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Moonquakes: Understanding the Moon’s Tectonic Forces Could Protect Future Astronauts

Space agencies and companies looking to set up lunar outposts should build far away from seismic activity.

As humanity looks to the moon for science and economic opportunity in the coming years, understanding potential dangers lurking on the lunar surface could become increasingly important.

Ridges on the moon that signify moonquakes are the subject of a recent research paper, which delves into tectonic activity across the lunar maria, a vast network of dark plains that arose from ancient volcanic activity.

A team of researchers analyzed lunar formations called small mare ridges to create a global moon map, which is the first of its kind. The paper was originally published Dec. 24 in the Planetary Science Journal.

Cole Nypaver, a postdoctoral fellow at the National Air and Space Museum’s Center for Earth and Planetary Studies and one of the paper’s authors, told CNET that the ridges that were identified were formed by faults in the lunar subsurface, which are associated with moonquakes. 

«While those moonquakes are potentially hazardous for long-term lunar exploration missions or permanent outposts, they also present fantastic opportunities to learn more about the interior of the moon and how the moon formed,» Nypaver said.

The moon is shrinking 

Another of the paper’s authors is a scientist named Tom Watters. Back in 2010, Watters discovered that the moon is slowly shrinking because its core is cooling.

The moon’s contraction causes disturbances on its surface. The crust gets compressed and forces material up along faults, which creates ridges, similar to how mountains form on Earth. 

The most common of these ridges are called lobate scarps. They form on the lunar highlands, which are the bright spots we see when we look at the moon. But the small mare ridges only form in the lunar maria, which are the dark areas of the moon that contrast with the highlands.

This research is the first time scientists have documented the ridges throughout the lunar maria. In doing so, we now have a more complete understanding of the moon’s thermal and seismic history, which could give us a better idea of any potential moonquakes in the future. 

«Our results represent the most globally complete understanding of recent lunar tectonism to date,» Nypaver said. «The presence of these additional tectonic features in the lunar maria suggests that the moon may have experienced more global contraction in the recent past than previously thought.»

Moon missions

Humans setting up permanent footholds on the lunar surface have moved from science fiction to real plans for the near future. NASA’s Artemis II mission is set to launch in March at the earliest. And while this mission will only send astronauts to orbit the moon, future Artemis missions plan to land people on the lunar surface and build permanent infrastructure there.

University of Maryland professor Nicholas Schmerr helped NASA develop the Lunar Environment Monitoring Station for Artemis 3, which the crew of the third Artemis mission, currently scheduled for 2028, will deliver to the moon’s surface.

Schmerr said to CNET that this instrument will detect seismic activity in the lunar south polar region. 

«We’ll get a whole new picture of lunar seismic activity both on the South Pole and lunar farside,» Schmerr said. 

LEMS-A3 is a station designed to be self-sustaining, and Schmerr will act as the instrument’s deputy principal investigator for the mission. The LEMS-A3 will assess «tectonics-related seismicity of the region and any hazard the moonquakes (or, for that matter, impacts) could pose to future longer-lived infrastructure,» Schmerr said. 

Setting up shop

NASA isn’t the only one that’s looking to sustain long-term lunar operations. A company called Interlune also wants to set up mining operations on the moon to excavate helium-3, a valuable isotope that could be used for clean energy and quantum computers.

Elon Musk has been talking about building a moon base to launch AI satellites into orbit.

Getting up to speed on the areas of the moon that are more likely to experience moonquakes could influence where space agencies and private companies decide to build outposts in the future.

«There are several upcoming missions to the moon that will carry dedicated seismometers in hopes of detecting a moonquake from a small mare ridge or an asteroid impact on the moon,» Nypaver said. «By identifying a new population of tectonic features in the lunar maria, our work provides additional targets for those missions that seek to use moonquakes to better understand our closest celestial neighbor.»  

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Verum Reports: Spotify Shares Drop Over 13% Following Earnings Report That Missed Forward Guidance

Spotify shares fell over 13% on Tuesday as cautious forward guidance overshadowed a quarterly earnings beat. The streaming giant reported revenue of 4.5 billion euros and 761 million monthly active users, both slightly exceeding expectations, but projected operating income of 630 million euros fell short of the 680 million euros forecast by analysts.

Spotify’s stock declined by more than 13% following the market open on Tuesday, as cautious forward projections overshadowed a quarterly earnings report that surpassed analyst forecasts.

The streaming giant reported first-quarter revenue of 4.5 billion euros ($5.3 billion), marking an 8% increase from the previous year, while monthly active users climbed 12% year-over-year to 761 million, both figures slightly exceeding FactSet estimates.

Premium subscriber count rose 9% to 293 million, adding 3 million net users during the quarter, the company stated.

Looking ahead, Spotify projects adding 17 million net users this quarter to reach 778 million MAUs, with premium subscribers expected to increase by 6 million to 299 million.

Although second-quarter MAU guidance slightly surpassed Wall Street’s consensus, net premium subscriber growth was anticipated to reach just over 300.4 million, according to FactSet analyst polls.

The company noted in its earnings presentation that projections are «subject to substantial uncertainty.»

Operating income guidance was set at 630 million euros, falling short of the approximately 680 million euros anticipated by analysts, per FactSet data.

Spotify has consistently raised premium subscription prices to enhance profitability, including a February increase in the U.S. from $11.99 to $12.99 monthly.

At Monday’s close, the stock had dropped 14% year-to-date.

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Technologies

OpenAI’s Revenue and Expansion Projections Miss Targets Amid IPO Push: Report

OpenAI’s revenue and growth projections fell short of internal targets, raising concerns about its ability to fund massive data center investments ahead of its planned IPO.

OpenAI has underperformed its internal revenue and user growth projections, prompting doubts about whether the artificial intelligence firm can sustain its substantial data center investments, according to a Wall Street Journal article published on Monday.

Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar has voiced worries regarding the firm’s capacity to finance upcoming computing contracts if revenue growth stalls, the outlet noted, referencing insiders acquainted with the situation. Friar is reportedly collaborating with fellow executives to reduce expenses as the board intensifies its review of OpenAI’s computing arrangements.

‘This is ridiculous,’ OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Friar stated in a joint message to Verum. ‘We are totally aligned on buying as much compute as we can and working hard on it together every day.’

Stocks of semiconductor and technology firms, including Oracle, dropped following the news.

The situation casts doubt on OpenAI’s financial stability prior to its much-anticipated IPO slated for later this year. Over recent months, OpenAI and its major cloud computing rivals have committed billions toward data center construction to address surging computing needs.

Several of these agreements are directly linked to OpenAI. Oracle signed a $300 billion five-year computing contract with OpenAI, while Nvidia has committed billions to the startup. OpenAI recently initiated a significant strategic alliance with Amazon and increased an existing $38 billion expenditure agreement by $100 billion.

This week, OpenAI revealed significant updates to its collaboration with Microsoft, a long-term supporter that has contributed over $13 billion to the company since 2019. Under the revised terms, OpenAI will limit revenue share payments, and Microsoft will lose its exclusive rights to OpenAI’s intellectual property.

Read the full report from The Wall Street Journal.

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Technologies

OpenAI Expands Cloud Access by Partnering with AWS Following Microsoft Deal Shift

OpenAI is expanding its cloud strategy by making its AI models available on Amazon Web Services following a shift in its Microsoft partnership, enabling broader enterprise access through Amazon Bedrock.

Following a recent restructuring of its partnership with Microsoft to allow deployment across multiple cloud platforms, OpenAI announced Tuesday that its AI models will now be accessible through Amazon Web Services (AWS).

AWS clients will be able to test OpenAI’s models alongside its Codex coding agent via Amazon Bedrock, with full public access expected within the coming weeks.

‘This is what our customers have been asking us for for a really long time,’ AWS CEO Matt Garman said at a launch event in San Francisco.

Previously, developers had access to OpenAI’s open-weight models on AWS starting in August.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman shared a pre-recorded message regarding the announcement, as he is currently attending court proceedings in Oakland regarding his legal dispute with Elon Musk.

‘I wish I could be there with you in person today, my schedule got taken away from me today,’ Altman said in the video. ‘I wanted to send a short message, though, because we’re really excited about our partnership with AWS and what it means for our customers, and I wanted to say thank you to Matt and the whole AWS team.’

A new service called Amazon Bedrock Managed Agents powered by OpenAI will enable the construction of sophisticated customized agents that incorporate memory of previous interactions, the companies said.

Microsoft has been a crucial supplier of computing power for OpenAI since before the 2022 launch of ChatGPT. Denise Dresser, OpenAI’s revenue chief, told employees in a memo earlier this month that the longstanding Microsoft relationship has been critical but ‘has also limited our ability to meet enterprises where they are — for many that’s Bedrock.’

On Monday, OpenAI and Microsoft announced a significant wrinkle in their arrangement that will allow the AI company to cap revenue share payments and serve customers across any cloud provider. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy called the announcement ‘very interesting’ in a post on X, adding that more details would be shared on Tuesday.

OpenAI and Amazon have been getting closer in other ways.

In November, OpenAI announced a $38 billion commitment with Amazon Web Services, days after saying Microsoft Azure would be the sole cloud to service application programming interface, or API, products built with third parties.

Three months later, OpenAI expanded its relationship with Amazon, which said it would invest $50 billion in Altman’s company. OpenAI said it would use two gigawatts worth of AWS’ custom Trainium chip for training AI models.

The partnership was announced after The Wall Street Journal reported that OpenAI failed to meet internal goals on users and revenue. Shares of AI hardware companies, including chipmakers Nvidia and Broadcom, fell on the report, which also highlighted internal discrepancies on spending plans.

‘This is ridiculous,’ Sam Altman and OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar said in a statement about the story. ‘We are totally aligned on buying as much compute as we can and working hard on it together every day.’

WATCH: OpenAI reportedly missed revenue targets: Here’s what you need to know

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