Environment and energy

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Radicchio seedlings grown under glass and perovskite rooftops

Solar cell greenhouse accelerates plant growth

Earth’s core could contain lots of primordial helium, experiments suggest

Noble gas forms compounds with iron at extremely high pressures

The complex and spatially heterogeneous nature of degradation in heavily cycled Li-ion cells

Join the audience for a live webinar on 23 April 2025 sponsored by BioLogic, Novonix, Hiden Analytical and EL-Cell, in partnership with The Electrochemical Society

Research headlines

Illustration of the production and incorporation of cosmogenic beryllium-10 into ferromanganese crusts. The main image shows beryllium atoms (represented by orange dots) being produced in an aurora-drenched sky and then falling down to the bottom of the ocean. An inset image on the right contains a photo of an ocean crust sample and a graph showing a peak in beryllium-10 abundance 10 million years ago.

Radioactive anomaly appears in the deep ocean

Unexplained peak in the abundance of beryllium-10 in ferromanganese ocean crusts could become an independent time marker for geological dating

The deep-sea glass sponge known as Venus’ flower basket

Filter inspired by deep-sea sponge cleans up oil spills

Bio-inspired vortex-anchored filter captures more than 97% of floating, underwater and emulsified oils, even under strong turbulent flow

Imaging reveals how microplastics may harm the brain

Studies in mice show that microplastics entering the bloodstream are engulfed by immune cells, forming clusters that can block cerebral blood vessels

Photo of biochar, a black powder, next to a piece of concrete with biochar as a cement filler. The concrete contains black flecks among the aggregate.

Alternative building materials could store massive amounts of carbon dioxide

Materials such as concrete containing carbonate-based aggregates, bio-based plastics and biochar could sequester more than 16 billion tonnes of CO2 a year

Photographs and SEM images of cotton fibres (a) (b) before and (c) (d) after dispersion

Supramolecular biomass foam removes microplastics from water

New material can adsorb up to 99.8% of plastic particles

Image of a computer circuit board containing glowing orange lights and a chip at the centre with the letters AI written on it in glowing blue letters

Generative AI has an electronic waste problem, researchers warn

Without mitigation measures, the computing infrastructure for large language models could generate 2.5 million tons of e-waste a year by 2030

Podcasts about environmental physics

Curled lock of the volcanic material Pele's hair

Threads of fire: uncovering volcanic secrets with Pele’s hair and tears

How the changing environment affects solar-panel efficiency: the Indian perspective

Astronomers can play an important role in explaining the causes and consequences of climate change, says astrophysicist

Progress in Energy

Now open for original research submissions across all aspects of the global energy transition. Find out more today.

Opinion and reviews

Old wood and mercury thermometer with a scale hand drawn along its length

Setting the scale: the life and work of Anders Celsius

Space-based solar power: ‘We have nothing to lose and everything to gain’

Martin Soltau explains why beaming sunlight to Earth as microwaves could help solve our energy needs

Reanimating the ‘living Earth’ concept for a more cynical world

James Dacey reviews Becoming Earth: How Our Planet Came to Life by Ferris Jabr

Explore more in environment and energy

How cathode microstructure impacts solid-state batteries

The Electrochemical Society explores how cathode microstructure impacts solid state battery performance

Sustainability spotlight: PFAS unveiled

Sponsored by the IOP Publishing journal, Sustainability Science and Technology

Start-stop operation and the degradation impact in electrolysis

The Electrochemical Society explores the impact of intermittent operation on electrolyzer degradation

How the operating window of LFP/Graphite cells affects their lifetime

The Electrochemical Society explores LFP cells cycled over different states of charge

Millions of smartphones monitor Earth’s ever-changing ionosphere

Crowd-sourced data could improve global navigation satellite systems such as GPS

Cloudy with a chance of warming: how physicists are studying the dynamical impact of clouds on climate change

Michael Allen on how essential it is to understand how clouds respond to climate

Venkat Srinivasan: ‘Batteries are largely bipartisan’

Energy storage expert Venkat Srinivasan discusses the pros and cons of different battery technologies and the motivations people have for adopting them

UK plans £22bn splurge on carbon capture and storage

Despite the move, questions remain over the technology's feasibility

Map of the world showing the geographic locations of each identified bouncing packet, represented by red dots. The dots are clustered in southern Africa and southern South America, with two dots in North America.

Lightning sets off bursts of high-energy electrons in Earth’s inner radiation belt

Unexpected finding could help determine the safest times to launch spacecraft

Photo of a small bonfire at night in a forest clearing with flames rising skywards. A camera on a tripod and other equipment are silhouetted against the flames, and aluminium baking trays can be seen scattered around the forest floor near the fire.

Bursts of embers play outsized role in wildfire spread, say physicists

Experiments on tracking firebrands could improve predictions of spot-fire risks

A scanning electron microscope image of Au3+ extraction and reduction by the graphene oxide/chitosan sponge. The Au3+ appears as a yellow blob stuck to a pink-tinged, lumpy background

Eco-friendly graphene composite recovers gold from e-waste

New graphene-biopolymer material extracts gold ions 10 times more efficiently than other adsorbents

Physics-based model helps pedestrians and cyclists avoid city pollution

New immersive reality method could also inform policymakers and urban planners about risks, say researchers

Operando NMR methods for redox flow batteries and ammonia synthesis

Available to watch now, The Electrochemical Society in partnership with BioLogic, explore the application of magnetic resonance methods for studying redox flow batteries and ammoni...

Mountaintop observations of gamma-ray glow could shed light on origins of lightning

Electric fields near Earth’s surface are stronger than expected

Pele’s hair-raising physics: glassy gifts from a volcano goddess

Volcanic hairs and tears reveal a wealth of information about what lies within lava

The Endurance rocket ship launches from Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard

Ambipolar electric field helps shape Earth’s ionosphere

Scientists make first ever measurements of a planet-wide field that could be as fundamental as gravity and magnetic fields

An upside-down sea ice slab showcasing brine channels that facilitate the drainage of liquid brine and support convection along the interface

Convection enhances heat transport in sea ice

New mathematical framework could allow for more accurate climate models

Rheo-electric measurements to predict battery performance from slurry processing

The Electrochemical Society in partnership with TA Instruments – Waters, identifies metrics linking formulation and processing of slurries to their performance as LIB electrodes

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