SCROLL NEWS / DISCOVERY
Search headlines
Find the stories shaping the conversation.
Results for " Energy " 1,785 found 🔀 AI-powered Shuffle
The next Big Oil? Democrats set their sights on utilities.
Congressional Democrats are increasingly paying attention to electric utilities and the way they’re run as energy prices rise.
Scientists discover massive natural hydrogen source beneath Canada
Scientists in Canada have discovered that ancient underground rocks are naturally producing hydrogen gas — and lots of it. Measurements from mine boreholes in Ontario show the gas can flow continuously for years, offering a potential new source of clean energy called “white hydrogen.” Researchers say this hidden resource could help power industries and remote communities while cutting carbon emissions and reducing dependence on fossil fuels.
Campground Camaraderie: Where Race Fans Become Family
New Hampshire Motor Speedway offers New England’s only NASCAR Cup Series weekend, combining thrilling races with a vibrant camping culture. From high-energy tailgates to family-friendly campgrounds, fans enjoy music, driver events and nonstop entertainment, making NHMS an unforgettable summer tradition.
Iran war hits small business hard
Small business profits are sinking as entrepreneurs deal with a confluence of forces ranging from rising labor costs to higher energy prices.
Scientists use light to create tiny molecules that could transform medicine
Researchers have developed a light-driven method for creating tiny, high-energy “housane” molecules that are valuable for drug development and materials science. These compact ring-shaped structures are difficult to produce because of the intense internal strain they contain. By using photocatalysis and carefully tuning the starting molecules, the team managed to guide the reaction into a clean and efficient pathway.
ROSEN Wins Business Innovation Award for NIPA at the Gas Industry Awards 2026
The ROSEN Group is proud to announce that its “Non-Intrusive Pipeline Assessment” (NIPA) service has been honored with the Business Innovation Award at the prestigious 2026 Gas Industry Awards. The awards ceremony, organized by the Institution of Gas Engineers & Managers (IGEM) and the Energy & Utilities Alliance (EUA), took place on May 13, 2026, in London.
California business owners 'trapped' in 'vicious cycle' as costs soar
As labor and energy costs rise in California, small business owners say minimum wage laws and gas taxes in the Golden State are crippling their operations.
How a power megamerger could lower bills — and still rile affordability politics
Virginia could be a major bump in the road for NextEra's proposed $67 billion merger with Dominion Energy.
Scientists Are Building Artificial Brains from Living Cells
Artificial neural networks built with biological cells promises massive energy savings.
How a power megamerger could lower bills — and still rile affordability politics
Virginia could be a major bump in the road for NextEra's proposed $67 billion merger with Dominion Energy.
Solar to dominate energy by 2035, but AI data centers will keep fossil fuels in business
Costs for solar panels are expected to drop another 30% in the coming decade, helping the tech cement its lead in energy markets.
US Senate confirms Louisiana nominees for U.S attorney, energy regulator and more
WASHINGTON – Zachary Keller was confirmed by the Senate Monday evening as U.S. Attorney for much of Louisiana, along with two other candidates from Louisiana.
UK unemployment unexpectedly rises to 5% as firms squeezed by Iran war
Pay growth eases to 3.4% as businesses face pressure from soaring energy costs
Schiff proposes legislation to force data centers to bring their own energy
A California senator is introducing legislation to shield utility customers from footing the bill for power grid upgrades required to power the growing number of electricity-guzzling data centers.
SCI Lab: Finding common ground on divisive science - Morgridge Institute for Research
As a scholar on societal perceptions of scientific research, Dominique Brossard focuses a lot of energy on divisive, challenging and controversial topics. But her ultimate goal is to find the "rock" we all stand together on.
Scientists Tweaked the Global Warming Outlook. So Trump Weighed In.
Renewable energy has helped make the worst-case scenario a bit less bad. The president said, falsely, it shows that climate scientists were wrong all along.
Ford lands its first customer for energy business. Buy this pivot by the auto giant?
Shares have proven volatile after the carmaker unveiled its new Ford Energy unit, but investors should still watch the name, several analysts said.
THE WEEK OF MAY 18, 2026
- House releases Energy Water bill - Republicans highlight research security concerns - Golden Dome cost estimated at over $1 trillion
Ford takes its first big step toward being an energy business
Ford just inked a deal with a French electric-utility company.
New MatterChat Model Helps AI to ‘See’ the Language of Science
From writing emails to generating computer code, much of the artificial intelligence prevalent in our daily lives has succeeded by mastering one domain: text. However, this leaves a major blind spot in the physical sciences, where models depend on the high-resolution, three-dimensional data of the physical world, like the intricate lattice of atoms in a crystal. Delivering on the promise of using AI for science requires teaching these data-driven text models to seamlessly “talk to” physics-based models. Now, a new AI framework from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), called MatterChat, solves this problem by creating a specialized “bridge.” It connects the conversational power of a Large Language Model (LLM) with a physics-based AI that models “interatomic potentials”: the complex physical forces between atoms. The resulting system already significantly outperforms general-purpose AI tools like GPT-4 at predicting material properties, and the team hopes it can accelerate scientific discovery by serving as a robust research partner that provides grounded insights and generates step-by-step instructions for synthesizing novel materials. A paper describing this work was recently published in Nature Machine Intelligence. “Traditional simulations can provide the physical rigor required for materials science, yet their computational cost remains prohibitive for high-throughput screening. Conversely, while LLMs excel at rapid knowledge synthesis, they inherently lack the ‘structural vision’ to interpret materials directly from their underlying atomic coordinates,” said Yingheng Tang, a postdoctoral researcher in Berkeley Lab’s Applied Math and Computational Research Division (AMCR) and lead author on the paper. “MatterChat was built to solve this dilemma, empowering LLMs with a structural ‘vision’ that allows researchers to leverage their full potential for solving complex, real-world materials challenges.” Empowering language models to solve complex challenges in materials science To build MatterChat, the Berkeley Lab team drew inspiration from technologies like Vision Question Answering (VQA) and Text-to-Image (T2I) generation. In these tasks, AI must translate high-level text concepts into visual images, or vice versa. Doing so requires developers to build tools that “bridge” two fundamentally different forms of data. The researchers adapted this concept to the physical sciences. With MatterChat, they created a “bridge model” that successfully connects an LLM’s general knowledge with the deep understanding of the atomic-scale world encoded in scientific interatomic potentials. Until now, researchers using LLMs to solve materials problems usually had to feed them raw data files as if they were just strings of text. It’s like asking an AI to understand a complex 3D engine based only on a parts list: the LLM can read the names, but it can’t “see” how the atoms fit together in space. MatterChat solves this by training a specialized AI bridge model, pre-trained on millions of crystal structures and an LLM, to align the LLM’s representation of the world with the interatomic potential’s representation of the world. The bridge model can translate physical insights into a format the LLM can actually understand. By giving the LLM these “scientific eyes”— a scientific “inductive bias” in the terminology of AI — the Berkeley Lab team has transformed it into a robust research tool capable of providing grounded scientific insights into complex materials challenges, such as predicting thermal stability or analyzing electronic band gaps. “We think of atoms as living in a physical space, but from a machine learning perspective, they are just vectors living in some very non-trivially structured manifold in a high-dimensional Euclidean space; and, of course, the same is true for the sentences and paragraphs that we use to express our ideas about those atoms,” said co-author Michael Mahoney, Berkeley Lab’s Scientific Data Division (SDD) AI Initiative Research Lead. “The bridge model basically gets those two structures to ‘talk with’ each other.” As a proof-of-concept of this general approach, the team trained their bridge model on a dataset curated by pairing nearly 143,000 stable atomic structures from the Materials Project with their corresponding physical properties. This training data was automatically assembled using the Materials Project’s API and deliberately enriched with properties fundamental to microelectronics design — like formation energy and bandgap — allowing MatterChat to learn the complex patterns connecting a material’s atomic blueprint to its functional performance. To validate their model, the researchers benchmarked MatterChat against a suite of other AI systems, from general-purpose LLMs to other specialized scientific AI methods. The results show that MatterChat consistently outperformed its competitors across a range of tasks. The model was more accurate in classifying material types and demonstrated superior precision in predicting numerical properties. For example, it excelled at predicting a material’s bandgap, a property critical for designing new electronics from high-capacity energy storage to next-generation computer chips. “Our design is significantly more efficient because we don’t have to build a massive AI model from the ground up,” said co-author Zhi (Jackie) Yao, a research scientist in Berkeley Lab’s AMCR. “Instead, we take two powerful, pre-trained models — a structural encoder for materials physics and an open-source LLM — and use them off-the-shelf. The only component we actually train is the lightweight ‘bridge model’ that translates between them. It’s the difference between building an entire car factory and simply designing a smart adapter that connects a world-class engine to a world-class navigation system. This approach is not only computationally efficient, but also makes the system modular, so we can easily upgrade components or adapt the bridge for other scientific domains in the future.” Crucially, this modular design highlights exactly how institutions like Berkeley Lab and the Department of Energy are carving out a highly valuable niche in the booming AI landscape. Rather than competing with Silicon Valley tech giants to build ever-larger language models from scratch, the lab is focusing on the specialized connective tissue that makes commercial AI useful for hardcore science. Because the bridge model approach underlying MatterChat is forward-compatible, it is perfectly positioned to leverage these parallel tracks of innovation. As Mahoney pointed out, “We expect that industry will continue to develop improved LLMs, and we expect domain scientists and facilities will continue to generate new data. An important part of scientific machine learning is not simply to solve problems on today’s data, but instead to develop general methods that will be forward-compatible with orders of magnitude more data, whether from scientific domains or from LLMs.” According to Yao, the MatterChat project, which was initially developed and enhanced with funding from a Berkeley Lab Laboratory Directed Research & Development (LDRD) Program, will now expand its capabilities. In a collaboration with Fermilab, MatterChat is already contributing to a U.S. Department of Energy Genesis Mission project — called Accelerating eXtreme Environment Specs-to-Silicon (AXESS) — that aims to speed up the development of next-generation, high-speed, radiation-hardened detectors for challenging particle physics experiments by using advanced 3D integrated circuits (chiplets) and AI-driven data analysis. In addition to the LDRD support, the team also credits supercomputing resources at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC), located at Berkeley Lab, with MatterChat’s success. “We are incredibly grateful to NERSC; this research simply would not have happened without access to the Perlmutter supercomputer through their AI for Science program,” said Tang. Wenbin Xu, a NERSC postdoctoral fellow at the time, was also a major co-author of the work, as was Benjamin Erichson, a research scientist in Berkeley Lab’s SDD, highlighting the benefits of AMCR-SDD collaboration on AI for science. ### Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) is committed to groundbreaking research focused on discovery science and solutions for abundant and reliable energy supplies. The lab’s expertise spans materials, chemistry, physics, biology, earth and environmental science, mathematics, and computing. Researchers from around the world rely on the lab’s world-class scientific facilities for their own pioneering research. Founded in 1931 on the belief that the biggest problems are best addressed by teams, Berkeley Lab and its scientists have been recognized with 17 Nobel Prizes. Berkeley Lab is a multiprogram national laboratory managed by the University of California for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science. DOE’s Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit energy.gov/science.
NextEra bets $66.8B on AI power boom with Dominion Energy acquisition
NextEra Energy announced a $66.8 billion acquisition of Dominion Energy, expanding its reach into Northern Virginia’s booming AI data-center market.
Dominion stock price pops on NextEra merger to create utility giant
Dominion Energy stock jumped on Monday after the company announced it's combining with NextEra Energy. The deal comes as power demand is surging in the US.
Dominion, NextEra to merge and create world’s largest utility business
Dominion Energy and NextEra Energy, the largest electric power and energy infrastructure company in North America, will merge, creating the world’s largest utility business.
Scientists studied the DNA of a 117-year-old woman and what they found is changing how we understand ageing
Imagine having a 117th birthday celebration with a sharp mind, a strong heart, and enough energy for the daily walk. If you're Maria Branyas Morera, this was not just a wish; it was her reality.
NextEra Energy and Dominion Energy to Combine, Creating the World’s Largest Regulated Electric Utility Business and North America’s Premier Energy Infrastructure Platform Benefiting Customers
JUNO BEACH, Fla. & RICHMOND, Va., May 18, 2026--NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE) and Dominion Energy, Inc. (NYSE: D) today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement to combine in an all-stock transaction.
Kenyan scientist advances energy storage research in Germany
A Kenyan scientist in Germany is using advanced microscopy to study how batteries work at the atomic level—research that could lead to longer-lasting batteries while reducing the need for scarce raw materials.
Trump has only one real option to slash gas prices
The energy crisis is a financial nightmare for Main Street and a political nightmare for the White House.
Scientists just unlocked a cheaper way to make clean hydrogen fuel
Researchers have developed a durable new catalyst that produces clean hydrogen without relying on expensive platinum metals. The breakthrough could make renewable hydrogen fuel cheaper, more efficient, and easier to scale for real-world energy use.
The “impossible” LED that could change everything
Scientists at the University of Cambridge have achieved what was once considered impossible by electrically powering insulating nanoparticles to create a completely new kind of LED. Using tiny organic “molecular antennas,” the team found a way to funnel energy into materials that normally cannot conduct electricity, producing ultra pure near infrared light with remarkable efficiency.
AI reveals the invisible magnetic chaos wasting energy inside electric motors
Electric vehicles are pushing scientists to tackle one of the biggest hidden energy drains inside electric motors: magnetic energy loss. Now, researchers in Japan have developed a powerful AI-driven physics model that can peer into the chaotic “maze-like” magnetic patterns inside motor materials and reveal how heat and microscopic magnetic structures trigger wasted energy.
NextEra Energy Said to Be in Talks to Acquire Dominion, Creating a Utility Giant
A deal, involving the utilities in Florida and Virginia, would come as demand for power is soaring, largely because of the rapid growth of A.I. data centers.
NextEra to discuss paying about $76 per share for Dominion, Bloomberg News reports
U.S. power firm NextEra Energy is discussing a mostly stock deal for Dominion Energy that would value the smaller Virginia-based utility at about $76 per share, or around $66 billion, Bloomberg News reported on Sunday.
Houston entrepreneurs create sports drink centered on wellness and performance
Two Houston entrepreneurs launch Noolyte, a sports drink combining hydration, clean energy, and mental focus, aiming to compete with top industry names.
Analysis: Wolves waiting for season of misery to end
Just one more game and then Wolves can put a truly miserable season behind them. The energy and enthusiasm that was present after back-to-back wins over Aston Villa and Liverpool a couple of months ago has well and truly gone – even the boos at full-time felt weary. Relegation was an inevitability even back then but Rob Edwards' side were at least showing something to give fans optimism for the future.
Scientists May Have Solved Two of Fusion Energy’s Biggest Problems at Once
Scientists have demonstrated a new plasma operating regime that could help solve two of fusion energy’s biggest challenges at once.
Global inventory race intensifies: Shadow of Iran war
The global rush to stockpile manufactured goods on fears of an energy-supply crunch will again overshadow business surveys in the coming week.
Now What? With Carbon Pricing Eroded and Pipeline Politics Advancing, Here Are the Pathways for Climate Success
At the end of a whirlwind week of news on carbon pricing and electricity strategy, capping a madcap year of pretty much non-stop, dramatic change, the word across much of Canada’s climate and energy transition community is that climate policy in this country has been shredded. Eviscerated. Hit with a sledgehammer by policy rollbacks that have pushed the country’s 2050 net zero target “well out of reach”. That means it’s never been more important to look for the rays of hope and glimmers of possibility. To glimpse the seeds of the next set of strategies to get Canada’s climate pollution under control and the country into the accelerating global dash away from fossil fuels. And then, once we’ve spotted those possibilities, get on with the hard, day-to-day slog of trying to make them a reality. Nothing takes away from the frustration and the deep disappointment so many climate and energy hawks are expressing, the sense of betrayal by the author of Value(s) and the former UN special envoy for climate action and finance. But we knew two things as the week drew to a close. We’re looking at the world as it most definitely is. And we don’t get to give up finding the pathways to confront climate change and deliver faster, deeper carbon cuts that leave no one else behind. So really, the first question we all have to ask ourselves is: What’s next? Subscribe All the Oxygen in the Room The outpouring of anger and grief over the carbon pricing deal between Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has been absolutely understandable. So much of the climate community poured years, more than a decade, into dragging the current federal pricing regime across the finish line, then defending it from a deluge of three-syllable rhymes after the Trudeau government proved utterly incapable of delivering its own message. The policy foisted on us by neo-classical economists took up all the oxygen in the room, burned through years of climate response time that we won’t get back, while cornering climate hawks into the position that the best response to the crisis of our lifetimes is a new tax…in an era of historic anti-tax sentiment. I mean, really—what could possibly have gone wrong? Against that history, let’s appreciate columnist Max Fawcett’s point that even a modest carbon pricing agreement with a government as off-the-wall libertarian/conspiracist as Danielle Smith’s—those adjectives are mine, not Max’s—is a win worth savouring (as long as Smith keeps her promises for a change). But part of living in the world as it is (no, I’m not letting that go) is to be clear-headed about what we can and can’t control. And one thing we get to decide, after seeing this week’s carbon price festivities take up all the oxygen yet again, is whether we want to keep letting that happen. Particularly when success down that road depends on a factor that no one with a climate agenda can control or influence—a provincial carbon pricing mechanism that has been manipulated and eroded beyond its lowest possible denominator. Thankfully, that’s not the way it has to go. Not when we have so many other powerful, practical tools at our disposal, including the ones still available to us through this abominable Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Canada and Alberta. Tools In Our Toolbox When I started roughing out this list, I didn’t expect it to grow to nearly a dozen bullet points. It’s probably still incomplete. Some of the greatest hits in today’s climate solutions toolbox include: • No Carbon Capture, No Pipeline: On Friday, Prime Minister Mark Carney explicitly stated that there’s been no change to the MOU provision that there will be no West Coast pipeline without an industry commitment to build its massive, $16.5-billion carbon capture and storage (CCUS) hub in Northern Alberta, and vice versa. The two megaprojects were joined at the hip when the MOU was signed Nov. 27, and the implementation agreement this week affirmed that they still are. A parade of independent analysts have spent years pointing to the economic and technical flaws in CCUS, while the industry kept postponing its investment decision until it could arm-twist the government for more “clarity” (by which it meant even more lavish taxpayer subsidies) on the project. Now the industry itself is running away from the CCUS hub and insisting the pipeline should proceed without it, but Carney doesn’t seem to be budging from a central tenet of the MOU to which Smith has signed on. • No Subsidies, No Investors: Climate analysts and advocates have quite rightly been hammering away at Carney and his team, insisting that any new capacity the industry wants to build must proceed without new subsidies. The government has responded with a growing collection of funding and financing mechanisms for the very wide menu of industrial development and nation-building projects they say they want to take on, and that menu always includes fossil fuel infrastructure. But it’s hard to see how even the combined fiscal clout of the federal and supportive provincial governments will deliver the financial backing private investors would need when the business case for new fossil fuel development is evaporating before their eyes. Particularly when… • No Market, No Demand, No Investors: As our friend Markham Hislop at Energi Media (our apparently sleepless friend, given the massive volume of great material he’s been churning out) points out this morning, the biggest vulnerability in any pipeline deal is the assumption that Asian buyers will want the oil or liquefied natural ga that our fossil industry is so keen to send them. Hislop writes in part: Ottawa and Alberta are effectively betting that countries like China and India will continue increasing oil imports for decades as their economies grow and energy consumption rises. That assumption underpins the entire economic rationale for expanding oil sands production and building billions of dollars in new export infrastructure. But Asian energy systems are changing rapidly… China, India, South Korea, and other major hydrocarbon importers are now investing hundreds of billions of dollars into electricity systems built around wind, solar, batteries, nuclear, hydro, and expanded transmission infrastructure. Domestic “energy sovereignty” is increasingly replacing the old energy-security model based on stable oil and gas imports. Those investments are expected to sharply slow oil demand growth and eventually reverse it, even as overall energy consumption continues rising. There are also refining constraints. Many Asian refineries and petrochemical complexes are already optimized to process discounted heavy crude from the Middle East and Latin America. That raises serious questions about how much additional Canadian bitumen Asian markets can absorb at profitable prices. Small wonder that there’s still no private sector investor for the project, despite Smith’s government desperately beating the bushes to put together a deal. For now, Alberta is acting as proponent and covering early start-up costs for a pitch to the federal Major Projects Office, which could actually turn into the next tough hurdle for Smith and her pipeline to jump. • Canada Day Looms: How ironic that Canada’s birthday this year could become a major chokepoint for the provincial premier who’s been working so diligently to tear the country apart! The July 1 target date for Alberta’s pipeline proposal is baked into the MOU, was reaffirmed by the implementation plan, but it hadn’t dawned on me that it cuts both ways. As one very smart colleague wrote in an email yesterday, “they’ve thrown the ball into Alberta’s court to get the project proposal on the table really quickly and to have to do a whole pile of work to put together a massive, complicated project that would typically take years to assemble, and they’ve given them weeks to do it.” That makes July 1 a looming deadline that Smith won’t be able to run away from politically, especially with the separatists in her party and her caucus breathing down her neck. (See previous ref to off-the-wall.) But if Alberta comes in with a sloppy, incomplete submission, even after Carney bent over backwards to simplify the application process and the rules that govern it, it may be harder for the province or the industry to blame Ottawa and insist on the faster process they claim their investors are demanding. (Oh, wait—which investors would those be??) • We’ll See You In Court (Then We’ll See You Again): If Carney did cave, that would be just one more reason for Indigenous and other affected communities to take the government and the process to court—Just as Alberta First Nations did, successfully, in response to Smith’s half-baked separation referendum. Veterans of the Harper era have been warning that a shoddy process around fossil fuel infrastructure or other major projects will be a recipe for the very delays that process seeks to avoid. And now more than ever, with renewable energy and energy storage eating fossil fuels’ lunch in import markets around the world, a delayed pipeline or LNG terminal may be as good as a cancelled one. • Charged Up, Ready to Go: With its goal of doubling Canada’s electricity supply to meet a doubling of demand by 2050, the national electricity strategy that Carney unveiled Thursday has a lot to like. With its explicit language about speeding the shift from fuels to more efficient and affordable electricity, global investment and deployment patterns that already favour that shift, an emerging bidirectional power grid, the role of front-line options like rooftop solar and heat pumps, the emergence of electric vehicles as behind-the-meter energy storage, and the domestic jobs and manufacturing to make it all happen, the document doubles down on the essential cornerstone of a faster shift off fossil fuels. The strategy envisions a more prominent role for gas and nuclear power. But some of those provisions were already in the Clean Electricity Regulations that climate hawks are now fighting so hard to defend, inserted as a compromise in a futile attempt to mollify the industry and its political representatives in Alberta and Saskatchewan. But once again, gas will be a tougher sell when it’s more expensive and now so much more unpredictable than the clean alternatives. The new nuclear technologies are still speculative and deeply vulnerable to cost overruns. Increasingly, utilities, developers, and investors know it. Carney declared Thursday that “it doesn’t do us good to be sitting in court all the time with provinces. It doesn’t do us good to be talking past each other. What does do us good is to come together with specific projects.” There are no guarantees, but so much of the language and narrative-building in the electricity strategy suggests the lion’s share of those projects will be renewable. • The Party Has Already Started: The electricity strategy only rarely digs down to specific projects, but provinces representing three-quarters of Canada’s population are already embracing a faster transition. Hydro-Québec is working on a 10-year, $185-billion renewable energy and grid buildout by 2035. Ontario recently brought 10 provinces and territories together in a National Energy Corridor Agreement to boost interprovincial and -territorial transmission infrastructure. And the MOU implementation agreement commits Alberta to facilitate investment in renewable energy projects, a big step back from its continuing, punitive restrictions on renewables development. The electricity strategy envisions much of the financing and infrastructure that will be needed to pull those advances together into an integrated whole. • Delivering on Affordability: The MOU implementation plan has little or nothing to say about affordability (are you surprised?), but the electricity strategy does, with a top-line pledge to reduce home energy costs for seven out of 10 Canadian households by 2050, a total saving of $15 billion across the board. It’s just a start, but it puts affordability on the government’s narrative map. If they’re serious and deliberate about patching together a least-cost energy strategy, it’ll have little if any room for oil, gas, or nuclear—not with powerful evidence, for example, that electricity prices are higher when those prices are set by gas. • Smith Proves that Canada Works: By signing a deal that makes it harder to claim the federal government is blocking a new pipeline, Smith has helped prove Carney’s constant anti-separatist refrain that “Canada works”—incurring the rage, no doubt, of her own political base. Canada also needs to work for anyone who depends on a clean environment, healthy and thriving ecosystems, and safe, stable climate. But with Smith and her separatist constituents setting up as a fifth column for annexation by Donald Trump’s United States, let’s set aside any notion that 51st state status for Canada is a recipe for anything other than climate disaster (and so much else). Resisting and withstanding Trump (just 170 more sleeps until mid-term elections, which is a damn sight better than the 730 we started with) doesn’t mean a free pass for a pipeline, but we can still appreciate it that keeping Canada whole and sovereign is still Carney’s Job One. • The Words Not Spoken: Apart from a commitment to export a million barrels of “low-emission” Alberta bitumen per day (memo to Smith and Carney: You realize that that’s less than the industry is already exporting??), the MOU implementation plan says nothing about the international trade and economic sovereignty deals that Carney has been travelling the world to negotiate. It didn’t have to. Carney doesn’t need permission from Danielle Smith, her American enablers, or her separatist allies to continue building the alliances that will ratchet down our economic dependency on our unstable, unreliable neighbour to the south. But every connection he builds with countries outside North America helps align our economy and our future with a faster shift off fossil fuels. Little if any of this was on our bingo cards a year or two ago. But it’s the pathway that has opened up to us. And if it gives Canada any climate or energy gains at all in an era still dominated by Trump and his increasingly ridiculous tariffs, his loutish trade negotiations and his continuing annexation threats, we have to take the wins. Not least because they’ll be the point of departure for what we can achieve in 2027, 2029, and beyond, as Trump’s grip and this era begin to loosen and then fade. What is Carney Doing? If this line of thought is right—and it’s a possibility, not a prediction—it means that Carney’s actions and decisions are largely about buying time. Time for Trump’s power to wane. Time for Alberta’s separatist/conspiracist virus to spread, mutate, die out, or at least die back, with help from a vaccine of federal steadiness and calm (appropriate enough, for a movement populated largely by vaccine deniers) that no conspiracy theory can dismiss. And time for the government’s trade and investment agenda to deliver results—even knowing that some of those results will bring impacts that front-line communities will not and should not accept. In the immediate moment, none of this changes the way the wider climate community has to respond, from campaigners to investors to front-line practitioners. All of our voices are still essential. But those voices will be stronger and more confident if we have a clearer sense of the brutal game we’ve been pulled into, and a plausible path (or two it three) for playing it to the win we need. This conversation also underscores our biggest task for the remaining years of what was supposed to be the “decisive” decade for climate response: if we can shift the energy narrative in Canada, make it a mainstream view that the country’s preoccupation with oil and gas has us falling farther behind a changing world, we’ll see far better results in the 2030s and beyond. For many veteran climate advocates, taking on that part of the fight will begin with recognizing that most of our friends and family, neighbours and colleagues already understand that climate change is real and right in front of us: they’re looking away and staying silent because they don’t have what climate communicator Katharine Hayhoe calls “efficacy”. As Hayhoe recently pointed out in a feature interview with The Energy Mix, it amounts to science denial to keep hammering away at the dire news about global warming without also helping audiences understand what they can do about it, with multiple studies telling us why that won’t work. Far better to open those conversations with the dominant crises like energy security, food security, emergency preparedness and business continuity, affordability, and financial security that have knocked climate change far lower on the list of public priorities, and will likely keep it there. We Knew This Would Happen Climate hawks have always known this day would come. For decades, we warned that everyone had to pay attention to climate change right now, because it would be much tougher to respond once the crisis itself started affecting our daily lives. We were right, and here we are. But now, thanks to decades of hard work, communities and countries have an alternative to doubling down on fossil fuels. “In 10 years everyone will have ‘always known’ that solar and batteries were going to win,” Morgan Solar Executive Chair Mike Andrade writes on LinkedIn. With the disruption in the Strait of Hormuz roiling energy priorities around the world, Canada and the United States are among the shrinking number of countries that are still very keen on fossil fuel development. Understanding that gap is a first, essential step in spotting the opportunities ahead, and averting the deep economic as well as environmental and social risk we face if we don’t seize them. Thanks for reading The Energy Mix Weekender! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support our work. Subscribe Mitchell Beer traces his background in renewable energy and energy efficiency back to 1977, in climate change to 1997. Now he and the rest of the Energy Mix team scan 1,200 news headlines a week to pull together The Energy Mix and The Energy Mix Weekender. Chart of the Week BYD Eyes 20 Dealership Locations After Canada Greenlights Chinese EV Imports ‘Sledgehammer’ Carbon Price Deal Boosts Emissions by 230Mt, Aims for Fall 2027 Pipeline Approval ‘Worse Than Harper’: Regulatory Rollback Would Stop Canada from Assessing Project Impacts, Critics Warn Electricity Strategy Aims for Doubling by 2050, Allows ‘Flexibility’ for Gas Power Plants Opposition Mounts as O’Leary’s Data Centre Approved in Drought-Stricken Utah Diluted Carbon Price Misses ‘Reality of the World We’re In’, Could Impede Diversified Trade: Climate Institute $200B in Clean Energy Investment Will Need On-Time Delivery, Reliable Policies, Trade Association Says ‘Sovereign Pipeline’: CEO Pitches to Keep Trans Mountain in Government Hands What a Supercharged El Niño Could Mean for Canada Canada’s future is electric, and here’s how a power grid superhighway would get us there (Toronto Star) The Perilous Waters of Hecate Strait (Globe and Mail) Saudi Aramco profits jump despite conflict in Middle East (The Guardian) Farmers confront rising cost of fertilizer and fuel as spring seeding under way (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) Clarkson forecasts 24% decline in offshore oil, gas capital expenditures (Oil & Gas Journal) Pipe Dreams: How Oil and Gas Fail to Deliver Economic Development in Africa (Oil Change International) Developing countries must hold the pen to script the fossil fuel transition (Climate Home News) Iran war threatens the dream of a post-oil economy in the Gulf (Washington Post) U.S. Oil, Gas Work Force Hits Lowest Level Since 2022 (Rigzone) Why Polestar Is Doubling Down on Net Zero as Rivals Pull Back on EVs (Bloomberg) Why this Michigan utility plans to sell its hydro dams for $13 (E&E News/Politico) Levees can no longer save New Orleans (Vox)
Mistral CEO warns Europe has 2 years to avoid AI dependence on US
Mistral's CEO Arthur Mensch said AI dominance will depend on who controls chips, energy, and computing infrastructure.
Morgan Stanley turns bullish on Ford's EV storage business
Ford Motor stock surged 13% in a single session the week of May 10 after Morgan Stanley issued a bullish call on the automaker's energy storage business. That was Ford’s biggest one-day gain since March 2020. For context, that kind of move doesn't happen without a serious catalyst. And this one ...
Scientists reversed memory loss by recharging the brain’s tiny engines
Researchers have shown for the first time that malfunctioning mitochondria — the cell’s energy generators — may directly cause cognitive decline in neurodegenerative diseases. By creating a new tool that temporarily boosts mitochondrial activity in the brain, scientists restored memory performance in mouse models of dementia. The discovery hints that energy failure inside neurons could happen before brain cells die, potentially offering a new target for future Alzheimer’s treatments.
Rubio: Iran won’t be able to leverage US politics into forcing ‘bad’ deal on Trump
Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday said Iran attempting to use U.S. politics, specifically rising energy prices and its impact on Americans, will not pressure President Trump and lead him i…
With Possible Raúl Castro Indictment, U.S. Eyes Venezuela Playbook
Amid stepped-up surveillance flights, a visit of the C.I.A. director and an energy embargo, the White House is trying to increase pressure on Cuba.
CIA chief makes historic trip to Cuba as US blockade chokes island's energy supplies
The U.S. has been restricting oil shipments to Cuba since January, plunging the country into blackouts lasting days at a time.
Brown’s National Labs Day spotlights collaboration in AI-enabled science
A daylong conference brought scientists from the Department of Energy’s National Laboratories to Brown to explore new collaborations and research pathways for faculty and students.
NANO Nuclear Reports Q2 FY 2026 Financial Results and Provides Business Update
Management to hold webcast today at 5:00 pm Eastern
Ford stock pops nearly 20% in two days as investors bet on AI adjacent energy storage business
Ford stock surged on Wednesday after Morgan Stanley said its new energy business could be a winner for the automaker, citing the automaker's significant competitive advantage in battery tech.
Scientists Discover “Hidden” Materials That Could Transform Clean Energy and Batteries
Researchers have uncovered a hidden side of material formation by tracking what happens as specially designed molecules are heated.
Scientists Just Measured an Energy Pulse Smaller Than a Trillionth of a Billionth of a Joule
A newly developed quantum sensor has measured unimaginably small amounts of energy with record-breaking precision.
Scientists Create “Living” Materials That Crawl, Walk, and Dig on Their Own
Physicists studying active matter — materials that can use their own internal energy to respond to forces — have uncovered surprising behaviors that challenge conventional ideas in mechanics.
This Summer on Disney Cruise Line: New Entertainment, Frozen Fun in Alaska, and More
This summer, Disney Cruise Line entertainment is bigger, bolder, and more magical than ever. New and refreshed entertainment experiences will debut across the fleet, giving you more chances to sing, dance, and celebrate at sea. From Broadway‑style stage spectaculars and high‑energy deck parties to destination‑inspired moments, entertainment takes the spotlight all summer long. If you
GOP candidates for governor align on energy, housing — and against Bobby Charles
All seven Republican gubernatorial candidates shared a stage for the first time in a televised debate ahead of the June 9 primary election.
Ford Takes On Elon Musk's Tesla Energy Business With New Battery Storage Push
Ford Motor Co. has unveiled a new, wholly owned subsidiary, Ford Energy, aimed at manufacturing Energy Storage systems at its Kentucky facility, targeting the manufacturing of deployments worth 20GWh annually. Ford Energy To Commence Deliveries In 2027 The company will...
Q&A: Energizing entrepreneurship; students launch energy drink business
What was your process in creating and designing these drinks? We started with Bernardo Vargas, my friend and co-founder. A year and a half ago we both went to the Ecuadorian Amazon. I am from Ecuador, and he came with me. He tried Guayusa which is a plant in the Ecuadorian Amazon.
Ford stock surges 13% on investor optimism for new energy storage business
Investor support for Ford Motor's energy storage business sent its stock soaring 13% Wednesday, the biggest single-day increase in about six years, following a note from Morgan Stanley highlighting details released by the company on Monday. Ford announced its wholly-owned energy subsidiary late last year, and it is being directed by Lisa Drake, who has been a key leader in the company's efforts around electric vehicles.
Ford stock surges 13% on investor optimism for new energy storage business
Investor support for Ford Motor's energy storage business sent its stock soaring 13% Wednesday, the biggest single-day increase in about six years, following a note from Morgan Stanley highlighting details released by the company on Monday. Ford announced its wholly-owned energy subsidiary late last year, and it is being directed by Lisa Drake, who has been a key leader in the company's efforts around electric vehicles. • After a $19.5 billion writedown on its EV programs in December, Ford announced it would launch an energy storage business, utilizing plant space in Kentucky that was previously meant to produce batteries for electric vehicles.
Ford Stock Surges on Support for Energy Storage Business
Ford Motor’s stock soared Wednesday as Wall Street cheered the automaker’s increased focus on using batteries once meant for electric vehicles as stationary energy storage systems. Shares were up 14% in afternoon trading, putting the stock on pace for its biggest one-day gain since March 2020. Morg
Ford stock surges as Morgan Stanley gets bullish on energy storage business
Ford shares surged on Wednesday after Morgan Stanley said Ford's new energy business could be a winner for the automaker, based on a big competitive advantage it has with battery tech.
Ford Stock Soars On Energy Business Optimism
Ford Motor Co (NYSE:F) shares are skyrocketing Wednesday. Morgan Stanley released new research arguing that the company's energy storage ambitions are far more valuable than the market currently recognizes, putting the stock on pace for its best session since March 2020. Here’s what you should know. Ford Motor stock is among today’s top performers. What’s behind F gains? What’s Pushing Ford Higher? Morgan Stanley analyst Andrew Percoco reiterated an Equal‑weight rating and kept a $14 price targe
Midcoast sports complex now under construction has been a 'vision for several years'
The owners of Maritime Energy fuel and heating oil company, based in Rockland, are developing a 63,000-square-foot sports center in Thomaston.
Health Hearing: Examining the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, MACRA, and Opportunities for Payment Reforms
The Committee on Energy and Commerce is the oldest standing legislative committee in the U.S. House of Representatives and is vested with the broadest jurisdiction of any congressional authorizing committee.
Renowned Energy-Storage Leader Aims To Expand University’s Impact
Dr. Babu Chalamala joined the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science as a professor of materials science and engineering last fall. He holds the Jonsson School Distinguished Chair and is supported by the Governor’s University Research Initiative. In June, he also will be a professor of electrical and computer engineering. Dr. Babu Chalamala, […]
Health Subcommittee Markup
The Committee on Energy and Commerce is the oldest standing legislative committee in the U.S. House of Representatives and is vested with the broadest jurisdiction of any congressional authorizing committee.
Public health at risk across Asia as price of gas for cooking soars
Families turn to dirty fuels such as firewood, bringing fears over air pollution and fragility of energy transition
These Women-Owned Businesses Are Riding the Spurs Wave
San Antonio's Spurs fever is spilling into the boutique scene — and one group of women-owned small businesses is here for ALL of it. 🖤🪨 Spurs-inspired pieces are flying off the shelves at Poderosa Co this playoff season. The crowds are showing up, the energy is electric, and this all-women crew is proving that small business + a winning team = pure magic. Come support local, come support art, come support them. 🙌
Best Over-the-Counter Medicines and Health Products of 2026
U.S. News and World Report senior health editor Shanley Chien joins TODAY to exclusively reveal some of their picks for the best over-the-counter medicine and health products of 2026. Categories include first aid, gut health, hydration and energy, and more.
Inflation continued to rise in April as Iran war impacted energy prices
Inflation continued to rise in April as consumer price growth has picked up due to the impact of the Iran war on energy markets and gas prices.
Blue States Slam Fossil Fuels In Politics, Lean On Them For Energy
Fossil fuels have long been easy political fodder for governors in blue states across the country. But those same states still rely on those fuels to keep the lights on.
Britain Politics
Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Ed Miliband arrives for a cabinet meeting in Downing Street, London, Tuesday, May 12, 2026 as Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer
Australia business confidence shaken as costs climb, survey shows
SYDNEY, May 12 (Reuters) - Australian business confidence remained mired in gloom in April, a survey showed on Tuesday, as spiking energy costs from the Middle East war squeezed profit margins and
Australia business confidence shaken as costs climb, survey shows
Australian business confidence remained mired in gloom in April, a survey showed on Tuesday, as spiking energy costs from the Middle East war squeezed profit margins and pressured investment plans.
Driving Business Performance and Circular Water Practices at Moeve’s San Roque Energy Park
Optimizing water use through circular solutions is a key goal for Moeve as well as a strategic priority for Spain, due to growing pressure on the country’s water resources.
Spring Donor Celebration honors the ‘greater good’ at Vanderbilt Health
Four open-heart operations later, Eden is now in second grade and bubbling with ebullient energy. To honor the lifesaving compassionate care she received at Monroe Carell, her parents established a fund in her name, as Elisa Hill put it, “to be for another family what others were for us.”
SLB OneSubsea Completes Acquisition of Subsea Business of Envirex Group AS
Global energy technology company SLB (NYSE: SLB) today announced that its OneSubsea™ joint venture has completed the acquisition of the subsea business of Norway-based Envirex Group AS (Envirex).
Scientists say this common sweetener may be quietly rewiring your metabolism
Researchers say fructose is not just “empty calories” — it may actively push the body toward fat storage and metabolic disease. A new review found that fructose affects the body differently from glucose, disrupting normal energy regulation and promoting processes linked to obesity, insulin resistance, and cardiovascular problems.
UK PM Starmer battles for political survival in pivotal speech as gilt yields rise
Starmer is expected to say that key issues of growth, defense, the U.K.'s relationship with Europe and energy must be urgently addressed.
KASA and chill: ‘NETFLIKS’ brings Korean entertainment, pop culture to annual spring show
High-energy dance, live vocals and martial arts filled Ryan Family Auditorium Friday night for Northwestern’s Korean American Student Association’s spring show “NETFLIKS.” The show combined skit comedy segments, music performances and dance showcases into a four-act production centered on Korean and Korean American entertainment and culture. The annual KASA production also played video skits students...
Smart, hybrid, integrated, and engineered geothermal (SHIEG) systems
npj Thermal Science and Engineering - Geothermal sources can supply clean, sustainable, baseload thermal or electrical energy to fulfill societal demands in diverse climates via various...
The scientists who will power our future
Calling in the next generation of scientists from all backgrounds to address the energy crisis and build the next generation of batteries.
Oil jumps as US and Iran fail to reach agreement on peace proposal
Oil prices jumped $3 a barrel on Monday as the United States and Iran failed to agree to a peace proposal drafted by Washington while the Strait of Hormuz remained largely closed, keeping global energy supply tight.
Tampa estate with go-kart track listed for $115 million: See photos
Energy executive Steven Lempera has listed his Tampa estate for $115 million, aiming to break local sales records.
California Politics 360 Full Episode | Uncertainty amid rise in gas prices
This week, Energy Commissioner Siva Gunda told lawmakers that the state has enough oil and gas supply for the next six weeks.
Scientists Discover a New Way To Control Metals at the Atomic Scale
The discovery could help make electronics faster and more energy efficient.
Syria and Lebanon make ‘significant progress’ at talks on joint interests
In Damascus, Lebanese prime minister and Syrian president discuss issues including security, transport and energy.
How Pittsburgh is banking on small business
Leaders are investing millions to bring shops, foot traffic and energy back to Downtown.
Opinion | A Double Standard In Connecticut Politics
In a guest column for the New Haven Independent, Matt Smith says there is ageism and sexism in play from young men who are trying to unseat state Rep. Pat Dillon — thinly masked by dog whistles like “young” and “new energy,” which appear to be the sole foundations of their campaigns.
GE Vernova Is Turning Energy Uncertainty Into a Business Advantage
How one of the world's largest energy equipment suppliers is thinking about the future.
ORNL names Kate Evans associate lab director for biological, environmental systems science
The Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has named Katherine (Kate) Evans as associate laboratory director for the Biological and Environmental Systems Science Directorate (BESSD). Evans will lead the directorate as it advances the science and technology needed to strengthen energy security, safeguard infrastructure and accelerate biotechnology innovation.
New obesity discovery rewrites decades of fat science
Scientists have uncovered a surprising secret hidden inside fat cells that could reshape how we think about obesity and metabolic disease. A protein called HSL, long believed to simply release stored fat when the body needs energy, turns out to have a second job deep inside the nucleus of fat cells—helping keep those cells healthy and balanced. Even more surprising, people and mice missing this protein don’t become obese as expected; instead, they lose fat tissue in a dangerous condition called lipodystrophy.
ORNL names Kate Evans associate lab director for biological, environmental systems science
The Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has named Katherine (Kate) Evans as associate laboratory director for the Biological and Environmental Systems Science Directorate (BESSD). Evans will lead the directorate as it advances the science and technology needed to strengthen energy security, safeguard infrastructure and accelerate biotechnology innovation.
Energy shock to accelerate transition: EU-Asean Business Council
Chris Humphrey of EU-Asean Business Council says businesses are withholding investments and waiting for more clarity amid geopolitical tensions. He added that ASEAN firms believe oil shocks from the ongoing Middle East tensions could speed up the shift to green energy.
How Disneyland Remade American Politics
America is turning 250, and The Free Press is marking the occasion with a yearlong series of events, conversations, and stories celebrating our country’s history. Today, we’re taking a journey with historian Beverly Gage to Southern California. Beverly traded the archives for the open road for her new book, This Land is Your Land: A Road Trip Through U.S. History. We’re proud to publish an excerpt, on the theme park that shaped American politics—and the presidents who loved it. —The Editors On July 17, 1955, Ronald Reagan stood near a mocked-up wood-plank town in Anaheim, California, where a 13-star flag flew incongruously over an “Old West” landscape, and introduced the world to Disneyland. He had been invited by Walt Disney himself to co-host the park’s live ABC broadcast, alongside Art Linkletter and Bob Cummings—three Hollywood actors who seemed to embody a wholesome, all-American ethos. From the imagined past of Frontierland, the show leaped ahead to Tomorrowland, set in the far-off year of 1986, emphasizing the technical marvels yet to come: nuclear energy harnessed for civilian purposes, human beings riding rocket ships into space. Disney foretold great things for a 1980s in which the United States would serve as “a source of joy and inspiration to all the world.” But even he could not predict the most important political fact of the age: that his genial co-host would become president. Southern California was a strange place to build a park about the past, because the region at the time was all about newness and abundance and growth. For a lot of its history, Orange County had been Southern California’s version of flyover country: a vast agricultural expanse between two desirable places, Los Angeles and San Diego. But Disneyland was changing that. Before long, 50 miles south of deep-blue Hollywood, Orange County would become a region famed for its right-wing politics—but also for its mythmaking skills. Those two things, it turned out, went naturally together. ADVERTISEMENT The two presidents Southern California gave America both understood this instinctively. Richard Nixon and Reagan each built a national career on invoking a version of the American past in which the specificities of historical context mattered less than the big picture. For Nixon, progress meant proclaiming a “New American Revolution” on the eve of America’s bicentennial while dismantling the federal programs that had built the postwar middle class. For Reagan, it meant recapturing a lost optimism and an old-fashioned faith in America as an exceptional nation. Both men were less interested in history as it actually happened than in history as it felt—and Orange County, a place that had built itself almost entirely from scratch, turned out to be exactly where the myth of America’s future was getting made. I’m a historian—and historians tend to be myth-busters. With the country’s 250th birthday on the horizon, I figured it was a good time to step out of the ivory tower and check in with the past as it exists here and now, at the museums and monuments and roadside attractions where Americans go to learn about their history. After all my travels—to Davy Crockett’s Tennessee and Texas, to the real Erie Canal, to the birthplace of the American automobile and the actual Old West—I couldn’t miss out on Disneyland, the single most influential historic attraction in U.S. history.
Science is becoming less disruptive. Is an aging workforce to blame?
Most researchers conduct their more disruptive work early in their careers, but as they age, they tend to abandon that groundbreaking energy
Maine candidate for governor unveils plan to lower energy costs
Bennett said he wants to trim back electric company profits, help heritage industries, increase efficiency and create a new authority to look to the future.
Minnesota Clean Energy Business Day | U.S. Green Building Council
The tenth annual Minnesota Clean Energy Business Day was held on April 21.
Soccer Capital Summer announces lineup of live entertainment coming to Sporting Park
With anticipation continuing to build for FIFA World Cup 26™ in Kansas City, Sporting Kansas City announced today the lineup of live entertainment for Soccer Capital Summer at Sporting Park in June and July featuring free concerts, high-energy DJs and local performing artists. Third Eye Blind will headline the live
The National Academy of Sciences Elects Two Berkeley Lab Researchers
Two Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) scientists have been elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. They are part of a cohort of 120 new members and 25 international members. The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit institution that was established under a congressional charter signed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863. It recognizes achievement in science by election to membership, and — alongside the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Medicine — provides science, engineering, and health policy advice to the federal government and other organizations. The 2026 electees bring the total number of active members to 2,705 with 557 international members. Gary Karpen is a biologist senior faculty scientist in Berkeley Lab’s Biological Systems and Engineering Division and a Professor of Cell and Developmental Physiology in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology at UC Berkeley. Karpen studies how the structure, organization, and maintenance of genetic material impact inheritance and cell function. His lab focuses on chromatin — a packaged form of DNA strands wrapped around proteins that comprises our chromosomes — with a particular emphasis on centromeres, rarely expressed sequences called heterochromatin, DNA repair, and regulatory RNAs. His research reveals insights into fundamental aspects of nuclear organization and genome regulation that are shared across the tree of life, broadening our understanding of cancer and other diseases, birth defects, and aging. Kam-Biu Luk is a Professor Emeritus of physics at UC Berkeley and a retired senior faculty scientist in Berkeley Lab’s Physics Division. He is an experimental particle physicist whose research has focused on neutrinos: nearly massless, electrically neutral elementary particles that can pass through matter virtually undetected. Neutrinos are created during radioactive decay processes, including the fusion process occurring in stars and the fission process that powers nuclear reactors. Luk initiated and co-led the Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment, a project based in China with more than 200 international collaborators. In 2012, the Daya Bay experiment discovered a new form of a phenomenon called “neutrino oscillation” in which neutrinos change from one type to another. For this discovery, Luk and his collaborator Yifan Wang received the 2014 American Physical Society Division of Particles and Fields W.K.H. Panofsky Prize for outstanding work in experimental particle physics, and he was also the co-recipient of the 2016 Breakthrough Prize. Luk is currently participating in the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) hosted by Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, which will investigate any potential difference in behavior between neutrinos and antineutrinos that may shed light on the evolution of the universe, especially why antimatter is absent in the present universe. ### Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) is committed to groundbreaking research focused on discovery science and solutions for abundant and reliable energy supplies. The lab’s expertise spans materials, chemistry, physics, biology, earth and environmental science, mathematics, and computing. Researchers from around the world rely on the lab’s world-class scientific facilities for their own pioneering research. Founded in 1931 on the belief that the biggest problems are best addressed by teams, Berkeley Lab and its scientists have been recognized with 17 Nobel Prizes. Berkeley Lab is a multiprogram national laboratory managed by the University of California for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science. DOE’s Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit energy.gov/science.
War, energy and politics hamper Eastern Europe's efforts to keep deficits in check
The Romanian government's political implosion this week in a no-confidence vote has cast a shadow over a region grappling with rising debt, defence spending and energy costs that are unsettling investors and ratings agencies alike.
New water battery could last until the 24th century — and it can be safely discarded in the environment
With no toxic elements to dispose of, the new aqueous battery design could dramatically improve the safety and longevity of battery energy-storage systems.