Science Saturday: Space, green energy, Lebanon blasts and AI

Space exploration
A temporary "mini-moon" will soon be orbiting Earth. Discovered in August, this asteroid will orbit Earth from September 29 to November 25 before returning to its path around the sun. It's estimated to be around 11 meters wide, though its size is still uncertain. The asteroid isn't in any danger of colliding with Earth now or over the next few decades. The space rock will orbit about 4.2 million kilometers away, or about 10 times the distance between Earth and the moon.

Green energy

China's C919 jet has completed its first commercial flight using sustainable aviation fuel. The China Eastern Airlines flight traveled from Beijing to Shanghai. Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is a renewable energy source made from sustainable materials that reduces carbon emissions and works seamlessly with existing aviation infrastructure. China launched a pilot program for SAF use, and 12 flights from major airports now use it. The initiative supports China's carbon neutrality goals and pushes green aviation development forward.

Lebanon blasts

The coordinated explosions of pagers and walkie-talkies in Lebanon has raised concerns about global supply chain security and vulnerability to tampering. Lebanese authorities said at least 37 people were killed and more than 3,400 were injured in two waves of wireless device explosions in mid-September. Theories suggest Israeli agents may have laced the devices' batteries with explosives during manufacturing, while others believe the devices were altered after production. The incident highlights the potential for everyday communication devices to be weaponized.

AI

Chinese tech giant Alibaba has released over 100 open-source artificial intelligence (AI) models, including Qwen 2.5, for industries including automotive, gaming and research. These models, with advanced math and coding capabilities, position Alibaba to compete with rivals like Baidu, Microsoft and OpenAI. Open-source access lets users create AI apps without training their own models. The company also upgraded its proprietary Qwen-Max 2.5 model, surpassing competitors in reasoning and language comprehension. A new text-to-video tool was also introduced, allowing users to generate videos from prompts.