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What happened next: lithium batteries got better but might be overtaken anyway
This article is part of a special Cosmos series where our newsroom journalists follow up science from the archive, to find out: What happened next? In July 2018, not long after the boom in lithium,...
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Can EVs survive the summer roadtrip?
This summer you might be planning a road trip. With a petrol car, there’s probably no worry in your mind that you could find petrol if required. But how do people with electric vehicles (EVs) do it?...
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Hydrogen making itself at home
By Hugh Davies PhD researcher in chemical engineering at the University of Bath and Monash University. Among a cluster of new homes on the northern outskirts of Melbourne, there is one house that...
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How hydrogen trucks could make power cleaner and cheaper
Hydrogen-powered trucks could help to lower emissions and yield cheaper power on aging electricity grids, according to a team of Canadian researchers. Modelling from the University of Waterloo showed...
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By the numbers: the measures of climate, energy and policy
In our new Synergy column, Cosmos writers explore how we’re dealing with the urgent issues of climate change. According to the World Meteorological Organisation, 2023 was 1.45°C hotter than...
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From refinery to biofuel reactor
A disused Western Australia oil refinery is one step closer to being given a new lease on life as a biofuel reactor and it could help power Australia’s aviation industry towards its 2050 carbon...
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Solar PV farms can provide a vital home for native insects
Solar farms can provide key habitats for insects and other pollinators to rehabilitate the local environment, according to new research. US researchers have found that when fields housing solar...
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Sceptics, look away: a mostly renewable electricity grid is highly feasible
Australia’s electricity could be over 95% renewable by 2035, according to the latest release of Australia’s electricity market operator’s Integrated System Plan. But many people are sceptical. They...
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New era begins as Australian Bogong thruster proves successful
The Bogong thruster has flown. It has proven the material behind mothballs can provide a kick in orbit. But not without a bit of flap. And a lot of waiting. Canberra-based Boswell Technologies and the...
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Can a thumb-sized nuclear battery last 50 years?
The race to build a nuclear battery is heating up, with a Chinese startup pitching a coin-sized device it says can keep producing a charge for 50 years. Beijing-based Betavolt is joining a field that...
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Control the lightning – where are we at with nuclear fusion?
Last month, Japan inaugurated the world’s largest operational experimental nuclear fusion reactor. The JT-60SA reactor aims to investigate the feasibility of fusion as a safe, large-scale, and...
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Energy infrastructure causes quite a stir
A massive transformer is causing quite a stir on the roads of Victoria and New South Wales. Unlike the mega-popular toys, real transformers can’t adapt themselves neatly into a handy form of...
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A smart new coat for a solid-state lithium battery
Chinese researchers have figured out how to make an ultra-thin membrane for solid-state lithium batteries, allowing them to become more energy-dense. Solid-state lithium batteries are expected to be...
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Lithium-metal battery life extended by an hour’s rest
Lithium-metal batteries are a promising alternative to lithium-ion batteries. They could be even more energy-dense than lithium-ion, but for now they degrade very quickly, leading to short lifecycles....
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Why condensed matter physicists gather in a regional Australian farming town
Every year since 1977, physicists in the condensed matter and materials (CMM) fields have congregated in an Australian Institute of Physics (AIP) meeting affectionately known as “Wagga.” That’s...
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A future for flying, or just hot air?
In our new Synergy column, Cosmos writers explore how we’re dealing with the urgent issues of climate change. In 2019, Greta Thunberg crossed the Atlantic by boat to attend a climate summit in New...
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Particles have “fuzzy memory” in a solid-state battery
When you fire a laser at a solid-state battery, it turns out the particles inside aren’t tossed into chaos. This has surprised a team of US and UK researchers. The team has found “persistence of...
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Short Science: cave discoveries, nuclear phone batteries and more
German archaeologists have unearthed evidence that Homo sapiens inhabited an ancient cave more than 47,000 years ago. Read more. Chinese startup believes its created a nuclear battery that could power...
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Where are we at with wave power?
On January 10, 2021, a strange structure appeared in the shallow waters off Grassy Harbour on the south-eastern coast of King Island in Bass Strait. Roughly the size of a two-storey house and...
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As we grapple with sovereign AI, perhaps we should treat computational...
In part one, we explored how ‘foundation’ large language models (LLM), like OpenAI’s GPT-4, cost hundreds of millions of dollars to ‘train’, much of that cost being the enormous energy resources...
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