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With no fuel or engines, tiny explorers will surf sun-warmed air alone to explore high in the skies of Earth and Mars
These Tiny Disks Could Explore the ‘Ignorosphere’ That Planes and Satellites Can’t Reach
With no fuel or engines, tiny explorers will surf sun-warmed air alone to explore high in the skies of Earth and Mars
www.scientificamerican.com
August 20, 2025 at 2:21 PM
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This week on the pod 🔊

☀️ Sun-powered flyers could explore the mysterious mesosphere
🍎 Quantum gravity goes to the lab
go.nature.com/4fw64eU
Sun-powered flyers could explore the mysterious mesosphere
Hear the biggest stories from the world of science | 13 August 2025
go.nature.com
August 13, 2025 at 3:47 PM
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These devices could help to probe the ‘ignorosphere’, a layer of ultra-thin air that has largely escaped exploration by balloons, aircraft and satellites

go.nature.com/47q0Hfh
These tiny flyers levitate on the Sun’s heat alone
Design could help to probe the ‘ignorosphere’, a layer of ultra-thin air that has largely escaped exploration by balloons, aircraft and satellites.
go.nature.com
August 13, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Reposted
A physics phenomenon discovered 150 years ago allows tiny objects to levitate using just sunlight – and now it could enable swarms of sensors to explore Earth’s long-neglected upper atmosphere.
Tiny discs can levitate in the upper atmosphere using sunlight alone
A physics phenomenon discovered 150 years ago allows tiny objects to levitate using just sunlight – and now it could enable swarms of sensors to explore part of Earth’s long-neglected upper atmosphere
www.newscientist.com
August 13, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Reposted
Nature research paper: Photophoretic flight of perforated structures in near-space conditions

go.nature.com/45Pwqp2
Photophoretic flight of perforated structures in near-space conditions - Nature
A photophoretic aircraft that can levitate via thermal transpiration is achieved under near-space conditions, providing a potential platform for climate sensing, communications and Martian exploration.
go.nature.com
August 13, 2025 at 4:38 PM