UN warns against thirsty tech to solve water crisis

The world needs to better manage its freshwater resources but thirsty new technologies touted as solutions could lead to "serious problems" if left unchecked, a UN report warned Friday.

Laser treatment found to boost battery performance

As the world transitions to renewable power sources such as solar and wind, there is a growing need for high-performance rechargeable batteries to store the energy generated by this intermittent energy source. Today's lithium-ion ...

Bionic idea boosts lithium-ion extraction

Lithium is an energy-critical element that has become a geopolitically significant resource. However, the supply of lithium may not be enough to meet continuously increasing demand. As a result, scientists are looking for ...

Hot lithium vapors shield fusion facility walls

Recent experiments provide the first assessment of the toughness of a novel lithium coating in the face of intense bombardment by very hot plasma in the divertor region of fusion devices. The results show that this coating ...

New catalyst could cut cost of making hydrogen fuel

(Phys.org) —A discovery at the University of Wisconsin-Madison may represent a significant advance in the quest to create a "hydrogen economy" that would use this abundant element to store and transfer energy.