This new open-access tool connects global extraction sites with the ten key metals inside smartphones.
Articles on Metals
Displaying 1 - 20 of 36 articles
Europe is not facing a scarcity problem but a recovery challenge, and one that can be solved.
Storing hydrogen in metallic materials is a promising avenue for extracting value from Africa’s minerals.
It’s very metal.
Dietary supplement companies tout chromium as a way to boost energy, weight loss and blood sugar control. But the studies behind these claims are either flawed or inconclusive.
Water and oxygen can make metals oxidize and rust, but researchers have found many ways to prevent this damage.
Acid rain and metals from power plants, vehicles and industries reached remote mountain lakes for years. Evidence from those lakes today shows the success of the Clean Air Act.
On hot days, the Eiffel Tower grows by 12-15cm, and leans away from the sun.
Commercial mining of the deep sea could begin soon. But these metals and minerals are not scarce. Mining will be harmful and the economic benefits are overstated.
The world’s appetite for sand is surging – and it comes at a real cost to the environment. The alternative: a paradigm shift in metal mining to also extract sand.
Recycling metals from e-waste will be critical as demand for raw materials is likely to outstrip supply in the near future.
Hard rock minerals like gold, silver, copper and lithium on public lands belong to the American public, but under a 150-year-old law, the US gives them away for free.
Claims about the discovery of a coveted room-temperature superconductor peppered the news in 2023. We pulled three stories from our archives on what superconductivity is and why scientists study it.
Electric arc furnaces can use up to 100% scrap steel as its raw material, resulting in a significant reduction in emissions.
The demand for the minerals needed to build clean energy technology currently exceeds the available supply. If this issue continues, governments may find it hard to reach their clean energy targets.
Plants have evolved several ways to deal with heavy metals that might otherwise poison or kill them.
While iron and calcium are the metals that get the most attention, zinc is also important for human health and function.
Custom fabrication involves taking measurements, choosing tools, deciding on sequences of steps and ordering from a menu of materials. AIs under development promise to take humans out of the loop.
Iron fights anemia. Bismuth relieves gastric problems. Lithium acts against depression and gold can treat rheumatoid arthritis. Metals are precious tools for good health.
Companies are eager to mine the deep ocean for valuable mineral deposits. But scientists are concerned about impacts on sea life, including creatures that haven’t even been discovered yet.
Top contributors
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Principal Research Fellow/ Group Leader- MIWATCH, The University of Queensland
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Assistant Professor, Aarhus University
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Principal Research Fellow - Materials, Sheffield Hallam University
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Professor of Global Environmental Politics, University of California, Berkeley
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Senior Lecturer in Operations and Supply Management, University of Bath
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Director of the Center for Industrial Ecology, Yale University
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Director of Energy Lancaster and Professor of Physical Chemistry, Lancaster University
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University Lecturer in Physics at the Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge
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Lecturer in Applied and Environmental Geology, University of Leicester
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Research Geochemist—Environment, disasters, and health, U.S. Geological Survey
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Research Physical Scientist, U.S. Geological Survey
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Senior Lecturer in Applied Geology, University of Leicester
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Assistant professor, University of Nottingham
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Research Geologist, U.S. Geological Survey
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Reader in Environmental Science, University of Hull