubs people the wrong way. Wine tasting has become the epitome of a privileged elite who spend their days nose deep in a glass of swirling pinot noir. This negative view of wine experts isnt only misguided, but part of a general devaluation of our sense of smell.Over 2000 years ago, Aristotle wrote that our sense of smell is not accurate but worse than many animals. For man smells poorly. The human ability to smell is still thought of as weak. A UK survey showed it was seen as the

It might sound like something straight out of the 19th century, but one of the most cutting-edge areas in energy today involves drilling deep underground to hunt for materials that can be burned for energy. The difference is that this time, instead of looking for fossil fuels, the race is on to find natural deposits of hydrogen. Hydrogen is already a key ingredient in the chemical industry and could be used as a greener fuel in industries from aviation and transoceanic shipping to steelmaking. Today, the gas needs to be manufactured, but theres some evidence that there are vast deposits underground. Ive been thinking about underground resources a lot this week, since Ive been reporting a story about a new startup, Addis Energy. The company is looking to use subsurface rocks, and the conditions down there, to produce another useful chemical: ammonia. In an age of lab-produced breakthroughs, it feels like something of a regression to go digging for resources, but looking underground could help meet energy demand while also addressing climate change. Its rare that hydrogen turns up in oil and gas operations, and for decades, the conventional wisdom has been that there arent large deposits of the gas underground. Hydrogen molecules are tiny, after all, so even if the gas was forming there, the assumption was that it would just leak out. However, there have been somewhat accidental discoveries of hydrogen over the decades, in abandoned mines or new well sites. There are reports of wells that spewed colorless gas, or flames that burned gold. And as people have looked more intentionally for hydrogen, theyve started to find it. As it turns out, hydrogen tends to build up in very different rocks from those that host oil and gas deposits. While fossil-fuel prospecting tends to focus on softer rocks, like organic-rich shale, hydrogen seems most plentiful in iron-rich rocks like olivine. The gas forms when chemical reactions at elevated temperature and pressure underground pull water apart. (Theres also likely another mechanism that forms hydrogen underground, called radiolysis, where radioactive elements emit radiation that can split water.) Some research has put the potential amount of hydrogen available at around a trillion tonsplenty to feed our demand for centuries, even if we ramp up use of the gas. The past few years have seen companies spring up around the world to try to locate and tap these resources. Theres an influx in Australia, especially the southern part of the country, which seems to have conditions that are good for making hydrogen. One startup, Koloma, has raised over $350 million to aid its geologic hydrogen exploration. There are so many open questions for this industry, including how much hydrogen is actually going to be accessible and economical to extract. Its not even clear how best to look for the gas today; researchers and companies are borrowing techniques and tools from the oil and gas industry, but there could be better ways. Its also unknown how this could affect climate change. Hydrogen itself may not warm the planet, but it can contribute indirectly to global warming by extending the lifetime of other greenhouse gases. Its also often found with methane, a super-powerful greenhouse gas that could do major harm if it leaks out of operations at a significant level. Theres also the issue of transportation: Hydrogen isnt very dense, and it can be difficult to store and move around. Deposits that are far away from the final customers could face high costs that might make the whole endeavor uneconomical. But this whole area is incredibly exciting, and researchers are working to better understand it. Some are looking to expand the potential pool of resources by pumping water underground to stimulate hydrogen production from rocks that wouldnt naturally produce the gas. Theres something fascinating to me about using the playbook of the oil and gas industry to develop an energy source that could actually help humanity combat climate change. It could be a strategic move to address energy demand, since a lot of expertise has accumulated over the roughly 150 years that weve been digging up fossil fuels. After all, its not digging thats the problemits emissions. Now read the rest of The Spark Related reading This story from Science, published in 2023, is a great deep dive into the world of so-called gold hydrogen. Give it a read for more on the history and geology here. For more on commercial efforts, specifically Koloma, give this piece from Canary Media a read. And for all the details on geologic ammonia and Addis Energy, check out my latest story here. Another thing Donald Trump officially took office on Monday and signed a flurry of executive orders. Here are a few of the most significant ones for climate: Trump announced his intention to once again withdraw from the Paris agreement. After a one-year waiting period, the worlds largest economy will officially leave the major international climate treaty. (New York Times) The president also signed an order that pauses lease sales for offshore wind power projects in federal waters. Its not clear how much the office will be able to slow projects that already have their federal permits. (Associated Press) Another executive order, titled Unleashing American Energy, broadly signals a wide range of climate and energy moves. One section ends the EV mandate. The US government doesnt have any mandates around EVs, but this bit is a signal of the administrations intent to roll back policies and funding that support adoption of these vehicles. There will almost certainly be court battles. (Wired) Another section pauses the disbursement of tens of billions of dollars for climate and energy. The spending was designated by Congress in two of the landmark laws from the Biden administration, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act. Again, experts say we can likely expect legal fights. (Canary Media)Keeping up with climate The Chinese automaker BYD built more electric vehicles in 2024 than Tesla did. The data signals a global shift to cheaper EVs and the continued dominance of China in the EV market. (Washington Post) A pair of nuclear reactors in South Carolina could get a second chance at life. Construction halted at the VC Summer plant in 2017, $9 billion into the project. Now the sites owner wants to sell. (Wall Street Journal) Existing reactors are more in-demand than ever, as I covered in this story about whats next for nuclear power. (MIT Technology Review) In California, charging depots for electric trucks are increasingly choosing to cobble together their own power rather than waiting years to connect to the grid. These solar- and wind-powered microgrids could help handle broader electricity demand. (Canary Media) Wildfires in Southern California are challenging even wildlife that have adapted to frequent blazes. As fires become more frequent and intense, biologists worry about animals like mountain lions. (Inside Climate News) Experts warn that ash from the California wildfires could be toxic, containing materials like lead and arsenic. (Associated Press) Burning wood for power isnt necessary to help the UK meet its decarbonization goals, according to a new analysis. Biomass is a controversial green power source that critics say contributes to air pollution and harms forests. (The Guardian)

On Wednesday, at least two transatlantic flights reached top ground speeds above 800mph.They were still technically subsonic because they were propelled by a faster-than-usual jet stream.Recent cold weather has strengthened the jet stream, and the climate crisis is set to exacerbate this.Some transatlantic flights have traveled faster than the speed of sound relative to the ground this week.It isn't the return of Concorde, but regular wide-body jets flying through an accelerated jet stream.According to data from Flightradar24, Qatar Airways Flight 704 reached a top ground speed of 833 miles per hour as it crossed the Atlantic on Wednesday.The Boeing 777 flying from New York to Doha landed around 50 minutes ahead of schedule.Also briefly traveling above the speed of sound was British Airways Flight 274, which flew from Las Vegas to London, and hit a top ground speed of 814 miles per hour, per Flightradar24 data.The Airbus A350 landed 45 minutes ahead of schedule.While both flights' top speeds were above Mach 1.2, there would not have been a sonic boom.The planes were traveling at their usual cruising speeds typically around 600 miles per hour but were propelled by the North Atlantic jet stream flowing much faster than usual.So, while the planes traveled above the speed of sound relative to the ground, they were still technically subsonic relative to the air around them.The jet stream has been more powerful than usual because it has been fueled by the recent cold spell in the US.This is also set to bring extremely high winds to the UK and Ireland, as part of Storm owyn. Red warnings meaning there is a danger to life are in place for the whole of Ireland and parts of Scotland for Friday, with wind gusts expected to be as high as 100 miles per hour.While Wednesday's flights were rare in going over 800 miles per hour, it isn't clear that any records were broken.Guinness World Records says the fastest subsonic transatlantic commercial flight took place in 2020. A British Airways Boeing 747 flew from New York to London in 4 hours and 56 minutes. Due to the five-hour time difference between the US and the UK, the flight landed, in relative terms, four minutes before it took off.Relative to the ground below, it flew through the jet stream at 825 miles per hour.However, its top speeds were sustained for longer than Wednesday's flights, given that the flight was over two hours quicker than usual.It might not be long before records are broken again, though.Transatlantic flights almost always travel through the North Atlantic jet stream, and its tailwinds are the reason it's faster to fly from the US to Europe rather than vice-versa.The climate crisis means that thejet streams are becoming strongerand, therefore, faster.It is causing an increasing difference in energy between two layers of the atmosphere, which imparts more energy into the jet streams.This also enlarges Rossby waves meanders in the jet stream which creates more friction in the air and increases the risk of turbulence on the edges of the jet stream.If you want to see a true supersonic commercial flight, you'll have to wait a few more years.Boom Supersonic, a US startup, is developing an airliner planned to travel at Mach 1.7, with plans to enter service before the end of the decade.

I have three daughters; my oldest daughter left for college in August.I'm not quite an empty nester, but the house does feel different without her.Here's how I'm dealing with the transition and including my younger daughters in the process.When my oldest daughter left for college this past August, I experienced every emotion the articles warned me about: pride, sadness, excitement, and confusion. But nothing I read mentioned what it feels like to have a not-quite-empty nest. Our house isn't full anymore, yet it's far from empty. This in-between state is its own unique transition.From 2010 to 2020, my three daughters shared a bedroom and formed an unbreakable bond. When the pandemic started, my oldest moved into her own bedroom downstairs allowing for a bit more independence a shift that hinted at what life might look like when she eventually left. We joked about it, worried about it, but mostly ignored the reality. Then, suddenly, it was here.As we prepared to send her off, I read a lot about empty nests how to cope, what to expect but nothing about the dynamics of having children still at home. How do you support them while adjusting to this new phase? Through trial and error, I've learned some strategies to smooth the transition.We're including them in the processFor us, this meant making space literally and emotionally. My youngest immediately claimed the downstairs bedroom, excited to finally have her own space. I hesitated. I'd read that when a child leaves for college, some parents leave their room untouched for at least a year, giving them a familiar haven to come home to. But my oldest was fine with it, and keeping the room empty didn't make sense for us.Including the younger two in decisions about their sister's room helped them feel empowered during a time of change. They needed to know life was evolving for them, too, and didn't just revolve around their sister's absence.We honor their sibling bondThe hardest part for my younger two daughters was missing the actual drop-off. They were both in school and devastated to miss that final goodbye. After my husband and I moved her into her dorm about three hours away, we came home after a couple of days to a quieter house. To ease the strangeness, we went to the movies. Unintentionally, I chose a tearjerker, which let us cry together in the dark without needing to explain it.Later that night, I found both younger girls FaceTiming their sister and her roommate, laughing like nothing had changed. Their bond was intact, even with the physical distance.I also sped up getting my youngest a phone by several months so she could stay connected with her sisters. Encouraging regular check-ins and shared group chats has helped keep their relationship strong. For them, it's not just having a sister move out; it's a change in their daily lives. Keeping those ties intact matters.We balance evolving spaces with familiarityNavigating the space left behind was tricky. My middle daughter was excited to have her own room for the first time, but she wasn't thrilled about keeping another twin bed in the larger room for her sister's visits home. At first, it caused tension why did she have to sacrifice her new space?I explained that the bed symbolized something larger: no matter where life took her sister, there would always be space for her here. Once she understood this, she accepted it. It also prepared her for her own eventual departure, knowing she'd always have a place to return to.While it's important to let the kids at home grow into new spaces, keeping even a small corner or shelf for the child who left sends a powerful message: home is still their home.We're creating new traditionsOur family dinners are quieter now, and I sometimes set too many places by habit. I still catch myself waiting up for my oldest, only to remember we dropped her off at college several months ago.To adapt, we've started new rituals. A weekly movie night where everyone picks a film or a new TV series to watch together has become a favorite. These small traditions give us something to look forward to and reinforce our connection as a smaller group.We embrace the 'not quite empty' momentsI still miscount kids at family events, frantically looking for my third daughter. This phase is strange not fully empty, but not quite full. But I've learned to embrace it.It's a transition filled with opportunities to connect in new ways. Soon enough, we'll send off the next one. For now, I'm cherishing these moments with my not-quite-empty nest and the balance between holding on and letting go.When my oldest comes home, she'll always have her place here both in her new role and in the family she helped shape.

I was obsessed with Lonely Mountains: Downhill, the minimalist mountain-biking game from 2019. Obsessed with it. I ran those courses over and over until I knew just when to brake, when my tyres would skid over a rock and when theyd catch and send me flying, when to power down a straight, and when to cautiously pick my way over ledges like a goat in Lycra. I found it deeply soothing, partly because of the soundtrack of tweeting birds and rustling leaves (punctuated only by the sickening thwack of a rider colliding with a boulder), but mostly because of the zen-like state of concentration needed to get down those mountains at speed without dying 300 times. I developed a perfect feel for the infinitesimal adjustments in trajectory that made the difference between shaving a second off a run and sailing off the path to land in a crumpled heap.I have been looking forward to this snow-sports-based successor for years. Instead of sun, rocks and dirt, we have glittering snow; instead of a bike, we have skis. It couldnt be that different, surely. I thought it would take me no time at all to find my ski legs. But the first few runs on these mountains were humbling. I skidded backwards down slopes after trying to brake and turn at the same time; I smacked continually into trees; I flubbed jumps and skidded, puzzled and slowly rotating, across frozen lakes. The challenges on each course felt impossible. I dont even want to talk about what happened on my first multiplayer race. It was humiliating.Just you and nature single-player mode. Photograph: Megagon IndustriesA few hours in, though, and I was carving beautiful curved lines down the harder courses, listening to the perfect swoosh of snow, banishing all thoughts from my head. When youre perfecting a run, its like youre flying down the mountain with the wind in your ears. It is a beautiful feeling. And then you screw up a turn, cartwheel into a chasm, and the spell is broken. Back to the checkpoint. Start again.Such is the rhythm of Lonely Mountains, and I still love it. The minimalist soundscapes, the beautiful low-poly interpretation of natural landscapes, the feeling of achievement that you get from conquering a course all of that is as good as it was. Some things are better: you can dress your skier up in colourful gilets and give them a beard. Some things are, however, slightly worse. Its more difficult from the start, and the controls feel even more precise and exacting, which will make it hard for new players to complete enough challenges to make progress through the mountains. And the addition of multiplayer races and team skiing is not without its downsides.Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders trailerAt the moment and this is right after release multiplayer does not work brilliantly. The game judders and freezes momentarily when several players are on screen at once, such as at the start of a race. In a game where milliseconds matter, losing control even briefly makes it feel unbearable to play. Its crashed on me multiple times while trying to load a course. Ive been kicked out of multiplayer games, or other players mysteriously lose their connection. All of this will probably be fixed soon thanks to the developers efforts, and Im willing to put it aside. But still there remains a fundamental problem: players wildly variable skill levels.In a race with eight players, three of you may make it down the mountain within 3 or 4 minutes; the rest may take a lot longer. When you cross the finish line, you can either continue to ski pointlessly about or spectate the players who have yet to prevail. This means that everyone spends entire minutes watching the last-place players fail the same mini-section of a run, which is genuinely a heart-rending experience, especially if you areBig freeze the multiplayer option needs a fix. Photograph: Megagon IndustriesIn team mode, youre all supposed to help each other down the mountain, sticking together and placing checkpoints and reviving the fallen, but nobody I played with seemed to get this idea. Id be patiently scooting down the mountain trying to revive people like a field medic while others whizzed over my head. Id eventually get down to base camp to find several other players whod been chilling there for ages. Thanks, guys! Appreciate the help.skip past newsletter promotionSign up to Pushing ButtonsFree weekly newsletterKeza MacDonald's weekly look at the world of gamingPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotionNone of this feels particularly smooth at the moment, and theres a lot of wasted time hanging about for other players. It is fun, though, just the right amount of chaotic, and the slapstick comedy of watching a small crowd of skiers continually screw up the same corner and fly into a rock face sometimes made me laugh out loud. Im not sure this flavour of game is the best fit for multiplayer, but Im glad the option is there.After a couple of frustrating hours trying to play with other people, it was a relief to return to the solitude of solo mode: just you and the mountain. Here, the only competition is yourself, and the only company is nature. A sense of calm descends. Everything is how it should be. Until you fall foul of a rock, again.

Habitat Qinhuangdao Phase II / Safdie ArchitectsSave this picture! SFAPApartmentsQinhuangdao, ChinaArchitects: Safdie ArchitectsAreaArea of this architecture projectArea:244000 mYearCompletion year of this architecture project Year: 2024 PhotographsPhotographs:SFAP More SpecsLess SpecsSave this picture!Text description provided by the architects. The second phase of Habitat Qinhuangdao, a high-density residential complex located on the coast of the Bohai Sea, 200 miles east of Beijing, China. This phase more than doubled the size of the initial development, which opened in 2016, to form a vibrant community of over 1,800 households with access to over 40 acres (16 hectares) of gracious public gardens, terraces, and recreational spaces on the ground and in the sky, which is going to fully interpret the positive impact and role of architectural space on community building.Save this picture!Save this picture!Habitat Qinhuangdao's design draws on the principles and values pioneered in Habitat '67, Moshe Safdie's groundbreaking urban housing project created for the 1967 World Exposition in Montreal. More than 50 years later, Habitat Qinhuangdao reaffirms the concept as highly scalable and widely transferable. By prioritizing daylight, natural ventilation, views, and outdoor green space, Habitat Qinhuangdao creates a vital waterfront neighborhood that nurtures community and fosters connection to natureconditions that deliver quality of life rarely achieved in large-scale, high-density development.Save this picture!Save this picture!"The demand for quality multi-family housing in China's growing cities has allowed us to apply the principles that informed Habitat '67 at a greater density," said Moshe Safdie, Founding Partner of Safdie Architects. "By breaking down the mega-scale, Habitat Qinhuangdao is a model for high-density housing where the amenities surpass that of the typical high-rise complex without sacrificing the structure's efficiency or humanity."Save this picture!For Habitat Qinhuangdao, Safdie Architects organized the housing into a series of stacked residential blocks of 16 stories that are offset and surrounded by gardens at the base and linked via skybridges at the 17th and 32nd floors. The buildings' stepped and staggered forms create private terraces, balconies, and solariums and enclose grand "urban windows"view corridors between the city and the seathat humanize the scale and connect the development to its context. The buildings' long elevations face east, west, and south to take in sunshine. North-facing interiors borrow light that filters through the large urban windows. As a result, the development feels bright, airy, and open.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!"In Kerry Properties we had an ambitious client who saw how our design philosophy would resonate with the local culture and context,"said Sean Scensor, Senior Partner, and Partner-in-Charge of the project for Safdie Architects. "When you stagger and offset units from one another, stepping the buildings away from the sea, you create beautiful terraces that make each unit feel like a penthouse. The project is simultaneously visually intriguing and inherently rational."Save this picture!Save this picture!Surrounding the buildings are a series of intensively planted parks that celebrate Qinhuangdao's natural landscape and support both passive and active recreation. Each park offers residents a different experience, rich and layered with varied topography, diverse flora, and engaging amenities, which include adventure playgrounds, a landscaped amphitheater, planted promenades, and water features. Additional community gardens and pool areas occupy the skybridges that link the residences and provide novel outdoor experiences amidst views of the sea, city, and the sky. The 160,000 square meter community public space and landscaped gardens not only foster intimate communication and harmonious coexistence between humans and nature but also provide multiple daily social spaces.Save this picture!Save this picture!The approximately 5,500 square meter art center, which combines exhibition spaces, fine dining, and coffee, along with the landscape and supporting facilities on the ground and in the sky, offers residents a rich array of cultural and leisure spaces. It is not only suitable for community activities such as sports, families, art, humanities, and poetry but also supports special events like seasonal fruit and vegetable picking, sea fishing, and garden exploration, making Habitat Qinhuangdao a vibrant and three-dimensional garden community.Save this picture!Project gallerySee allShow lessProject locationAddress:Qinhuangdao, ChinaLocation to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.About this officeSafdie ArchitectsOfficePublished on January 23, 2025Cite: "Habitat Qinhuangdao Phase II / Safdie Architects" 23 Jan 2025. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1026040/habitat-qinhuangdao-phase-ii-safdie-architects&gt ISSN 0719-8884Save? / You've started following your first account!Did you know?You'll now receive updates based on what you follow! Personalize your stream and start following your favorite authors, offices and users.Go to my stream