Minuscule traces of metal from space junk that's designed to be disposable are invisibly polluting the Earth's atmosphere, a new study has found. In recent times, spacecrafts launched into space have been designed so that they fall out of orbit and fall back down to Earth after their intended use. So instead of the materials crashing on land, they can burn up in the upper atmosphere. Although the debris of rockets and satellites burn up when re-entering the planet's atmosphere, the consequences of metal vapour being left behind currently remain unknown. But given the amount of space exploration taking place, the amount of metal vapour is expected to rise in the years to come. Physicist Daniel Murphy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has led a team of researchers to investigate what effects this metal vapour could have as well as its impact over time and this study was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, as per Science Alert. He listed "iron, silicon, and magnesium from the natural meteoric source" as the current refractory material in stratospheric particular. Murphy has warned how this composition could be affected by the metal vapour from space junk. "However, the amount of material from the reentry of upper-stage rockets and satellites is projected to increase dramatically in the next 10 to 30 years," he wrote. "As a result, the amount of aluminum in stratospheric sulfuric acid particles is expected to become comparable to or even exceed the amount of meteoric iron, with unknown consequences for inclusions and ice nucleation." To find out if metal vapour remained, Murphy and his team took and analyzed 500,000 stratospheric aerosol droplet samples to see if they had traces of spacecraft metals. Aerosols contain sulfuric acid droplets made from the oxidation of the carbonyl sulfide gas and in the atmosphere, this can appear naturally or as a pollutant. Metal and silicon traces can be found in these droplets too, acquired from meteors which vaporize upon atmospheric entry. Around 20 metals were discovered from this research, and while some metals had similar ratios to the vaporizing meteors, other metals such as lithium, aluminium, copper, and lead exceeded the anticipated amounts. Particles from vaporized spacecraft were found in 10 per cent of stratospheric aerosols over a certain size while other common spacecraft metals such as niobium and hafnium were also present. Consequently, these traces of spacecraft particles could affect how water freezes into ice in the stratosphere, and stratospheric aerosol particles could change in size. Due to more space exploration planned in an "era of rapid growth" for the industry, the researchers predict "the percentage of stratospheric sulfuric acid particles that contain aluminum and other metals from satellite reentry will be comparable to the roughly 50 per cent that now contain meteoric metals." Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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Harry Kane’s move to Bayern Munich has got the entire football world talking – including Premier League legend Alan Shearer. After Tottenham Hotspur and Bayern agreed terms on an £86.4m transfer to the German champions, Kane was set to fly out to Munich to undergo a medical and sign a four-year deal where he is set to earn £480,000-a-week. But Friday morning brought a fresh twist in the saga, after it emerged that Spurs had revoked Kane’s permission to fly out to Germany. Sky Sports reported that Kane was on his way to Stansted Airport when he heard the news, and had to turn back to his home until his current employers give him the green light Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter The news outlet said Spurs want to make changes to the deal at the last minute, with chairman Daniel Levy currently in the United States. However, Shearer seems particularly keen for the transfer to go ahead. The Newcastle United legend-turned-broadcaster’s Premier League scoring record of 260 goals is firmly in Kane’s sights, and if the England captain stays too much longer he could end up breaking it. Shearer jokingly tweeted a photoshopped image of him dressed as a pilot, captioned: “Come on Harry it’s time to go!” Kane is 47 goals away from matching Shearer’s record, and has openly spoken about his desire to break it. Shearer, too, has predicted that if Kane remains in the Premier League he could break the record. But Kane, who only has 12 months left on his Spurs contract, also seems keen on moving to Germany and finally get the chance to compete for silverware. Spurs stress that Kane is on course to fly over to Munich, despite suggestions the deal could be in limbo. The 30-year-old is set to take the Bayern Munich No.9 shirt, and speculation is mounting that he could even make his debut against RB Leipzig on Saturday should the deal go through in time. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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