The recent superstorm of 2024 May 10–11 is the second largest geomagnetic storm in the space age and the only one that has simultaneous interplanetary data (there were no interplanetary data for the 1989 March storm). The May superstorm was characterized by a sudden impulse (SI⁺) amplitude of +88 nT, followed by a three-step storm main-phase development, which had a total duration of ∼9 hr. The cause of the first storm main phase with a peak SYM-H intensity of −183 nT was a fast-forward interplanetary shock (magnetosonic Mach number M _ms ∼ 7.2) and an interplanetary sheath with a southward interplanetary magnetic field component B _s of ∼40 nT. The cause of the second storm's main phase with an SYM-H intensity of −354 nT was a deepening of the sheath B _s to ∼43 nT. A magnetosonic wave (M _ms ∼ 0.6) compressed the sheath to a high magnetic field strength of ∼71 nT. Intensified B _s of ∼48 nT were the cause of the third and most intense storm main phase, with an SYM-H intensity of −518 nT. Three magnetic cloud events with B _s fields of ∼25–40 nT occurred in the storm recovery phase, lengthening the recovery to ∼2.8 days. At geosynchronous orbit, ∼76 keV to ∼1.5 MeV electrons exhibited ∼1–3 orders of magnitude flux decreases following the shock/sheath impingement onto the magnetosphere. The cosmic-ray decreases at Dome C, Antarctica (effective vertical cutoff rigidity <0.01 GV) and Oulu, Finland (rigidity ∼0.8 GV) were ∼17% and ∼11%, respectively, relative to quiet-time values. Strong ionospheric current flows resulted in extreme geomagnetically induced currents of ∼30–40 A in the subauroral region. The storm period is characterized by strong polar-region field-aligned currents, with ∼10 times intensification during the main phase and equatorward expansion down to ∼50° geomagnetic (altitude-adjusted) latitude.

Mars’ magnetic field has been measured at large scale by orbiting spacecraft and at very small scale via Martian meteorites. Here we report on a ground magnetic survey on metre to kilometre scales. The Zhurong rover made vector measurements at 16 sites along a 1,089 m track in the Utopia Basin on Mars. It recorded an extremely weak magnetic field, with an order of the average intensity less than that inferred from orbit, in contrast to the large magnetic field in Elysium Planitia measured by InSight. A spacecraft measurement samples an area with radius comparable to its altitude, while a ground measurement samples an area with radius comparable to the depth of the magnetized body. The weak magnetic field measured by Zhurong indicates no magnetization anomalies for a depth of many kilometres around and below the rover’s traverse. We suggest two possible explanations for the weak magnetic field: the entire Utopia Basin may have remained unmagnetized since its formation about 4 billion years ago or that the 5-km-radius ghost crater where Zhurong landed may have been been demagnetized by impact.

Background: Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is a severe complication of diabetes with type 1 and 2. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are being found to be involved in the DN pathogenesis. In this study, we aimed to further explore the effect and underlying mechanism of plasmacytoma variant translocation 1 (PVT1) in DN pathogenesis. Methods: The expression levels of PVT1, miR-23b-3p, and Wilms tumor protein 1 (WT1) mRNA were assessed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Western blot analysis was performed to determine protein expression. Cell proliferation was detected using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5-(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl)-2-(4-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetr-azolium (MTS) assay. The targeted correlation between miR-23b-3p and PVT1 or WT1 was verified by dual-luciferase reporter assay. Results: PVT1 and WT1 were highly expressed in the serum of DN patients and high glucose (HG)-induced mesangial cells (MCs). The knockdown of PVT1 or WT1 ameliorated HG-induced proliferation and fibrosis in MCs. Mechanistically, PVT1 modulated WT1 expression through acting as a molecular sponge of miR-23b-3p. The miR-23b-3p/WT1 axis mediated the protective effect of PVT1 knockdown on HG-induced proliferation and fibrosis in MCs. The NF-κB pathway was involved in the regulatory network of the PVT1/miR-23b-3p/WT1 axis in HG-induced MCs. Conclusion: Our study suggested that PVT1 knockdown ameliorated HG-induced proliferation and fibrosis in MCs at least partially by regulating the miR-23b-3p/WT1/NF-κB pathway. Targeting PVT1 might be a potential therapeutic strategy for DN treatment.

The current sheet is crucial in releasing magnetic free energy in cosmic plasmas via fast magnetic reconnection or wave excitation. This research investigates the characteristics of the Martian tail current sheet by analyzing data acquired from the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN spacecraft over 7 years. For the first time, we find that approximately 15% of the current sheet events display reconnection signatures, including Hall magnetic fields and fast proton flows. These reconnecting current sheets are detected more frequently on Mars than on Earth. The Martian tail current sheet is first demonstrated to be on the proton scale, which can explain the high reconnection occurrence rate. The research also reveals that the current sheets are thinner in regions closer to Mars and in the –E hemisphere. On average, reconnecting current sheets carry high fluxes of protons rather than oxygen ions.

[1] Sudden energy release (ER) events in the midnight sector auroral zone during intense (B > 10 nT), long‐duration (T > 3 h), northward (N = B_z > 0 nT) IMF magnetic clouds (MCs) during solar cycle 23 (SC23) have been examined in detail. The MCs with northward‐then‐southward (NS) IMFs were analyzed separately from MCs with southward‐then‐northward (SN) configurations. It is found that there is a lack of ER/substorms during the N field intervals of NS clouds. In sharp contrast, ER events do occur during the N field portions of SN MCs. From the above two results it is reasonable to conclude that the latter ER events represent residual energy remaining from the preceding S portions of the SN MCs. We derive a new solar wind–magnetosphere coupling function during northward IMFs: E_NIMF = α N^−1/12 V^7/3 B^1/2 + β V |Dst_min|. The first term on the right‐hand side of the equation represents the energy input via “viscous interaction,” and the second term indicates the residual energy stored in the magnetotail. It is empirically found that the magnetotail/magnetosphere/ionosphere can store energy for a maximum of ∼4 h before it has dissipated away. This concept is defining one for ER/substorm energy storage. Our scenario indicates that the rate of solar wind energy injection into the magnetotail/magnetosphere/ionosphere for storage determines the potential form of energy release into the magnetosphere/ionosphere. This may be more important to understand solar wind–magnetosphere coupling than the dissipation mechanism itself (in understanding the form of the release). The concept of short‐term energy storage is also applied for the solar case. It is argued that it may be necessary to identify the rate of energy input into solar magnetic loop systems to be able to predict the occurrence of solar flares.