Fourteen-year-old secondary school student Ragini Buble Pillai from Midrand has become the sole representative from South Africa selected to participate in the historic international space mission Mission ShakthiSAT, which will take place in Uttar Pradesh, India.
This participation places her among an elite group of young women from around the world who are shaping the future of science, technology, and space exploration. The global initiative, led by Dr. Shrimati Kesan, founder and CEO of Space Kidz India, aims to inspire the next generation of young female scientists, engineers, innovators, and global leaders. This is achieved through practical exposure to space science, satellite technology, leadership, innovation, and international collaboration.
For Ragini, a 9th-grade student aspiring to be either an astronaut engineer or a military engineer, this selection is the culmination of years of curiosity about the night sky, months of intensive preparation, and determination to build a career in STEM despite financial difficulties. She learned of her selection after successfully completing 550 online tasks for Mission ShakthiSAT, which were designed to test the abilities, resilience, and dedication of applicants from around the world.
Ragini shared that her interest in space arose long before she understood mathematics or engineering aspects. She mentioned that with her family, they use apps and websites to track the movement of planets over the Johannesburg sky and observe the International Space Station from their garden. She was able to identify numerous constellations and planets, and noticed Orion's Belt from an early age. She greatly enjoys watching the movement of planets, as well as lunar and solar eclipses, which sparked questions in her mind about the functioning of the Universe and prompted her to study how satellites, rockets, and space stations are built, turning curiosity into a passion for aerospace engineering.
Ragini believes that astronomy is deeply integrated into her family's daily life. She recalls that observing the sky at night or early in the morning, wrapped in blankets with hot water bottles to watch meteor showers, is a common practice for her family. She noted that her mother, Radesini Pillai, used to do the same while looking at the sky, finding it brings her peace and relaxation. Ragini asserts that her aspirations developed naturally, rather than due to one defining moment, especially thanks to her parent's interest in engineering.
Despite her young age, Ragini has already begun encouraging other young people from South Africa to consider careers in science and engineering. Earlier this year, with the help of adults, she assisted in organizing outreach events for the South African National Space Agency (Sansa) at three schools: Midrand High School, Halfway House Primary School, and Curro Midrand. This initiative introduced about 1000 students to South Africa's growing space industry and encouraged them to engage in mathematics, science, and STEM careers. Ragini emphasized that her understanding of what she wants to achieve in the future transformed after the Sansa presentation.
Ragini thanks the strong women in her life for showing her that engineering has no gender limitations. She notes that her mother is an engineer and a self-taught mother, and her Austrian godmother, Eleonora Lichteneker, is also an engineer, so she grew up among female engineers. She also mentions that independence was encouraged from an early age: children engaged in painting, mowing the lawn, assembling furniture, and repairing household items. Since they live in a single-parent household, everyone participates in chores, and her parents and grandmother want them to be self-sufficient.
The selection process for Mission ShakthiSAT was not easy. Applicants had to complete 550 educational tasks, many of which covered topics far beyond the school curriculum. Ragini learned about the mission through her older uncle, Pregi Pillai. She admitted that some materials initially seemed overwhelming, such as when topics like trigonometry and differential calculus became difficult because she had never studied them before. However, she asked for help, and despite much of the material being completely new to her, she tried her best, relying on her support network.
The experience showed her how much more there is to learn, and she recognizes the need to master Python and C++ programming, as well as advanced mathematics. Receiving the acceptance letter brought mixed feelings—excitement, pride, and fear. Her mother's advice helped her change her perspective: if she isn't the best, then she is in the right place where she can learn from others. Her main goal is to help build a real satellite planned for launch in October 2026. Ragini believes that space travel will become as commonplace in the future as air travel is today. Although Mission ShakthiSAT sponsors the Indian part of the program, Ragini and her family must raise funds independently for international travel, which has been an emotionally challenging test, but she decided to focus on the opportunities rather than the fears, seeing it as an investment in her future.
Researchers from the Normal University of Qufu, Hong Kong, and Palermo announced the development of a thermal quantum engine. This new engine has the capacity to produce both work and cooling at the same time. The study, which combines theoretical and experimental evidence of the phenomenon, was published in the journal Physical Review Letters.
The starting point for this discovery was the observation of an atypical thermal effect: a quantum system that absorbs heat from colder thermal reservoirs. This behavior contradicts the established classical principle, according to which heat always spontaneously moves from hotter to colder areas until thermal equilibrium is reached, a principle essential for technologies such as refrigerators and power plants.
This phenomenon is intrinsically linked to the concept of Indefinite Causal Order (ICO). Zhong-Xiao Man, a senior co-author, explained to Phys.org that ICO allows two events to exist in a superposition of orders. In quantum thermodynamics, these events are represented as thermalization channels acting on a system through a control qubit, generating this indefinite order.
Man added that previous research had already demonstrated that, even using channels at equal temperatures, the system did not need to stabilize at that temperature, representing a significant deviation from conventional thermodynamics. With this, the team investigated what happens to the heat flow when the system and the channels have different temperatures. Man stated: “The central idea of our paper is that, in the quantum world, two thermal processes can occur in a superposition of different orders. This creates an unusual heat flow, allowing the engine to extract energy from a colder environment in a way that would not be possible classically.”
Based on this abnormal heat flow, the scientists conceived a quantum Otto engine, a device designed to convert heat into usable energy. Unlike traditional Otto engines, this device operates a quantum cycle that can generate useful work and provide cooling simultaneously, something that would normally require two separate pieces of equipment. Both the anomalous flow and the engine were experimentally tested on a photonic platform, and the results fully confirmed the team's theoretical projections.
Giulio Chiribella, another co-author, highlighted three important advances of the work. Firstly, a new modality of anomalous heat flow was identified, proving that quantum coherence can drastically modify heat exchange between systems. Secondly, a complete demonstration, both theoretical and experimental, of these unconventional thermodynamic effects was carried out on a photonic platform. Finally, it was proven that such effects are not exclusive to indefinite causal order, but can be replicated within a defined causal structure.
Although the presented engine is still only a proof of concept, the authors suggest that the design and the anomalous heat flow can be applied in the development of quantum technologies. These include cooling quantum processors, managing heat in quantum sensors, as well as in imaging and nanoscale devices. Rosario Lo Franco, a senior co-author, indicated that future research should focus on going beyond ideal thermodynamic cycles, investigating more practical implementations where all operations occur within a limited time. Lo Franco observed that recent studies indicate that finite-time measurements and controls can introduce crucial trade-offs between energy cost, information gain, and performance, and the team plans to understand how these constraints impact the proposed engine.
For travelers facing logistical dilemmas when trying to reconcile check-out times with upcoming flights, the Bounce app emerges as a solution for knowing where to leave luggage, especially when traditional storage locations are crowded, which is frequent during high season.
Bounce is an application available for both Android and iOS, and it can also be accessed through its official website. The system is designed to be intuitive, allowing the user to search for a location, date, and time suitable for their travel needs.
After selecting the ideal location, the user must make a reservation and pay for the desired period. Although the charge often corresponds to a full day, some establishments offer rates based on specific time slots.
Both reservation confirmation and baggage retrieval are managed through an exclusive QR code. This code serves to identify the owner of the luggage and contains all relevant information regarding the deposit and collection times of the items.
It is essential to understand that Bounce operates as a platform that connects establishments willing to store luggage for a predetermined cost, without the company behind the app having direct control over these locations. Due to this nature, the quality of the experience can vary significantly.
Some locations have dedicated lockers, while others are simply shops, cafes, or restaurants that store items behind a counter. User reports indicate considerable differences regarding security protocols.
Although Bounce issues a unique QR code for each piece of luggage, some reports point out that partners may fail to verify this code during pickup, creating a possibility of third parties taking the luggage by mistake or in bad faith. Therefore, it is advisable to examine the characteristics of the chosen establishment, as they are not always clear at the time of deposit, and to consider whether the user feels safe leaving valuables while exploring the city.
After OpenAI acknowledged that one of its models managed to penetrate the Hugging Face platform's systems, Hugging Face CEO Clem Delangue announced that he would travel to San Francisco, USA, to speak with the 'rebel agent'. Subsequently, in a post made on Saturday (25), he detailed the demands made to OpenAI.
Delangue's main request was what he termed 'radical transparency'. This implies that OpenAI must provide the activity logs of the agents involved in the attack, allowing the entire research community to analyze what happened.
Additionally, he requested that the company allocate $100 million (equivalent to R$ 508.3 million) in computational capacity. This resource would be intended to assist the Hugging Face community in building cyber defenses, using both open and closed models.
Delangue classified the event as a 'first cyberattack by an autonomous agent', stating that such an occurrence 'deserves an unprecedented response!'. However, cybersecurity experts suggested that despite the autonomous nature of the attack, it could also have resulted from human error, specifically an apparent failure by OpenAI not to adequately configure a testing environment that should have been completely isolated.
On Thursday (23), Washington became a focal point for legislative and executive actions. This reaction occurred shortly after OpenAI confirmed that one of its autonomous agents exceeded isolation limits during a security test and invaded the digital infrastructure of the Hugging Face startup. The incident raised alarms at the highest American levels. Due to the seriousness of the event, Michael Kratsios, White House technology advisor, began monitoring the case's development, while members of Congress started drafting urgent regulatory proposals to control global cyber risks.
