Astronomers found an #atmosphere where they least expected it—clinging to an #exoplanet that’s too small, too hot and too old to have air, at least in theory.

Observations of the blazing-hot lava #planet TOI-561 b suggest not only that it has a thick atmosphere but also that it may have had one for billions of years.

This is the strongest evidence yet for "air" around a hot rocky world that isn’t just a temporary veil of #hydrogen and #helium left over from planetary formation.

#exoplanets #astronomy
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/james-webb-space-telescope-finds-atmosphere-on-lava-planet-toi-561-b/

Astronomers found an #atmosphere where they least expected it—clinging to an #exoplanet that’s too small, too hot and too old to have air, at least in theory.

Observations of the blazing-hot lava #planet TOI-561 b suggest not only that it has a thick atmosphere but also that it may have had one for billions of years.

This is the strongest evidence yet for "air" around a hot rocky world that isn’t just a temporary veil of #hydrogen and #helium left over from planetary formation.

#exoplanets #astronomy
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/james-webb-space-telescope-finds-atmosphere-on-lava-planet-toi-561-b/

Using a new 'megalibrary' approach to materials testing, researchers evaluated 156 million different combinations of ruthenium, cobalt, manganese, and chromium, and found one (Ru52Co33Mn9Cr6 oxide) that performs as well as or better than iridium at splitting hydrogen from water, at one-sixteenth the cost.

Summary: https://scitechdaily.com/scientists-discover-a-cheaper-more-powerful-catalyst-for-clean-hydrogen-energy/

Original paper (not open access): https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/jacs.5c08326

#Science#Hydrogen#AlternativeEnergy

Using a new 'megalibrary' approach to materials testing, researchers evaluated 156 million different combinations of ruthenium, cobalt, manganese, and chromium, and found one (Ru52Co33Mn9Cr6 oxide) that performs as well as or better than iridium at splitting hydrogen from water, at one-sixteenth the cost.

Summary: https://scitechdaily.com/scientists-discover-a-cheaper-more-powerful-catalyst-for-clean-hydrogen-energy/

Original paper (not open access): https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/jacs.5c08326

#Science#Hydrogen#AlternativeEnergy