Mobile satellite service operators Viasat and Space42 are exploring shared multi-orbit infrastructure to enhance and expand their direct-to-device connectivity services worldwide.
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A research team headed up at Linköping University in Sweden and Cornell University in the US has succeeded in recycling almost all of the components of perovskite solar cells using simple, non-toxic, water-based solvents. What’s more, the researchers were able to use the recycled components to make new perovskite solar cells with almost the same power conversion efficiency as those created from new materials. This work could pave the way to a sustainable perovskite solar economy, they say.
While solar energy is considered an environmentally friendly source of energy, most of the solar panels available today are based on silicon, which is difficult to recycle. This has led to the first generation of silicon solar panels, which are reaching the end of their life cycles, ending up in landfills, says Xun Xiao, one of the team members at Linköping University.
When developing emerging solar cell technologies, we therefore need to take recycling into consideration, adds one of the leaders of the new study, Feng Gao, also at Linköping. “If we don’t know how to recycle them, maybe we shouldn’t put them on the market at all.”
To this end, many countries around the world are imposing legal requirements on photovoltaic manufacturers, to ensure that they collect and recycle any solar cell waste they produce. These initiatives include the WEEE directive 2012/19/EU in the European Union and equivalent legislation in Asia and the US.
Perovskites are one of the most promising materials for making next-generation solar cells. Not only are they relatively inexpensive, they are also easy to fabricate, lightweight, flexible and transparent. This allows them to be placed on top of a variety of surfaces, unlike their silicon counterparts. And since they boast a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of more than 25%, this makes them comparable to existing photovoltaics on the market.
One of their downsides, however, is that perovskite solar cells have a shorter lifespan than silicon solar cells. This means that recycling is even more critical for these materials. Today, perovskite solar cells are disassembled using dangerous solvents such as dimethylformamide, but Gao and colleagues have now developed a technique in which water can be used as the solvent.
Perovskites are crystalline materials with an ABX3 structure, where A is caesium, methylammonium (MA) or formamidinium (FA); B is lead or tin; and X is chlorine, bromine or iodine. Solar cells made of these materials are composed of different layers: the hole/electron transport layers; the perovskite layer; indium tin oxide substrates; and cover glasses.
In their work, which they detail in Nature, the researchers succeeded in delaminating end-of-life devices layer by layer, using water containing three low-cost additives: sodium acetate, sodium iodide and hypophosphorous acid. Despite being able to dissolve organic iodide salts such as methylammonium iodide and formamidinium iodide, water only marginally dissolves lead iodide (about 0.044 g per 100 ml at 20 °C). The researchers therefore developed a way to increase the amount of lead iodide that dissolves in water by introducing acetate ions into the mix. These ions readily coordinate with lead ions, forming highly soluble lead acetate (about 44.31 g per 100 ml at 20 °C).
Once the degraded perovskites had dissolved in the aqueous solution, the researchers set about recovering pure and high-quality perovskite crystals from the solution. They did this by providing extra iodide ions to coordinate with lead. This resulted in [PbI]+ transitioning to [PbI2]0 and eventually to [PbI3]− and the formation of the perovskite framework.
To remove the indium tin oxide substrates, the researchers sonicated these layers in a solution of water/ethanol (50%/50% volume ratio) for 15 min. Finally, they delaminated the cover glasses by placing the degraded solar cells on a hotplate preheated to 150 °C for 3 min.
They were able to apply their technology to recycle both MAPbI3 and FAPbI3 perovskites.
New devices made from the recycled perovskites had an average power conversion efficiency of 21.9 ± 1.1%, with the best samples clocking in at 23.4%. This represents an efficiency recovery of more than 99% compared with those prepared using fresh materials (which have a PCE of 22.1 ± 0.9%).
Looking forward, Gao and colleagues say they would now like to demonstrate that their technique works on a larger scale. “Our life-cycle assessment and techno-economic analysis has already confirmed that our strategy not only preserves raw materials, but also appreciably lowers overall manufacturing costs of solar cells made from perovskites,” says co-team leader Fengqi You, who works at Cornell University. “In particular, reclaiming the valuable layers in these devices drives down expenses and helps reduce the ‘levelized cost’ of electricity they produce, making the technology potentially more competitive and sustainable at scale,” he tells Physics World.
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Difficulty acquiring propulsion systems and laser communications systems continue to vex satellite manufacturers.
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In late December, a telescope in Chile discovered a small asteroid given the designation 2024 YR4. About a month later, initial observations of the asteroid, estimated to be 40 to […]
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Today we stand on the threshold of one of the most exciting moments in the history of space exploration: bringing a piece of another planet in our solar system back […]
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MIAMI, FLA. – March 11, 2025 – Overwatch x RescueTM (OxR), the emergency SOS subscription service by FocusPoint International–a global leader in critical incident management coordinating 15,000 rescues annually– launched its direct-to-consumer (DTC) subscription service, becoming the first SOS plan to take advantage of iPhone's satellite messaging capabilities. This move also expands OxR’s coverage to most Garmin satellite communicators, and ZOLEO devices, ensuring that outdoor enthusiasts in remote areas have comprehensive, real-time emergency assistance.
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Momentus will provide Vigoride space tug customers with on-demand connectivity through a partnership with Solstar Space.
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Quantum technologies are flourishing the world over, with advances across the board researching practical applications such as quantum computing, communication, cryptography and sensors. Indeed, the quantum industry is booming – an estimated $42bn was invested in the sector in 2023, and this amount is projected to rise to $106bn by 2040.
With academia, industry and government all looking for professionals to join the future quantum workforce, it’s crucial to have people with the right skills, and from all educational levels. With this in mind, efforts are being made across the US to focus on quantum education and training, with educators working to introduce quantum concepts from the elementary-school level, all the way to tailored programmes at PhD and postgraduate level that meet the needs of potential employers in the area. Efforts are being made to ensure that graduates and early-career physicists are aware of the many roles available in the quantum sphere.
“There are a lot of layers to what has to be done in quantum education,” says Emily Edwards, an electrical and computer engineer at Duke University and co-leader of the National Q-12 Education Partnership. “I like to think of quantum education along different dimensions. One way is to think about what most learners may need in terms of foundational public literacy or student literacy in the space. Towards the top, we have people who are very specialized. Essentially, we have to think about many different learners at different stages – they might need specific tools or might need different barriers removed for them. And so different parts of the economy – from government to industry to academia and professional institutions – will play a role in how to address the needs of a certain group.”
To ensure that the US remains a key global player in quantum information science and technology (QIST), the National Q-12 Education Partnership – launched by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the National Science Foundation (NSF) – is focused on ways to engage young minds in quantum, building the necessary tools and strategies to help improve early (K-12) education and outreach.
To achieve this, Q-12 is looking at outreach and education in middle and high school by introducing QIST concepts and providing access to learning materials and to inspire the next generation of quantum leaders. Over the next decade, Q-12 also aims to provide quantum-related curricula – developed by professionals in the field – beyond university labs and classrooms, to community colleges and online courses.
Edwards explains that while Q-12 mainly focuses on the K-12 level, there is also an overlap with early undergraduate, two-year colleges – meaning that there is a wide range of requirements, issues and unique challenges to contend with. Such a big space also means that different companies and institutions have varying levels of funding and interests in quantum education research and development.
“Academic organizations, for example, tend to work on educational research or to provide professional development, especially because it’s nascent,” says Edwards. “There is a lot of the activity in the academic space, within professional societies. We also work with a number of private companies, some of which are developing curricula, or providing free access to different tools and simulations for learning experiences.”
The American Physical Society (APS) is strongly involved in quantum education – by making sure that teachers have access to tools and resources for quantum education as well as connecting quantum professionals with K-12 classrooms to discuss careers in quantum. “The APS has been really active in engaging with teachers and connecting them with the vast network of APS members, stakeholders and professionals, to talk about careers,” says Edwards. APS and Q-12 have a number of initiatives – such as Quantum To-Go and QuanTime – that help connect quantum professionals with classrooms and provide teachers with ready-to-use quantum activities.
Claudia Fracchiolla, who is the APS’s head of public engagement, points out that while there is growing interest in quantum education, there is a lack of explicit support for high-school teachers who need to be having conversations about a possible career in quantum with students that will soon be choosing a major.
“We know from our research that while teachers might want to engage in this professional development, they don’t always have the necessary support from their institution and it is not regulated,” explains Fracchiolla. She adds that while there are a “few stellar people in the field who are creating materials for teachers”, there is not a clear standard on how they can be used, or what can be taught at a school level.
To help tackle these issues, the APS and Q-12 launched the Quantum To-Go programme, which pairs educators with quantum-science professionals, who speak to students about quantum concepts and careers. The programme covers students from the first year of school through to undergraduate level, with scientists visiting in person or virtually.
It’s a really great way for quantum professionals in different sectors to visit classrooms and talk about their experiences
Emily Edwards
“I think it’s a really great way for quantum professionals in different sectors to visit classrooms and talk about their experiences,” says Edwards. She adds that this kind of collaboration can be especially useful “because we know that students – particularly young women, or students of colour or those from any marginalized background – self-select out of these areas while they’re still in the K-12 environment.”
Edwards puts this down to a lack of role models in the workplace. “Not only do they not hear about quantum in the classroom or in their curriculum, but they also can’t see themselves working in the field,” she says. “So there’s no hope of achieving a diverse workforce if you don’t connect a diverse set of professionals with the classroom. So we are really proud to be a part of Quantum To-Go.”
With 2025 being celebrated as the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology (IYQ), both Q-12 and the APS hope to see and host many community-driven activities and events focused on young learners and their families. An example of this is Q-12’s QuanTime initiative, which seeks to help teachers curate informal quantum activities across the US all year round. “Education is local in the US, and so it’s most successful if we can work with locals to help develop their own community resources,” explains Edwards.
A key event in the APS’s annual calendar of activities celebrating IYQ is the Quantum Education and Policy Summit, held in partnership with the Q-SEnSE institute. It aims to bring together key experts in physics education, policymakers and quantum industry leaders, to develop quantum educational resources and policies.
Another popular resource produced by the APS is its PhysicsQuest kits, which are aimed at middle-school students to help them explore specific physics topics. “We engaged with different APS members who work in quantum to design activities for middle-school students,” says Fracchiolla. “We then worked with some teachers to pilot and test those activities, before finalizing our kits, which are freely available to teachers. Normally, each year we do four activities, but thanks to IYQ, we decided to double that to eight activities that are all related to topics in quantum science and technology.”
To help distribute these kits to teachers, as well as provide them with guidance on how to use all the included materials, the APS is hosting workshops for teachers during the Teachers’ Days at the APS Global Physics Summit in March 2025. Workshops will also be held at the APS Division of Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics (DAMOP) annual meeting in June.
“A key part of IYQ is creating an awareness of what quantum science and technology entails, because it is also about the people that work in the field,” says Fracchiolla. “Something that was really important when we were writing the proposal to send to the UN for the IYQ was to demonstrate how quantum technologies will supports the UN’s sustainable development goals. I hope this also inspires students to pursue careers in quantum, as they realize that it goes beyond quantum computing.”
If we are focusing on quantum technologies to address sustainable development goals, we need to make sure that they are accessible to everyone
Claudia Fracchiolla
Fracchiolla also underlines that having a diverse range of people in the quantum workforce will ensure that these technologies will help to tackle societal and environmental issues, and vice versa. “If we are focusing on quantum technologies to address sustainable development goals, we need to make sure that they are accessible to everyone. And that’s not going to happen if diverse minds are not involved in the process of developing these technologies,” she says, while acknowledging that this is currently not the case.
It is Fracchiolla’s ultimate hope that the IYQ and the APS’s activities taken together will help all students feel empowered that there is a place for them in the field. “Quantum is still a nascent field and we have the opportunity to not repeat the errors of the past, that have made many areas of science exclusive. We need to make the field diverse from the get go.”
This article forms part of Physics World‘s contribution to the 2025 International Year of Quantum Science and Technology (IYQ), which aims to raise global awareness of quantum physics and its applications.
Stayed tuned to Physics World and our international partners throughout the next 12 months for more coverage of the IYQ.
Find out more on our quantum channel.
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Merging satellite operators SES and Intelsat independently invested in direct-to-device venture Lynk Global without knowing about the other’s decision.
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Satellites are increasingly vulnerable to cyberattack, damage caused by laser weapons and jamming.
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"There is nothing like mission to help people stay focused no matter what else is going on," said Vice Adm. Frank Whitworth.
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The former CEO of Google is taking a stake in, and becoming CEO of, Relativity Space as that launch vehicle company advances work on its Terran R rocket.
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Emerging launch providers argue there is plenty of demand, but are looking to the government to back up its rhetoric for assured access to space.
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SES is investing in Lynk Global’s LEO constellation to expand into the emerging direct-to-device connectivity market.
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NASA is closing three offices and laying off their staff as a first step in broader workforce reductions at the agency ordered by the Trump administration.
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A record number of exhibitors are confirmed for the 40th Space Symposium at the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs.
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The Stand Up for Science demonstration at Washington Square Park in New York City on Friday 7 March 2025 had the most qualified speakers, angriest participants and wickedest signs of any protest I can remember.
Raucous, diverse and loud, it was held in the shadow of looming massive cuts to key US scientific agencies including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Other anti-science actions have included the appointment of a vaccine opponent as head of the US Health and Human Services and the cancellation of $400m in grants and contracts to Columbia University.
I arrived at the venue half an hour beforehand. Despite the chillingly cold and breezy weather, the park’s usual characters were there, including chess players, tap dancers, people advertising “Revolution Books” and evangelists who handed me a “spiritual credit card”.
But I had come for a more real-world cause that is affecting many of my research colleagues right here, right now. Among the Stand Up For Science demonstrators was Srishti Bose, a fourth-year graduate student in neuroscience at Queens College, who met me underneath the arch at the north of the park, the traditional site of demonstrations.
She had organized the rally together with two other women – a graduate student at Stony Brook University and a postdoc at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. They had heard that there would be a Stand Up for Science rally on the same day in Washington, DC, and thought that New York City should have one too. In fact, there were 32 across the US in total.
The trio didn’t have much time, and none of them had ever planned a political protest before. “We spent 10 days frantically e-mailing everyone we could think of,” Srishti said, of having to arrange the permits, equipment, insurance, medical and security personnel – and speakers.
I was astounded at what they accomplished. The first speaker was Harald Varmus, who won the 1989 Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine and spent seven years as director of the NIH under President Barack Obama. “People think medicine falls from the sky,” he told protestors, “rather than from academics supported by science funding.”
Another Nobel-prize-winner who spoke was Martin Chalfie from Columbia University, who won the 2008 Nobel Prize for Chemistry.
Speaker after speaker – faculty, foundation directors, lab heads, faculty, postdocs, graduate students, New York State politicians – ticked off what was being lost by the budget cuts targeting science.
It included money for motor neurone disease, Alzheimer’s, cancer, polio, measles, heart disease research, climate science, and funding that supports stipends and salaries for postdocs, grad students, university labs and departments.
Lisa Randall, a theoretical physicist at Harvard University, began with a joke: “How many government officials does it take to screw in a light bulb? None: Trump says the job’s done and they stay in the dark.”
Randall continued by enumerating programme and funding cuts that will turn the lights out on important research. “Let’s keep the values that Make America Great – Again,” she concluded.
The crowd of 2000 or so demonstrators were diverse and multi-generational, as is typical for such events in my New York City. I heard at least five different languages being spoken. Everyone was fired up and roared “Boo!” whenever the names of certain politicians were mentioned.
I told Bose about the criticism I had heard that Stand Up for Science was making science look like a special-interest group rather than being carried out in the public interest.
She would have none of it. “They made us an interest group,” Bose insisted. “We grew up thinking that everyone accepted and supported science. This is the first time we’ve had a direct attack on what we do. I can’t think of a single lab that doesn’t have an NSF or NIH grant.”
Lots of signs were on display, many fabulously aggressive and angry, ranging from hand-drawn lettering on cardboard to carefully produced placards – some of which I won’t reproduce in a family magazine.
“I shouldn’t have to make a sign saying that ‘Defunding science is wrong’…but here we are” said one. “Go fact yourself!” and “Science keeps you assholes alive”, said others.
Two female breast-cancer researchers had made a sign that, they told me, put their message in a way that they thought the current US leaders would get: “Science saves boobs.”
I saw others that bitterly mocked the current US president’s apparent ignorance of the distinction between “transgenic” and “transgender”.
“Girls just wanna have funding” said another witty sign. “Executive orders are not peer reviewed”; “Science: because I’d rather not make shit up”; “Science is significant *p<0.05” said others.
The rally ended with 20 minutes of call-and-response chants. Everyone knew the words, thanks to a QR code.
“We will fight?”
“Every day!”
“When science is under attack?”
“Stand up, fight back!”
“What do we want?”
“Answers”
“When do we want it?”
“After peer review!”
After the spirited chanting, the rally was officially over, but many people stayed, sharing stories, collecting information and seeking ideas for the next moves.
“Obviously,” Bose said, “it’s not going to end here.”
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The collaboration with Palantir aims to produce specialized payloads for space domain awareness
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A few months ago, I attended a presentation and reception at the Houses of Parliament in London for companies that had won Business Awards from the Institute of Physics in 2024. What excited me most at the event was hearing about the smaller start-up companies and their innovations. They are developing everything from metamaterials for sound proofing to instruments that can non-invasively measure pressure in the human brain.
The event also reminded me of my own experience working in the small-business sector. After completing my PhD in high-speed aerodynamics at the University of Southampton, I spent a short spell working for what was then the Defence and Evaluation Research Agency (DERA) in Farnborough. But wanting to stay in Southampton, I decided working permanently at DERA wasn’t right for me so started looking for a suitable role closer to home.
I soon found myself working as a development engineer at a small engineering company called Stewart Hughes Limited. It was founded in 1980 by Ron Stewart and Tony Hughes, who had been researchers at the Institute of Sound and Vibration Research (ISVR) at Southampton University. Through numerous research contracts, the pair had spent almost a decade developing techniques for monitoring the condition of mechanical machinery from their vibrations.
By attaching accelerometers or vibration sensors to the machines, they discovered that the resulting signals can be processed to determine the physical condition of the devices. Their particular innovation was to find a way to both capture and process the accelerometer signals in near real time to produce indicators relating to the health of the equipment being monitored. It required a combination of hardware and software that was cutting edge at the time.
Although I did not join the firm until early 1994, it still had all the feel of a start-up. We were located in a single office building (in reality it was a repurposed warehouse) with 50 or so staff, about 40 of whom were electronics, software and mechanical engineers. There was a strong emphasis on “systems engineering” – in other words, integrating different disciplines to design and build an overarching solution to a problem.
In its early years, Stewart Hughes had developed a variety of applications for their vibration health monitoring technique. It was used in all sorts of areas, ranging from conveyor belts carrying coal and Royal Navy ships travelling at sea to supersized trucks working on mines. But when I joined, the company was focused on helicopter drivetrains.
In particular, the company had developed a product called Health and Usage Monitoring System (HUMS). The UK’s Civil Aviation Authority required this kind of device to be fitted on all helicopters transporting passengers to and from oil platforms in the North Sea to improve operational safety. Our equipment (and that of rival suppliers – we did not have a monopoly) was used to monitor mechanical parts such as gears, bearings, shafts and rotors.
For someone straight out of university, it was an exciting time. There were lots of technical challenges to be solved, including designing effective ways to process signals in noisy environments and extracting information about critical drivetrain components. We then had to convert the data into indicators that could be monitored to detect and diagnose mechanical issues.
As a physicist, I found myself working closely with the engineers but tended to approach things from a more fundamental angle, helping to explain why certain approaches worked and others didn’t. Don’t forget that the technology developed by Stewart Hughes wasn’t used in the comfort of a physics lab but on a real-life working helicopter. That meant capturing and processing data on the airborne helicopter itself using bespoke electronics to manage high onboard data rates.
After the data were downloaded, they had to be sent on floppy disks or other portable storage devices to ground stations. There the results would be presented in a form to allow customers and our own staff to interpret and diagnose any mechanical problems. We also had to develop ways to monitor an entire fleet of helicopters, continuously learning and developing from experience.
Steward Hughes’s innovative and successful HUMS technology, which was the first of its kind to be flown on a North Sea helicopter, saw the company win Queen’s Awards on two separate occasions. The first was in 1993 for “export achievement” and the second was in 1998 for “technological achievement”. By the end of 1998 the company was bought by Smiths Industries, which in turn was acquired by General Electric in 2007.
If it all sounds as if working in a small business is plain sailing, well it rarely is. A few years before I joined, Stewart Huges had ridden out at least one major storm when it was forced to significantly reduce the workforce because anticipated contracts did not materialize. “Black Friday”, as it became known, made the board of directors nervous about taking on additional employees, often relying on existing staff to work overtime instead.
This arrangement actually suited many of the early-career employees, who were keen to quickly expand their work experience and their pay packet. But when I arrived, we were once again up against cash-flow challenges, which is the bane of any small business. Back then there were no digital electronic documents and web portals, which led to some hairy situations.
I can recall several occasions when the company had to book a despatch rider for 2 p.m. on a Friday afternoon to dash a report up the motorway to the Ministry of Defence in London. If we hadn’t got an approval signature and contractual payment before the close of business on the same day, the company literally wouldn’t have been able to open its doors on Monday morning.
Being part of a small company was undoubtedly a formative part of my early career experience
At some stage, however, the company’s bank lost patience with this hand-to-mouth existence and the board of directors was told to put the firm on a more solid financial footing. This edict led to the company structure becoming more formal and the directors being less accessible, with a seasoned professional brought in to help run the business. The resulting change in strategic trajectory eventually led to its sale.
Being part of a small company was undoubtedly a formative part of my early career experience. It was an exciting time and the fact all employees were – literally – under one roof meant that we knew and worked with the decision makers. We always had the opportunity to speak up and influence the future. We got to work on unexpected new projects because there was external funding available. We could be flexible when it came to trying out new software or hardware as part of our product development.
The flip side was that we sometimes had to flex too much, which at times made it hard to stick to a cohesive strategy. We struggled to find cash to try out blue sky or speculative approaches – although there were plenty of good ideas. These advantages come with being part of a larger corporation with bigger budgets and greater overall stability.
That said, I appreciate the diverse and dynamic learning curve I experienced at Stewart Hughes. The founders were innovators, whose vision and products have stood the test of time, still being widely used today . The company benefited many people not just the staff who led successful careers but also the pilots and passengers on helicopters whose lives may potentially have been saved.
Working in a large corporation is undoubtedly a smoother ride than in a small business. But it’s rarely seat-of-the-pants stuff and I learned so much from my own days at Stewart Hughes. Attending the IOP’s business awards reminded me of the buzz of being in a small firm. It might not be to everyone’s taste, but if you get the chance to work in that environment, do give it serious thought.
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