August 2025

On Aug. 15, Chinese astronauts Chen Dong and Wang Jie completed a 6.5-hour spacewalk to strengthen the Tiangong space station’s defenses against orbital debris. Working outside the station, they installed new protective panels and inspected external systems. The mission marked Chen Dong’s sixth career EVA—the most by a Chinese astronaut—and the third for Shenzhou 20’s crew. China’s space agency stressed that debris mitigation is a global concern, aligning with its policies on de-orbiting old spacecraft and passivating rocket stages. Experts warn that rising orbital traffic makes international cooperation essential.

An international team of astronomers has discovered WD 0525+526, an unusual white dwarf about 128 light-years away, using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. Unlike typical white dwarfs, this star formed through a stellar merger and shows an unexpectedly high carbon content. With a mass of 1.2 Suns and a scorching surface temperature of 21,000 K, the discovery suggests that such merger remnants may be more common than previously thought. Researchers believe these hidden stellar histories could reshape our understanding of white dwarf binaries and pathways to supernova explosions.

A team in China has unveiled a lithium battery design with over 600 Wh/kg energy density—double that of Tesla’s best batteries. If scalable, the breakthrough could revolutionise electric vehicles, extend driving ranges, and improve safety. Researchers caution that it remains a proof-of-concept requiring more real-world testing before mass adoption.

Earendel, the farthest object ever seen, was first thought to be a single massive star from the early universe. New findings from JWST suggest it may instead be a star cluster, with many stars grouped together. Scientists used gravitational lensing to spot Earendel, which made its light appear thousands of times brighter.

flatband states in CsCr₃Sb₅, a kagome superconductor. This experimental validation connects lattice geometry with emergent superconductivity, opening new pathways for engineered quantum materials, superconductors, and advanced electronics.

A new mathematical approach has revived previously ignored particles, now called neglectons, and shown how they can work with Ising anyons. By filling in the missing functions of these quasiparticles, neglectons could overcome key limits in topological quantum computing and help build more stable, universal quantum computers in the future.