The European Space Agency (ESA) and Playmobil are expanding their successful partnership with a brand-new collection of space-themed toys, bringing a distinctly European vision of Mars exploration into the hands of young explorers.

Week in images: 05-09 January 2026

Discover our week through the lens

Image: ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot training on EchoFinder‑2.

London, UK (SPX) Jan 09, 2026
Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have developed a semi-transparent, flexible perovskite solar cell that generates electricity while allowing control over both light transmission and perceived color for use in windows, building facades, and curved surfaces. The research was led by Prof. Lioz Etgar and Prof. Shlomo Magdassi from the Institute of Chemistry and the Center for

Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Jan 08, 2026
A lithium ion battery experiment has been completed aboard China's Tiangong space station, focusing on basic electrochemical processes that govern performance and lifetime. Researchers at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences reported the work, which was carried out by the three astronauts of the Shenzhou XXI crew. The experiment is designed to clar

Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Jan 06, 2026
China has produced 30 tons of cryogenic jacket material made from its CHSN01 steel in continuous lengths of about 5 km for use in Cable-in-Conduit Conductors for future fusion reactors. The jacket is designed for magnets that must endure strong fields and very low temperatures in advanced fusion devices. Mechanical tests at 4.2 K show the CHSN01 jacket reaches an average yield strength of

Sydney, Australia (SPX) Jan 05, 2026
When quantum particles work together, they can produce signals far stronger than any one particle could generate alone, a cooperative phenomenon known as superradiance that has often caused rapid energy loss in quantum systems and created challenges for quantum technologies. A study published in Nature Physics shows that the same collective effect can instead generate self-sustained, long-lived