In a first, Mercury's missing lithium found through invisible magnetic fingerprints
Now, in a groundbreaking study, researchers have finally confirmed its presence, but not by spotting the lithium atoms directly. Instead, they detected its electromagnetic fingerprint. Using a trick involving magnetic waves, scientists have managed to pick up the unmistakable signature of lithium ions as they were swept up by the solar wind.
"During our survey, we identified signatures of pick-up ion cyclotron waves that could be attributed to freshly ionized lithium," said Daniel Schmid, first author of the study and a researcher at the Austrian Academy of Sciences.
This is the first time lithium has been identified on Mercury, and the discovery provides crucial evidence that Mercury's surface is still chemically active and shaped by constant meteoroid bombardment.
Meteorites bring out Mercury's hidden lithium
Mercury's exosphere is not like Earth's atmosphere. It is incredibly thin and fragile, with atoms so far apart they rarely interact. Over the years, missions like Mariner 10 and MESSENGER have confirmed the presence of elements like hydrogen, sodium, potassium, and iron.Since potassium and sodium belong to the same family of alkali metals as lithium, scientists had long assumed the possibility of lithium. However, there was a catch. It was conjectured that lithium is likely present in extremely low concentrations, making it nearly impossible to detect with traditional instruments such as particle detectors or ground-based telescopes.
Hence, Schmid and his team decided to look at the problem from a different angle. Rather than searching for the lithium atoms themselves, they studied how lithium ions interact with the solar wind. When meteoroids crash into Mercury's surface, they vaporize parts of the crust, releasing neutral lithium atoms.
These atoms quickly lose electrons when exposed to intense ultraviolet radiation from the sun, becoming positively charged lithium ions. This is where things get interesting. As the solar wind captures fresh lithium ions, it triggers a kind of electromagnetic disturbance known as ion cyclotron waves (ICWs).
Data from MESSENGER mission helped detect ICWs
These waves have a very specific frequency that depends on the mass and charge of the ion involved, almost like a radio station tuned specifically to lithium. By digging through four years' worth of magnetic field data collected by the MESSENGER spacecraft, the study authors found 12 separate events where these lithium-tuned waves appeared.
Each event lasted just tens of minutes, revealing brief windows when lithium was being ejected into the exosphere. These weren't random occurrences. The team ruled out slow processes like solar heating and focused instead on sudden, violent events—meteoroid impacts.When meteoroids measuring between 13 to 21 centimeters in radius, and weighing 28 to 120 kilograms, slam into Mercury at speeds of up to 110 kilometers per second, they create mini-explosions. These impacts can heat material to temperatures as high as 2,500–5,000 Kelvin, launching lithium atoms into space. Surprisingly, a single impact can vaporize 150 times more material than the mass of the meteoroid itself."The detection of lithium and its association with impact events strongly supports the hypothesis. It demonstrates that meteoroids not only deliver new material but also vaporize existing surface deposits, releasing volatiles into the exosphere and sustaining a dynamic cycle of supply," Schmid explained, while speaking to Phys.org.
The wave method can reveal more secrets
Previous theories assumed that because Mercury is so close to the sun, most of its volatile elements, including lithium, should have been lost long ago. However, MESSENGER has already shown that Mercury still retains many volatiles.The current study strengthens a new idea that meteoroid bombardments have been continuously enriching the planet's surface, acting like a delivery service for elements and releasing them into space through high-energy impacts.
The implications reach far beyond Mercury. The same wave-based detection method could be used to study other airless or thin-atmosphere bodies like the moon, mars, and even asteroids, where direct detection of rare elements is difficult.
'This has important implications for understanding surface chemistry and long-term space weathering across the inner solar system," Schmid added. He and his team hope that future missions with more sensitive instruments will help verify and expand on these findings.
The study is published in the journal Nature Communications.
Solve the daily Crossword
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Life might have come from outer space, scientist say
The seeds of life on Earth might have come from outer space – and might be widespread throughout the rest of the universe, scientist say. Researchers have found complex organic molecules in a disc around a 'protostar' in a major breakthrough. Those molecules are seen as the precursors to the building blocks of life, which go on to become sugars and amino acids that are then combined into the complex flora and fauna that surrounds us. Researchers have found such complex organic molecules in other places before. But the new findings fill in a previously mysterious missing link – one that could suggest that life is more abundant than we realise. When cold protostar becomes a young star, surrounded by a disc of dust and gas, it is a violent process that includes intense radiation and the hurling out of gas. Researchers had been concerned that the extreme nature of that process could 'reset' the chemical compounds available around a star, meaning that they would have to be formed in the discs that at the same time are making planets. But the new findings suggest that complex molecules can stick around through that process, meaning they will be inherited by the discs that follow. The findings are reported in a new study, 'A deep search for Complex Organic Molecules toward the protoplanetary disk of V883 Ori', published in the The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

Associated Press
2 hours ago
- Associated Press
Leaping sturgeon provide a show for nature lovers on Maine rivers
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — The Kennebec River in Maine's capital city of Augusta is known for its population of Atlantic and shortnose sturgeon. The fish sometimes leap completely from the water, as at least one did on Wednesday. The shortnose population on the river nearly doubled from about 5,100 in the late 1970s to more than 9,400 around 2000, and it has likely grown since, state biologists have said. The ancient fish have also shown signs of recovering elsewhere in Maine, such as the Saco River further south. Scientists have proposed a number of reasons why sturgeon jump out of the water, including regulating their swim bladder, communicating with other sturgeon, shedding parasites and avoiding predators. Shortnose sturgeon can weigh up to 60 pounds (27 kilograms), while Atlantic sturgeon can be much larger, with some weighing as much as 800 pounds (363 kilograms). The fish thrill nature lovers who are fortunate to catch their sudden leaps along Maine rivers. Catching a glimpse of them is often a matter of luck.
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Zifo's Global Survey Reveals Early Momentum for AI in Biopharma, But Data Readiness Remains Key Hurdle
RALEIGH, N.C., CAMBRIDGE, England and CHENNAI, India, July 24, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- A new survey of scientists and informaticians reveals that while investment in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) is rapidly accelerating across the R&D, manufacturing, and clinical value chain, persistent data silos and integration headaches are stalling progress -- raising crucial questions about whether science-focused companies are truly ready to harness the full power of AI. Zifo Technologies Logo The Data Readiness Survey, conducted by Zifo Technologies, polled scientists and informaticians from over 30 science-driven companies, revealing both enthusiasm for AI's transformative potential and persistent challenges in data management and integration. While nearly two-thirds of organizations have begun investing in AI and ML across their value chains, only 32% of respondents express high confidence in their company's ability to leverage scientific data effectively for AI initiatives. A striking 70% report that accessing the data needed for AI projects is either difficult or somewhat difficult, underscoring a widespread struggle with data accessibility. Data is not harmonized in terms of storage or metadata, the report noted, highlighting the lack of standardized practices that hampers progress. Data silos, interoperability, and automation gaps emerge as major obstacles. Nearly half of organizations find it "somewhat difficult" or worse to pipeline and integrate data from lab instruments, with aging infrastructure and a lack of common standards complicating seamless data exchange. Automation of data capture is growing, but 26% still rely primarily on manual processes, and 10% use no automation at all. Adoption of standardized data formats and ontologies is mixed, with 39% agreeing their organization has them, and an equal proportion either unsure or disagreeing. The report also noted that a critical gap exists in current data management solutions for High-Performance Computing (HPC) environments. Most systems, such as Electronic Lab Notebooks (ELNs), are not designed to handle the petabytes of unstructured data generated during complex analysis. While the initial capture of instrument data and the final storage of analyzed data products are well-automated, the crucial intermediate processing stage on HPC systems remains poorly supported. As Zifo's Chief Scientific Officer Paul Denny-Gouldson observes, "Data management is fundamental to ensuring data reuse and data retrieval, because that is the lifeblood of what enables FAIR [Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable] data".