As humanity's exploration of the Earth's internal structure deepens, Earth's free oscillations, serving as crucial "fingerprints" for revealing the large-scale structure and dynamic processes within the Earth, have always been a core subject in geophysics. Ground-based station observations are currently the mainstream method for measuring Earth's free oscillations. With the advancement of space technology, high-precision inter-satellite distance measurement holds the potential to become a novel method for detecting these oscillations.

In a recent paper published in Space: Science & Technology, a research team from the School of Physics and Astronomy at Sun Yat-sen University, in collaboration with the TianQin Research Center for Gravitational Physics, proposed a novel detection and analysis method for Earth's free oscillations utilizing the "TianQin" space-borne gravitational wave detector. The study constructed a theoretical response model for Earth's free oscillations within the TianQin detector and derived their analytical waveform for high-orbit satellite laser interferometric measurements. Through numerical simulation and Bayesian parameter estimation, the research team demonstrated that for a major seismic event like the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, TianQin could achieve a clear detection with a signal-to-noise ratio as high as 73 and independently distinguish at least nine different free oscillation modes.

New research in Geology uses images from the Curiosity rover to decode the planet’s atmosphere at a time when the surface was potentially habitable

Space missions are complex, multidisciplinary tasks that involve high risk and high cost. Systems engineering (SE) technology is an emerging discipline used to manage project complexity and ensure mission success . As technology advances and systems become more complex and volatile, SE needs to accommodate the constant reassessment, upgrading, and development of systems . Traditional SE relies on a large number of decentralized documents that cannot keep up with the changes in the system. Therefore, SE is transforming toward digitalization and has led to model-based systems engineering (MBSE), which provides a way to address SE challenges and is emerging as a paradigm and principle of SE. According to the International Council on Systems Engineering, MBSE is “the formalized application of modeling to support system requirements, design, analysis, verification and validation activities beginning in the conceptual design phase and continuing throughout development and later life cycle phase”.Space missions are complex, multidisciplinary tasks that involve high risk and high cost. Systems engineering (SE) technology is an emerging discipline used to manage project complexity and ensure mission success . As technology advances and systems become more complex and volatile, SE needs to accommodate the constant reassessment, upgrading, and development of systems . Traditional SE relies on a large number of decentralized documents that cannot keep up with the changes in the system. Therefore, SE is transforming toward digitalization and has led to model-based systems engineering (MBSE), which provides a way to address SE challenges and is emerging as a paradigm and principle of SE. According to the International Council on Systems Engineering, MBSE is “the formalized application of modeling to support system requirements, design, analysis, verification and validation activities beginning in the conceptual design phase and continuing throughout development and later life cycle phase”.

Local photothermal effect of AuNRs gives rise to high local temperatures. Two methods based on electron spin resonance (ESR) technique were developed to characterize the local temperature (T_local) around the excited rod. The obtained T_local is 20-30℃ higher than the global temperature (T_global) of the illuminated suspension measured using thermocouple. The local photothermal effects of gold nanorods (AuNRs) can promote the thermal decomposition of H₂O₂ to generate hydroxyl radicals. The AuNRs + H₂O₂ system can be used as a light-triggered hydroxyl radical source to regulate the generation of hydroxyl radical by time and space.

Observing the Taurus Molecular Cloud, a research team led by Kyushu University has found that during the early growth period of a baby star, the protostellar disk blows magnetic flux 1,000 au in size and creates a giant, relatively warm ring. Describing these phenomena as a baby star’s “sneezes,” these expulsions of energy and gas help the star to properly develop.