Energy and Resources News

October 17, 2025

Top Headlines

Cheaper Than Lithium, Just as Powerful — Sodium Batteries Are Finally Catching Up

Oct. 17, 2025 — Researchers discovered how to stabilize a high-performance sodium compound, giving sodium-based solid-state batteries the power and stability they’ve long lacked. The new material conducts ions far ...

Scientists Grow Metal Instead of 3D Printing It — And It’s 20x Stronger

Oct. 10, 2025 — Scientists at EPFL have reimagined 3D printing by turning simple hydrogels into tough metals and ceramics. Their process allows multiple infusions of metal salts that form dense, high-strength structures without the porosity of earlier methods. ...

A Strange Quantum Metal Just Rewrote the Rules of Electricity

Oct. 8, 2025 — In a remarkable leap for quantum physics, researchers in Japan have uncovered how weak magnetic fields can reverse tiny electrical currents in kagome metals—quantum materials with a woven atomic structure that frustrates electrons into forming ...

When Sunshine Became Cheaper Than Coal

Oct. 7, 2025 — Solar energy is now the cheapest source of power worldwide, driving a massive shift toward renewables. Falling battery prices and innovations in solar materials are making clean energy more reliable than ever. Yet, grid congestion and integration ...

Lighting the Way for Electric Vehicles by Using Streetlamps as Chargers

Oct. 5, 2025 — A Penn State research team found that streetlights could double as affordable EV charging stations. After installing 23 units in Kansas City, they discovered these chargers were faster, cheaper, and more eco-friendly than traditional stations. Their ...

This Ultra-thin Solar Tech Could Power Everything from Phones to Skyscrapers

Oct. 2, 2025 — A team in Sweden has unraveled the hidden structure of a promising solar material using machine learning and advanced simulations. Their findings could unlock durable, ultra-efficient solar cells for ...

Toxic Waste Could Become the Next Clean Energy Breakthrough

Sep. 26, 2025 — Bio-tar, once seen as a toxic waste, can be transformed into bio-carbon with applications in clean energy and environmental protection. This innovation could reduce emissions, create profits, and solve a major bioenergy industry ...

The Shocking Reason Arctic Rivers Are Turning Rusty Orange

Sep. 22, 2025 — Researchers found that ice can trigger stronger chemical reactions than liquid water, dissolving iron minerals in extreme cold. Freeze-thaw cycles amplify the effect, releasing iron into rivers and soils. With climate change accelerating these ...

America Is Throwing Away the Minerals That Could Power Its Future

Sep. 18, 2025 — America already mines all the critical minerals it needs for energy, defense, and technology, but most are being wasted as mine tailings. Researchers discovered that minerals like cobalt, germanium, and rare earths are discarded in massive amounts, ...

The Invisible Plastic Threat You Can Finally See

Sep. 10, 2025 — Researchers in Germany and Australia have created a simple but powerful tool to detect nanoplastics—tiny, invisible particles that can slip through skin and even the blood-brain barrier. Using an "optical sieve" test strip viewed under a regular ...

Tiny Gold Quantum Needles with Astonishing Powers Discovered

Sep. 5, 2025 — Scientists at the University of Tokyo have unveiled “gold quantum needles,” a newly discovered nanocluster structure formed under unusual synthesis conditions. Unlike typical spherical clusters, these elongated, pencil-shaped formations display ...

A Simple Metal Could Solve the World’s Plastic Recycling Problem

Sep. 3, 2025 — Scientists at Northwestern University have developed a groundbreaking nickel-based catalyst that could transform the way the world recycles plastic. Instead of requiring tedious sorting, the catalyst selectively breaks down stubborn polyolefin ...

Latest Headlines

updated 9:51am EDT

Scientists Unlock a 100-Year-Old Quantum Secret to Supercharge Solar Power

Oct. 15, 2025 — Scientists at the University of Cambridge have uncovered a surprising quantum effect inside an organic material, something once thought impossible outside metals. The team found that a special ...

MIT Scientists Find Metals Hold Secret Atomic Patterns

Oct. 14, 2025 — MIT researchers found that metals retain hidden atomic patterns once believed to vanish during manufacturing. These patterns arise from microscopic dislocations that guide atoms into preferred ...

The Accidental Discovery That Forged the Iron Age

Sep. 28, 2025 — Ancient copper smelters may have accidentally set the stage for the Iron Age. At a 3,000-year-old workshop in Georgia, researchers discovered that metalworkers were using iron oxide not to smelt iron ...

The Surprising New Particle That Could Finally Explain Dark Matter

Sep. 25, 2025 — Physicists are eyeing charged gravitinos—ultra-heavy, stable particles from supergravity theory—as possible Dark Matter candidates. Unlike axions or WIMPs, these particles carry electric charge ...

Scientists Brew “quantum Ink” to Power Next-Gen Night Vision

Sep. 25, 2025 — Toxic metals are pushing infrared detector makers into a corner, but NYU Tandon researchers have developed a cleaner solution using colloidal quantum dots. These detectors are made like “inks,” ...

This Stunning X-Ray Advance Could Help Detect Cancer Earlier

Sep. 21, 2025 — Sandia scientists developed a new type of X-ray that uses patterned multi-metal targets to create colorized, high-resolution images. The technology promises sharper scans, better material detection, ...

Scientists Crack a 50-Year Solar Mystery With a Scorching Discovery

Sep. 17, 2025 — Scientists from the University of St Andrews have discovered that ions in solar flares can reach scorching temperatures more than 60 million degrees—6.5 times hotter than previously believed. This ...

A Tiny Chip May Have Solved One of Clean Energy’s Biggest Problems

Aug. 28, 2025 — In just one afternoon, scientists used a nanoparticle “megalibrary” to find a catalyst that matches or exceeds iridium’s performance in hydrogen fuel production, at a fraction of the ...

This Tiny Iron Catalyst Could Transform the Future of Clean Energy

Aug. 27, 2025 — Hydrogen fuel cells could power cars, devices, and homes with nothing but water as a byproduct—but platinum’s cost holds them back. Chinese researchers have now unveiled a breakthrough iron-based ...

Scientists Crack Indole’s Toughest Bond With Copper, Unlocking New Medicines

Aug. 26, 2025 — Scientists have cracked one of chemistry’s toughest challenges with indoles, using copper to unlock a spot once thought too stubborn to change. The ...

Earlier Headlines

Tiny Reactor Boosts Fusion With a Sponge-Like Trick

Aug. 23, 2025 — Researchers at the University of British Columbia have shown that a small bench-top reactor can enhance nuclear fusion rates by electrochemically loading a metal with deuterium fuel. Unlike massive ...

Why Recycling ‘dead’ Batteries Could Save Billions and Slash Pollution

Aug. 19, 2025 — Lithium battery recycling offers a powerful solution to rising demand, with discarded batteries still holding most of their valuable materials. Compared to mining, recycling slashes emissions and ...

Scientists Supercharge Solar Power 15x With Black Metal Tech

Aug. 24, 2025 — A Rochester team engineered a new type of solar thermoelectric generator that produces 15 times more power than earlier versions. By enhancing heat absorption and dissipation rather than tweaking ...

From Lead to Gold in a Flash at the Large Hadron Collider

Aug. 11, 2025 — At the Large Hadron Collider, scientists from the University of Kansas achieved a fleeting form of modern-day alchemy — turning lead into gold for just a fraction of a second. Using ...

Scientists Just Recreated the Universe’s First Molecule and Solved a 13-Billion-Year-Old Puzzle

Aug. 3, 2025 — Long before stars lit up the sky, the universe was a hot, dense place where simple chemistry quietly set the stage for everything to come. Scientists have now recreated the first molecule ever to ...

Scientists Unveil Bioplastic That Degrades at Room Temperature, and Outperforms Petroplastics

Aug. 3, 2025 — Plastic pollution is a mounting global issue, but scientists at Washington University in St. Louis have taken a bold step forward by creating a new bioplastic inspired by the structure of leaves. ...

Atomic-Scale Secrets: What Really Happens Inside Your Battery

July 29, 2025 — Scientists have cracked open a mysterious layer inside batteries, using cutting-edge 3D atomic force microscopy to capture the dynamic molecular structures at their solid-liquid interfaces. These ...

Digital Twins Are Reinventing Clean Energy — but There’s a Catch

July 29, 2025 — Researchers are exploring AI-powered digital twins as a game-changing tool to accelerate the clean energy transition. These digital models simulate and optimize real-world energy systems like wind, ...

The Real-Life Kryptonite Found in Serbia—and Why It Could Power the Future

July 27, 2025 — Deep in Serbia's Jadar Valley, scientists discovered a mineral with an uncanny resemblance to Superman's Kryptonite both in composition and name. Dubbed jadarite, this dull white crystal ...

Decades of Chemistry Rewritten: A Textbook Reaction Just Flipped

July 28, 2025 — Penn State researchers have uncovered a surprising twist in a foundational chemical reaction known as oxidative addition. Typically believed to involve transition metals donating electrons to organic ...

Scientists Discover Salt That Makes Batteries Last 10x Longer

July 27, 2025 — A team at KAUST has revealed that the short lifespan of aqueous batteries is primarily due to "free water" molecules triggering harmful chemical reactions at the anode. By adding affordable ...

Tiny Gold “super Atoms” Could Spark a Quantum Revolution

Aug. 11, 2025 — Scientists have found that microscopic gold clusters can act like the world’s most accurate quantum systems, while being far easier to scale up. With tunable spin properties and mass production ...

Aluminium-20 Shatters Nuclear Norms With Explosive Triple-Proton Breakup

July 22, 2025 — Scientists have observed a brand-new and exotic atomic nucleus: aluminium-20. Unlike anything seen before, it decays through a stunning three-proton emission sequence, shedding light on nuclear ...

Lasers Just Unlocked a Hidden Side of Gold, Copper, and Aluminum

July 19, 2025 — Scientists have cracked a century-old physics mystery by detecting magnetic signals in non-magnetic metals using only light and a revamped laser technique. Previously undetectable, these faint ...

Lasers Capture the Invisible Dance of Wind and Waves

July 10, 2025 — A laser-equipped research platform has, for the first time, photographed airflow just millimeters above ocean waves, revealing two simultaneous wind–wave energy-transfer tricks—slow short waves ...

Accidental Lab Discovery Reveals Gold’s Secret Chemistry

Aug. 11, 2025 — Scientists at SLAC unexpectedly created gold hydride, a compound of gold and hydrogen, while studying diamond formation under extreme pressure and heat. This discovery challenges gold’s reputation ...

A Shocking New Way to Make Ammonia, No Fossil Fuels Needed

July 5, 2025 — Australian scientists have discovered a method to produce ammonia—an essential component in fertilizers—using only air and electricity. By mimicking lightning and channeling that energy through a ...

Defying Physics: This Rare Crystal Cools Itself Using Pure Magnetism

July 6, 2025 — Deep in Chile’s Atacama Desert, scientists studied a green crystal called atacamite—and discovered it can cool itself dramatically when placed in a magnetic field. Unlike a regular fridge, this ...

This Breakthrough Turns Old Tech Into Pure Gold — No Mercury, No Cyanide, Just Light and Salt

June 27, 2025 — At Flinders University, scientists have cracked a cleaner and greener way to extract gold—not just from ore, but also from our mounting piles of e-waste. By using a compound normally found in pool ...

This Triple-Layer Sunlight Catalyst Supercharges Green Hydrogen by 800%

June 23, 2025 — Researchers in Sweden have developed a powerful new material that dramatically boosts the ability to create hydrogen fuel from water using sunlight, making the process eight times more effective than ...