A whole slate of startup companies are raising millions of dollars in funding to support their missions to extract resources from space—but is mining the moon for rare earth elements even feasible?
Read MoreExtracting rare earth elements from e-waste can be difficult. The Department of Energy’s Critical Materials Institute and other labs are collaborating to develop new recycling methods—and one method is set for commercial production of rare-earth oxides.
Read MoreFrom an environmental sustainability standpoint, which is better: glass bottles or aluminum cans? Turns out, the answer is not so clear-cut.
Read MoreMore than 100 attendees converged in Indianapolis, Indiana, June 24–27 to take part in the combined meeting of the ACerS Structural Clay Products Division, ACerS Southwest Section, and Clemson University’s National Brick Research Center.
Read MoreThe Forbes Pigment Collection at Harvard Art Museums has more than 2,500 pigment samples. Learn how scientists and artists use these pigments in painting restoration and authentication, as well as the unusual materials some pigments are made from.
Read MoreAlthough 91 percent of the plastics discarded on this planet have never been recycled, the materials recycling status of glass has to be better…right? A daunting look at the current state of recycling.
Read MoreIn two separate studies, researchers discovered inferior and counterfeit commercial-grade graphene by examining dozens of graphene samples. Scientists using inferior graphene may find their research results are not as accurate as they thought.
Read MoreNearly two hundred people from 25 countries converged in Vancouver, BC, Canada, August 20–23, for Materials Challenges in Alternative and Renewable Energy (MCARE 2018). The conference inspired a variety of discussions and a lot of enthusiasm.
Read MoreA new study shows that early settlers of Easter Island collaborated with each other to build the giant moai statues that are scattered around the island. This disputes earlier theories that the inhabitants competed with each other, leading to their decline.
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