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- Earth’s Magnetic Anomaly, Renewable Energy Targets, Audiovisual AI, & Penrose vs. String Theory
Earth’s Magnetic Anomaly, Renewable Energy Targets, Audiovisual AI, & Penrose vs. String Theory
This week’s science bits from SWTG
Marcus Gee-Lim
October 22, 2025
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Hole In Earth’s Magnetic Field is Getting Larger
Image Credits: Finlay et al, Phys. Earth Planet. Inter. 368, 107477 (2025)
The magnetic field of our planet has a weak spot, and it’s huge. It’s called the “South Atlantic Anomaly,” and stretches across South America to the East. New satellite data just revealed that in the past 10 years the anomaly has significantly grown, and the magnetic field has further weakened, especially in the southwest part of the anomaly. This weak spot in the magnetic field is not of immediate concern, and is likely changing due to the motion of molten iron in the Earth’s core. The exact cause has remained unclear. Paper here. I talked about this previously here.
This week’s episode of Science News is about the debate over string theory. Roger Penrose is a very well-known mathematician, physicist, and author who won the Nobel Prize a few years back. He’s repeatedly questioned string theory’s prominent role in physics today, most notable in his 2016 book “Fashion, Faith and Fantasy” (the “fashion” part refers to string theory). We finally have a response.
Renewable News Both Good and Bad
Image Credits: IRENA
IRENA, the International Renewable Energy Agency, has released a new report about global installations of renewable energy. They find that, while installations have grown by 15% in the past year (slightly up from 14% in 2023), this still falls short of reaching the capacity they believe is necessary to reach the Paris Goal – that is, to limit warming to 1.5°C. The good news is that while we’re on track to miss the renewable target, we might not miss it by much. The bad news is that for their extrapolation (see figure), IRENA assumes that the growth continues exponentially, which I doubt is going to happen. Still, I admire the optimism of this report, as it seems to me that the Paris Goal has been pretty much unachievable since it was written down. Read the full report here.
Email Was Only the Beginning
Four years in the making. One event that will change everything.
On November 13, beehiiv is redefining what it means to create online with their first-ever virtual Winter Release Event.
This isn’t just an update or a new feature. It’s a revolution in how content is built, shared, and owned. You don’t want to miss this.
Audio-Visual Creators Stand to Lose $24 Billion to AI in Next 5 Years
A study commissioned by CISAC (the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers) estimates that creators of music, or content in audio and video, will lose about 21% or 24%, respectively, of their revenue due to the increasing market share of Generative AI in the next 5 years. I suspect this is an underestimate because a lot of creators will (have to) look for other ways to make a living, thereby further increasing the GenAI-share. And yes, I am seriously thinking about what to do when AI becomes good enough to take on science news. Read the full report here.
