Various scientific achievements were noted during Science Week, including the establishment of the El Niño phenomenon, a breakthrough in quantum computing, and Brazil's participation in space research.
The El Niño phenomenon for 2026-2027 has already been recorded and shows signs of intensification, increasing the risk of climate impacts in various regions of Brazil. This was warned by researchers Regina Célia dos Santos Alvalá, director of the National Center for Monitoring and Early Warning of Natural Disasters (Cemaden), José Antônio Marengo, general coordinator of the agency's research and development, and Marcelo Seluchi, Doctor of Sciences in Meteorological Sciences at the University of Buenos Aires, in an article published in The Conversation on Monday (7).
According to the authors, data from August indicates a more alarming scenario than initially expected at the beginning of the year. The World Meteorological Organization confirms that the phenomenon is officially established and in a phase of intensification, affecting temperature and precipitation regimes in South America and other parts of the world.
Researchers from the Institute of Physics of São Carlos at the University of São Paulo (IFSC-USP) were the first in Brazil to capture cold ions using solely an electric field (Paul trap). This experiment was conducted with strontium atoms converted into electrically charged particles, which were held in a tiny area of space. This achievement creates an experimental platform in the country that can be used for developing and testing qubits.
The work is led by physicist Amilson Rogelso Fritsch, a Junior Researcher supported by the State of São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) through the Quantum Technology Initiative Program (QuTIa). The result was achieved approximately 18 months after the project began. The next step will be transitioning from holding the particles to controlling their quantum states, which is a necessary condition for performing information processing operations.
A short trip to an altitude of over 100 km above the Earth's surface can provide answers that are difficult to obtain in a regular laboratory. Therefore, in a mission conducted using a Brazilian test platform, experiments will be subjected to microgravity and returned after the flight for analysis by researchers on the ground for the first time.
This initiative is being implemented using the Suborbital Platform with Reduced Microgravity (PSM-R), designed to transport scientific experiments during a short flight. The equipment will be launched from the Barreira-du-Inferno Launch Center (CLBI) in Parnamirim (RN) as part of Operation Potiguar 2, conducted by the Brazilian Air Force (FAB). The operation, which began on August 31, is scheduled to conclude on September 19, with the forecast launch of experiments installed on the PSM using the VS-30 sounding rocket on some day during this period.
In the early hours of Thursday (10), the Santa Maria Astronomical Observatory (RS) managed to record something extremely rare while observing the sky. The recordings show a sequence of red sprites, which literally means 'red dwarfs'—an unusual type of electrical discharge rarely observed from Earth, previously recorded from the International Space Station (ISS).
In addition to 'red dwarfs,' the early morning concluded with another phenomenon. Around 1 a.m. (Brasília time), the observatory cameras registered a meteor north of Santa Maria. A recent study published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society presents new information about the origin and formation of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS. The composition of this comet, only the third visitor from outside the Solar System discovered by science, revealed the secrets of its distant origin.
After approaching the Sun and beginning its journey from our planetary vicinity, the comet underwent an intense process of substance release. This allowed scientists to study the internal chemical composition of this celestial body in detail, revealing secrets preserved since its birth in a remote corner of the Universe.
