Science Saturday: China's green power, new frog species, ocean's CO2 absorption and solar eruption

CHINA'S GREEN POWER

China's Longi Green Energy has published a study in the international science and technology journal Nature, discussing its solar cell. It is not a commonly used single-junction solar cell, but a double-junction laminated solar cell that effectively combines perovskite with silicon solar cells. This could achieve a power conversion efficiency of 33.9 percent, which breaks the limit of a single-junction cell. This also represents a world record for this cell typology.

NEW FROG SPECIES

Researchers in Brazil affiliated with the State University of Campinas have found a new frog less than a centimeter long. The species has been named Brachycephalus dacnis. It is the seventh species of flea toad. Scientists say it has all the characteristics of large toads except for their size. During its evolution, it underwent what biologists call miniaturization, which involves loss, reduction of bones, fewer digits and the absence of other parts of their anatomy.

OCEAN CO2 ABSORPTION

The University of Exeter confirms that subtle temperature differences at the ocean surface increase carbon dioxide absorption. The surface is known as "ocean skin" – a sliver less than 2 millimeters deep at the ocean surface that is fractionally cooler than the rest. This discovery, based on precise measurements, suggests global oceans absorb 7 percent more CO2 than previously thought, aiding climate understanding and carbon assessments.

SOLAR ERUPTION

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory recently recorded a powerful solar flare. It was classified as an X1.8 flare, with "X-class" representing the strongest flares. It may disrupt radio signals, navigation systems and power grids, while also threatening astronauts and spacecraft in orbit. Solar flares are sudden, intense bursts of energy originating from the sun's surface, typically near sunspots where magnetic fields are highly concentrated and unstable.