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STIR Team
13 July 2021 |
COVER STORY
By Harini Madhusudan and Sukanya Bali
I
Rare Earth Elements:
Significance and geostrategic importance
Achievements in atomic physics, new scientific advancements of the 20th century and 21st-century industrialization led to the expansion in the use of rare earth in technologies used in contemporary society. Industrial interdependence and the geopolitical significance of the rare earth have triggered a resource race among the leading technological powers. These metals are necessary components of more than 200 products across a wide range of applications, from high-tech consumer products to significant defence components and applications. Rare earth play an important role in the functioning of any device regardless of the volume, weight, or value of the rare earth used in a product. They are essentially not 'rare' in the literal term but are precious as they are present in low concentration and do not occur in a pure form of nature but are found compounded with other elements. Rare Earth Metals/ Elements/ Oxides are a collection of 17 key materials, and the term rare earth was coined in the year 1788 in Sweden when a miner unearthed an unusual black rock that could be dissolved in acid and called it 'rare' because it had not been seen before.
With decades of technological advancements, the rare earth have been able to help create superalloys that could be used in steel production. This transformation looked at systems from heavy, rust-prone, and brittle technology to make them stronger, lighter, and more durable. The increasing usage of rare earth has made weapons of war more precise, long-range, and devastating. Another important contribution of rare earth has been the development of materials that remain stable in temperatures that are as high as 1500 degrees celsius, which are the sorts of temperatures required for rockets and long-range missiles.
Besides, the following also add to the strategic value of these elements: the lack of alternatives for the rare earth elements in modern technology; the intense processing techniques; and the unique properties in the electronics industry and the fast-growing green technologies (For example the renewable energy generation and storage, electric automobiles, or even specific military and aerospace applications).
(KA Gschneidner, Jr "The Rare Earth Crisis" Merck) (Roderick Eggert et al., "Rare Earths: Market Disruption, Innovation and Global Supply Chains," Annual Review of Environment and Resources) (Joseph Gambogi, "Rare Earths," US Geological Survey Mineral Commodity Services, 2020)
II
Significance of the Rare Earths
Rare earths are a strategic commodity and would directly or indirectly impact everyone in the world, both personally and militarily. These elements are reasonably abundant and lie between the 25th and 75th per cent of the natural abundance of the elements. Cerium is the most abundant rare earth, and lutetium is the least. The international community realized the significance of these elements in 2010 during the rare earth crisis when China halted exports to Japan. During the past 50 years, the largest sources of rare earth elements have been in California, Inner Mongolia, and Western Australia. Currently, China's production quotas and export controls are known to have 'politicized' rare earth.
Rare earth deposits require intricate geological processes and are formed in comparatively rare alkaline magmas. There is a geographic overlap in the research for rare earth and radioactive elements. The political interests for rare earth get entangled because of the close commonness in the composition and presence of the radioactive elements with rare earth elements. The political aspect of the rare earth is defined based on the spatial theory by Lefebvrian. He talks about social processes dialectically produced through everyday material practices, hence, defining the "political life of rare earth as a product of the actual utilities of their chemical properties, ideas about their significance, and different perceptions of how these material properties might serve diverse territorialities over time." Early geological surveys of rare earth reserves were taken in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; during this time, multiple nations/powers were competing for mineral wealth. This is one of the reasons why many experts in the field contend that the geological sciences co-evolved with the practices of territoriality, as opposed to any particular political-economic ideology. There is a sense of alarmism in dealing with rare earth, but scarcity has seldom been the issue, and the defining problem has been the need to selectively allocate the costs and benefits associated with the production of these products.
Statistically speaking, rare earth occurs between 150-200 parts per million on the earth's crust. There are currently 799 land-based deposits identified with sufficient concentration to be mined. There have been recent discoveries of potentially one thousand times more deposits present on the Pacific Ocean floor. Thus, the scarcity does not drive the potential of rare earth being 'elements of conflict,' but rather the diverse interests and the political life that has been built around them, which involve varied actors, significant risk factors, and high costs.
Rare earth supply chains consist of a relatively small number of processing and mining companies and eventually move towards multiple actors in the manufacturing of the products. China, over the decades, has secured its place among the global supply chains of rare earth. The model worked in favour of China, first because they mastered the metal extraction and separation processes, and second with its relatively less strict environmental laws, and low-cost production and distribution capabilities. According to data, from 2020 the global consumption of rare earth elements was at 167,000 tonnes, and is expected to increase to 280,000 tonnes by 2030. The future demand for rare earth is expected to be driven by the clean energy economy with the growth in e-mobilty and wind power. Compared to the data from 2015, the rare earth supply from China has reduced with a steady increase in external supply from Malaysia, the US, Russia, Vietnam, and India. In 2020, the rare earth production in China totalled 135,000 tonnes, meaning China produced 80 per cent of the global supply.
(Roderick Eggert et al, "Rare Earths: Market Disruption, Innovation and Global Supply Chains," Annual Review of Environment and Resources) (Marc Schmid, "Rare Earths in the Trade Dispute between the US and China: A Deja Vu," Intereconomics) (Grace Hearty, "Rare Earths: Next Element in the Trade War?," CSIS)
III
History and Evolution of Rare Earth
The first successful application of rare earth was in the 1880s with Carl Auer von Welsbach's invention of gas mantles that helped produce cheap and reliable light in newly-urbanized industrial zones. Though the use of rare earth in these mantles were only one per cent, a large quantity of these mantles was prepared. These mantles also had a residue that was of similar chemical composition. Using these, the next usage of rare earth was in ignition switches of an alloy called 'mischmetal'; it was made using a blend of the wastes from the gas mantles and 30 per cent iron. It is popularly called the 'flintstones.' In the early years, Scandinavian sources could not fulfil the production demands as their uses began to increase. In the 1880s, finding rare earth became a part of the European quest for raw materials in their colonized lands. By 1887, British mining interests began extracting rare earth from the monazite sands on the beaches of North and South Carolina in the US; these operations were then taken over by the Welsbach Light Company of New York, whose commercial success sparked greater interest in the broader applications of rare earth. This expanded the rare earth industry dramatically and drove the quest for raw materials beyond Europe, to the Americas, colonial India, and China.
World Wars I and II
Not all rare earth had been identified by the early years of the 20th century. During WW-I, the pyrophoric properties of rare earth were used in fuses and explosives. The political turmoil during WW-I encouraged the formalization of geological science in China. In 1922, China became the raw material supplier for Germany; in 1927, when Bayan Obo mine was discovered in Inner Mongolia, it is called as the 'rare-earth capital of the world.' Brazil and India were the major suppliers of rare earth during the period; for example, Thorium went to the US and Germany from these countries.
The rare earth politics reemerged with the race of the atomic bomb where rare earth were both inputs and outputs in the nuclear war effort. During the inter-war years, Russia worked towards its own rare earth region in Kyrgyzstan by opening a rare earth-thorium-uranium processing plant. During WW-II, the US and the allied countries continued to source their supplies from the colonial lands with the British help. Post-independence India refused to export strategic minerals, and the production in Brazil failed to cover the difference.
Cold War
During the beginning of the Cold War, the US worked with the Chinese KMT to secure supplies of 'minerals of importance' for the atomic energy programmes in exchange for training to scientists in the US. However, by the time the deal came through, the KMT was defeated. Eventually, the communist government in China worked with the Soviets in developing the mineral industry.
The Cold War witnessed modernization of war and industry and eventually saw new applications with rare earth. During this time, South Africa was the biggest source of monazite till the 1960s. Applications in the television and the information technology industry moved the focus from the chemical applications to the physical applications of rare earth, of exceptional magnetic and conductive properties that enabled impressive miniaturization of computing devices. The petroleum industry also identified the importance of the rare earth and began to use them as petroleum cracking catalysts.
The 2010 Rare Earth Crisis
In 2010, a bilateral dispute between Japan and China emerged near the disputed islands when a Chinese fishing trawler collided with a Japanese coast guard vessel. Beijing cut its supplies of rare earth materials to Japan after this incident which created a global shock. Then China controlled 97 per cent of the global production of these elements. The rare earth trade dispute followed between China on one side and several other countries led by the US on the other side, against the Chinese export restrictions on rare earth, tungsten, and molybdenum. China argued that the restrictions were aimed at resource conservation and environmental protections, while the US, EU, and Japan claimed the restrictions as being a violation of the WTO trade regulations. In 2012, the Obama administration took the case to the WTO Dispute Settlement Body and by 2014, the WTO ruled against China which led them to drop the export quotas in 2015.
The 2010 rare earth crisis is seen as a crucial moment where nations realized the importance of diversifying their resource pools. (E. Gerinacher, "History of Rare Earth Applications, Rare Earth Market Today," American Chemical Society) (Julie Michelle Klinger, "A Historical geography of rare earth elements: from discovery to the atomic age," The Extractive Industries and Society)
IV
The Rare earth Race
Rise of Beijing's monopoly
Beijing's monopoly over supply chains of rare earth has made it difficult for other countries like the US, Canada, and Australia to build alternate production lines competitively. The 'economies of scale' that China has achieved over the years in its mining and refining operations dwarf the nascent production capabilities elsewhere. In 2020, China mined 140,000 tons of rare earth, whereas the US had mined 38,000 tons. According to a US geological survey, in 2019, the US imported 80 per cent, and the EU imported 98 per cent of its rare earth from China. Moreover, 90 per cent of refining of RREs across the globe is also done in China. Evidently, there is a global dependence on China for mining and refining rare earth.
The major export destinations of China's rare earth, are Japan on the top with 36 per cent, followed by the US at 33.4 per cent, alongside the Netherlands with 9.6 per cent, South Korea at 5.4 per cent and Italy 3.5 per cent. In the late 1980s, China began mining REEs from the mines in Inner Mongolia and flooded the market. Japanese and German processing companies relocated to China. Later, China emerged as the largest producer of rare earth - that are used in defense technology, green technology, including its missiles, F-35 fighter jets, electric cars.
China's investments in mineral-rich countries of Africa, Central Asia, and Latin America, make Beijing as a global supplier of resources. Since 2006, Chinese mining companies have invested more than USD 36 billion in Sub-Saharan Africa and have taken rare earth ores to China for processing and export.
The demand and supply of rare earth have increased in the past 20 years. Furthermore, since China controls more than 80 per cent of global production, it rules the global market and prices. It can unilaterally cut supply chains if it chooses. In 2009 China restricted mining due to environmental concerns. In 2010, China cut off the supply of REEs to Japan when negotiations for the release of a Chinese fisherman broke down. This sent the prices of rare earth skyrocketing until 2015. In 2019 President Xi threatened to cut imports of the rare earth from the US, as a counter to the US opposition to Huawei. Later in February 2020, China explored the effect of abruptly halting its REE exports to US defense contractors, if the trade war deteriorates.
This global dependency has given China the opportunity to "weaponize" its mining and refining of rare earth metals. To maintain its upper hand, in January, Beijing released a new draft bill, which required companies to follow "law and regulation for the import and export of rare earth," and prohibited sharing of Chinese technologies which can be diverted for military purposes. China's political clout in rare earth trade forced countries to seek alternative partnerships, sourcing, and processing options.
On the flip side, the process of refining in rare earth production leads to huge environmental damage even as countries across the globe send their mineral to China for the refining process. China, in recent months, has significantly placed efforts to curb this damage by tightening the refining sector. China's Ministry of Natural Resource stated: "the illegal occupation and destruction of cultivated land, and illegal mining in the Yangtze River and Yellow River coastal counties, should be detected in a timely manner and penalized."
The rare earth re-awakening in the US
The US was the largest producer of rare earth metals in the 1970s. But in the 1980s Nuclear Regulatory Commission's finding – that thorium-bearing rare earth elements are risky to mine – slowed down mining operations in the US for two decades. The US depends on Chinese rare earth for minerals like cobalt, lithium, neodymium, vanadium and gallium. The latter play a crucial role in the building numerous defense and commercial applications, including aircraft/UAVs/vehicles, sensors, precision-guided munitions, electric motors, and nuclear reactors. For instance, the US' F35 stealth aircraft has more than 400 kg of rare earth elements. A submarine would require more than four tons of rare earth elements.
Post-2010, following the China induced shortage of rare earth, the US become motivated to be independent in crucial elements. According to Statista, in 2020, "the apparent consumption of rare earth in the US amounted to an estimated 7,800 metric tons, a considerable decrease in comparison with 2019, from 11,700 metric tons." Amidst trade war and brewing differences with China, the Trump administration signed an executive order, asking relevant departments to boost extracting of rare earth. The White House and the Pentagon pushed for policies and laid down strategies to develop its own supply chain of rare earth metals. Policymakers called for tax incentives to draw manufacturers into producing rare earth. Furthermore, Pentagon agreed to provide funding to Mountain Pass and Lynas REEs projects. Yet, the US trailed behind China.
In February 2021, President Biden issued an executive order for the administration to review critical supply chains and reduce the country's dependence on foreign materials. Meanwhile, lawmakers called for legislation to address the supply chain vulnerabilities of rare earth.
Biden, to avoid a clash with environmentalists, has expressed his desire to rely on ally countries to supply metals needed for EV manufacturing. Transitioning from gasoline vehicles to electric vehicles is one of the Biden administration's top agendas. The US government to secure its own rare earth supply chain has been investing in firms like TechMet that controls nickel projects in Brazil. The US Department of Energy Resources also awarded grants to old coal mines to extract rare earth.
Australia and Japan rare earth partnership amid tensions with China
Rare earth play a critical role in Australian economic and strategic interests. According to the US Geological Survey, in 2020 the country has contributed around 17,000 tons of rare earth. The country's growing demand over the years has made it second in the production process. Australia's Critical Minerals Strategy aims at three major areas: first promoting investment in Australia's critical minerals sector and downstream processing; second, in providing incentives for innovation to lower costs and increase competitiveness; and, third, connecting critical minerals projects with infrastructure development. In 2019, Prime Minister released a 'critical mineral strategy' with a USD1.5 billion national manufacturing priority. Under the plan the project aimed at dual financial support from 'export finance Australia and the northern Australia infrastructure funds.'
Apart from China, the refining process is conducted by an Australian company Lynas rare earth in Malaysia. Recently, the company has proposed a shift to Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. Canberra has several mining projects in Yangibana (Hastings's technology metal ltd) and Browns Range (northern minerals Ltd) in Western Alliance and Nolans bore (Arafura resource ltd) in northern territory. In March, Australia Lynas corporation CEO warned, the race to defeat the China embargo might lead to "overbuilding of supply", which will further cause a collapse in profit and losses of the investor.
In 2010, China restricted exports of rare earth ore, salts, and metals to Japan, over the issue in Senkaku island, which later resulted in a Japanese partnership with Australia for its domestic demand. Beijing's temporary ban prompted countries to search for an alternative. In 2020, Japanese companies Sojitz and JOGMEC invested more than USD 250 million in Australian mining cooperation. The increasing investment by Japan marks the unannounced reduction in reliance on China. CSIS reported: "The financial boost helped Lynas to become the only supplier outside of China capable of processing rare earth and the company now supply Japan with nearly one-third of its REEs imports."
The political clash between Japan and China decreased their global export by 37 per cent which further directly harmed the country's production. Over the years, Japan has reduced its dependence on Beijing from 91.3 per cent to 60 per cent. According to UN Comtrade data, Japan aims to bring it below 50 per cent by 2025. "In 2020, Japan consumed 17,400 tons of rare earth oxides (and oxide equivalents), with a 9 per cent drop year-over-year," according to official Japanese industry sources. According to Nikkei: "the global shift to electric vehicles and renewable energy is expected to drive a surge in rare earth demand, Japan is set to further increase funding for the exploration and mining of rare earth."
Extraction and Processing
There are five main stages of a rare earth product from mineral extraction to manufacturing of magnets or alloys. Before any of the processes begin, it is essential to obtain legal permissions for mining which is often the most time-consuming step. The mining of these raw materials is the first step of the process which is followed by the extraction process. These two steps are usually performed by the mining companies, and seldom the third step is by the same mining companies. The third step involves the separation of mixed rare earth into individual oxides and blends. After these steps, the further steps are handled by smaller companies or the manufacturing companies take charge. Step four is the manufacturing of the chemical products like phosphors and catalysts and of individual metals and alloys. The fifth stage is the manufacturing of rare-earth permanent magnets from these alloys. This five-step supply process was coined by Jack Lipton, a technology metals consultant. (Rare Earths: Industrial Technology) (Roderick Eggert et al, "Rare Earths: Market Disruption, Innovation and Global Supply Chains," Annual Review of Environment and Resources) (Hobart M King, "Rare Earth Elements and their Uses," Geology .com)
Conclusion
Rare-earth extraction is likely to create a new competition between the US and Beijing. Rare earth processing might have a stronger influence on geopolitics with the increase in energy transition and the evolution of transportation across the globe. The race of rare earth thus makes it essential for the nations to ensure there are sufficient investments on institutional/ industrial capabilities for self-sustenance and diversification of the supply chains of the rare earth. It is equally important to note that there would be a steady fall in the supply from China in the coming decade due to the changes made in their domestic environmental laws. This is likely to be coupled with the increase in the supplies of rare earth from other parts of the world, but would create a steep rise in prices. The current potential of capabilities would not suffice the growing need for rare earths in the various aspects of technological growth. Blue Economy gains significance here since there is knowledge of the presence of rare earth deposits on the Pacific seabeds, which calls for an increase in the research and investments to try and extract these deposits.
In Focus
By Lokendra Sharma and Rashmi Ramesh
Virgin Galactic's successful launch marks the beginning of space tourism
On 11 July 2021, Richard Branson, a British billionaire, made history when he flew to space along with five crewmates aboard Virgin Galactic's rocketship VSS Unity. They flew to a height of 88 kilometres and experienced four minutes of weightlessness in addition to viewing the curvature of the earth and a clear view of space. Unity was initially carried by mothership VMS Eve to an altitude of 13 kilometres after which the former detached and used its own engine. The flight took-off and landed safely at a spaceport in New Mexico, the US, which was specially built for space tourism. While the Virgin Galactic claims that Unity travels to space, there is some debate on the boundary between atmosphere and space. While NASA, the US Air Force and the Federal Aviation Administration (all US-based institutions) consider the boundary to be at 80 kilometres, the more widely accepted boundary internationally, called the Kamran line, is at 100 kilometres (Susan Montoya Bryan and Marcia Dunn, Billionaire Richard Branson reaches space in his own ship, Associated Press, 11 July 2021).
Branson had founded Virgin Galactic in 2004 and had been trying ever since to launch a platform that could safely take paying customers on a trip to space. The earlier attempts to do so failed within one crash in 2014 killing a pilot. This attempt, however, proved to be successful and was witnessed by hundreds of people, including SpaceX's founder Elon Musk and 60 customers who have paid Galactic for future commercial space flights. Through this successful launch, Branson beat Blue Origin's founder Jeff Bezos who announced plans to fly to space on 20 July, a date which marks 52 years of Apollo 11's moon landing. Blue Origin has however emphasized that its New Shepard rocket will fly above 100 kilometres altitude. (Kenneth Chang, Branson Completes Virgin Galactic Flight, Aiming to Open Up Space Tourism, The New York Times, 11 July 2021).
Galactic's successful launch has marked the beginning of the race for space tourism for which multiple companies, mostly founded by billionaires, are vying for. SpaceX is expected to take space travel to another level by launching its first crewed flight into the earth's orbit in September (both Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic flights are sub-orbital). More such companies are expected to join this race because of the business potential which, according to one estimate, would be USD 3 billion per year by 2030 (Steve Gorman, Billionaire Branson soars to space aboard Virgin Galactic flight, Reuters, 12 July 2021).
Heatwaves: Global warming is a global warning
Climate change is perceived as an abstract expression by a section of population that negates its existence. However, the ongoing heatwave in North America is a glaring manifestation of climate change, a peek into the impending future.
Canada witnessed record-breaking temperatures at the end of June. The trend continues in July, in both Canada and the neighbouring United States. Since 25 June, nearly 500 sudden deaths have been recorded in parts of Canada, particularly in the British Columbia. On 29 June, Lytton reported 49.6 Celsius, a national record for Canada ("Mapping the hottest temperatures around the world", Al Jazeera, 1 July 2021).
Western parts of the US are reeling under the heatwave, recording 50 Celsius and above. On 11 June Death Valley in California was among the hottest places on the planet with 54 Celsius. The extreme temperatures have triggered major wildfires in the region, threatening flora and fauna. Nearly 50 instances wildfires were recorded in Canada between 10-12 July ("US West scorches under heat wave, Death Valley reaches 130 degrees (F)", The Times of India, 12 July 2021), ("US heatwave: Wildfires rage in western states as temperatures soar", News on AIR, 11 July 2021).
The heatwaves have prompted the authorities to take measures including setting up cooling centres, evacuation of thousands who are relatively vulnerable, closing down schools and universities, limiting traffic and modes of travel, and so on. On 29 June, President Biden said that the heatwave is related to climate change, and laid out a strategy to upgrade the country's infrastructure accordingly ("Millions sweltering in US west as Canada takes emergency steps", Gulf News, 12 July 2021), ("Canada weather: Dozens dead as heatwave shatters records", BBC, 30 June 2021).
Scientists and weather experts attribute the heatwaves to a phenomenon known as 'heat dome'. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, US Department of Commerce, a heat dome forms when there is a strong change in the ocean temperatures. The warm air rising over the ocean surface is trapped by the atmosphere similar to a dome, causing a heatwave. Effects of a heat dome range from loss of vegetation and drought to sudden fatalities in absence of air conditioning ("What is a heat dome? Extreme temperatures in Canada, US explained", Hindustan Times, 1 July 2021).
The forthcoming edition of STIR Fortnightly will look into the heat dome effect, abnormal warming in the Northern Hemisphere, and adaptation strategies.
S&T Nuggets
By Sukanya Bali and Avishka Ashok
Technology
India: States use drone technology to enforce law and order during the pandemic
On 30 June, The Wire covered an excerpt from 'Unmasked: Decoding the Politics of the COVID-19 Pandemic', a piece that explored the use of drones to monitor the public during the coronavirus pandemic lockdown. In April 2020, Kerala became the first state in India to make use of 650 drones to apprehend citizens for flouting the lockdown guidelines. The drones were used to make announcements, warn citizens against breaking the laws, and providing real-time videos to the police control rooms. Other than Kerala, Maharashtra, Gujrat, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka also made use of drone technology to enforce lockdown laws in the state. (How India Used the COVID-19 Pandemic to Push Through a Liberal Drone Policy, The Wire Science, 30 June 2021)
The US: More than 200 companies attacked by ransomware
On 2 July, a cyber-breach infected more than 200 companies in the US, just days before the national holiday. Huntress Labs reported that a ransomware group called REvil may be behind the attack on Kaseya, an IT company. The cyber-attack used Kaseya and then spread through other companies. The US Cyber-security and Infrastructure Agency pledged that it would investigate the attack in detail. President Joe Biden also promised to take strict action against the Russian origin cyber-attacks while in conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin. (US companies hit by 'colossal' cyber-attack, The BBC, 3 July 2021)
Brazil: New methods to exchange emissions for farm credits
On 6 July, the Wall Street Journal reported that a tech start-up, Agrorobotica, in Brazil had introduced a small machine to help farmers understand the carbon content in the soil to get certified in the market. The small device studies the soil within minutes and reports the amount of carbon dioxide in the sample. The Brazilian government is considering a policy wherein farmers can sell carbon credits to companies who are in need of cancelling their carbon emissions. By encouraging sustainable agriculture, the farmers would earn carbon credits since their profession would help in draining carbondioxide from the environment. Although there is no system that ensures the sale of carbon credits, the process is already underway in the voluntary markets. Due to Brazil's vast rainforests and extensive farming capacities, countries around the world are looking to exchange their emissions for the carbon credits. (Storing Carbon Holds Growing Appeal for Brazil's Farmers, The Wall Street Journal, 6 July 2021)
El Salvador: Increasing uncertainty regarding the acceptance of bitcoin as the legal tender
On 8 July, a poll conducted by Pollster Disruptiva, associated to Francisco Gavidia University, revealed that almost three-quarters of the country were unsure regarding the President's move to make Bitcoin its legal currency. According to the poll, over 54 per cent of the surveyed population believed that the decision was incorrect and was a risky deal. Out of the total number of people surveyed, 46 per cent were unaware of bitcoin, and almost 65 per cent expressed hesitation in accepting payments in bitcoin. (Big Salvadoran majority skeptical of bitcoin as standard currency, Reuters, 9 July 2021)
Iran: Second consecutive attack on state websites in two days.
On 10 July, the website of Iran's transport minister had to be suspended after a cyber breach. Just a day before, a similar attack was reported on the state-owned railway company. As a result of the attack, the ministry website and other supporting sites were unavailable for a period of time. The hack caused in the disruption of the train services as fake notices and delays were broadcasted on the website and platforms by the hackers. Iranian officials are certain that more similar attacks may befall the country in the coming days. (Iran transport ministry hit by second apparent cyberattack in days, Reuters, 10 July 2021)
China: Didi under the scanner for data misuse
On 9 July, the Chinese government announced that it would suspend 25 mobile applications from online app stores. The move comes as the government tightens its grip on Didi, the global company that provides cab services along with numerous other services. The Cyberspace Administration department of China accused the company for utilizing and accessing user data through its mobile apps. As the company and its assets get investigated, the country has also prevented the apps from registering new users. (China to remove 25 Didi apps from store as crackdown intensifies, Reuters, 9 July 2021)
China: Scientists discover a technique to build the strongest laser
On 29 June, a team of scientists from the Shanghai Institute of optics and Fine Mechanics announced that their research was able to create the most powerful laser in the world. If the research is approved, the team would build a 100-petawatt laser in a period of two years. The team at the Station of Extreme Light project at the institute explained that the laser would be 10,000 times more powerful than all the power grids of the world. To prevent the burning of the optical components, the scientists plan to disperse the input beam into a wide ambit of colours and then introduce small amounts of energy to these beams. Finally, these beams would be compressed back into a single beam, a process that has posed obstacles for decades. (Chinese breakthrough allows physicists to build the world's most powerful laser, South China Morning Post, 2 July 2021)
SPACE
China: Two Astronauts conduct the second spacewalk
On 4 July, two Chinese astronauts in the Tianhe module worked for around six hours in extravehicular activity in space. Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo performed the spacewalk under the command of Nie Haisheng. On 17 June, three astronauts were sent to space in Shenzhou-12. China's first spacewalk was in 2008. The China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said: "The safe return of astronauts Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo to the Tianhe core module marks the complete success of the first spacewalk in our country's space station construction." CMSA reported the task included "elevating panoramic cameras outside Tianhe core module and testing of station-robotic-arm, which will be used to transfer future modules around the station." ("Chinese astronauts install tools on first spacewalk outside new space station," Space, 4 July 2021)
US: NASA Observatory captures solar flare
On 3 July, NASA's Solar Dynamic Observatory captured a "solar flare peaking" emitted by the sun. These flares are referred to as X1.5- class flare, where X denotes the classification- the most intense flare, whereas the number implies the strength of the flare. Solar flares are powerful radiation that does not pass through Earth's atmosphere, but their impact can disturb the atmosphere layers where the GPS and communications signals are carried. ("Significant Solar Flare Erupts from Sun," NASA, 3 July 2021)
China: Three launches in four days
On 2 July, a Long 2 March D rocket sent the commercial Jilin-1 Wideband-01B Earth observation satellite into sun-synchronous orbit from Taiyuan. On 5 July, China launched the world-first meteorological satellite, 'Fengyun-3E' for civil service. According to China National Space Administration (CNSA), the satellite was sent into dawn-dusk orbit via Long March-4C from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. It is designed to last for eight years and is equipped with eleven remote sensing payloads. The Global Times reported: "CNSA said the satellite will improve the accuracy of China's weather forecasting and enrich the meteorological satellite observation system." This will further help China's capabilities in the fields of weather forecast, climate change, environment monitoring and boost multilateral cooperation among countries, and help in mitigating meteorological disasters across the globe. On 6 July, Long March 3C was launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. The rocket featured Tianlian data which help in tracking and relay communications satellites. ("China sends world's first meteorological satellite into dawn-dusk orbit, fills gap in global observation data," Global Times, 5 July 2021) ("China picks up the launch pace with three space missions in four days," Space, 8 July 2021)
US: NASA announces contract with Northrop Grumman
On 9 July, NASA announced a contract of USD 935 million with Northrop Grumman, to build the Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO) module for the Gateway station. The module will serve as a habitat for visiting astronauts and a command post for the lunar orbiting facility. NASA reported: "It will have docking ports for Orion spacecraft, cargo vehicles like SpaceX's Dragon XL and lunar landers, as well as for later modules to be added by international partners." Vice President of civil and commercial satellites at Northrop Grumman said: "By leveraging our active Cygnus production line, Northrop Grumman can uniquely provide an affordable and reliable HALO module in the time frame needed to support NASA's Artemis program." NASA Administrator said: "NASA is building the infrastructure to expand human exploration further out into the solar system than ever before, including Gateway, the lunar space station that will help us make inspirational scientific discoveries at and around the moon." He further added, "The HALO is a critical component of Gateway, and this exciting announcement today brings us one step closer to landing American boots on both the moon and Mars." ("NASA awards contract to Northrop Grumman to build Gateway module," SpaceNews, 9 July 2021)
HEALTH/COVID-19
Japan: Nobel laureate develop a non-invasive system to detect Alzheimer's
On 3 July, Koichi Tanaka, a Nobel laureate, developed a non-invasive system that help in diagnosing Alzheimer's disease with blood droplets. He said: "As the only part of the whole mechanism of dementia is understood, we will continue to improve the system in the hope of contributing to figuring it out." The Asahi Shimbun reported: "Shimadzu said it should now be possible to estimate the cerebral level of amyloid-beta by sampling blood, thereby reducing the burden on patients." After the medical approval last year, Shimadzu began its sales of the system in June. According to the Japan Society for Dementia Research, the data measured by Shimadzu's system should be utilized as "a piece of supplementary information." ("Nobel laureate's system detects Alzheimer's with blood droplets," The Asahi Shimbun, 3 July 2021)
About the Authors
Harini Madhusudan, Lokendra Sharma and Rashmi Ramesh are PhD scholars in the School of Conflict and Security Studies at the National Institute of Advanced Studies. Sukanya Bali and Avishka Ashok are Research Associates at NIAS.
