Battery Breakthrough: Mining Batteries, in a Microwave
, Leung conducted computer simulations in fall 2022 to see whether exchanging metal ions would even be possible. The density functional theory calculations showed that the swap would not be spontaneous but wasn’t too unfavorable or too slow, he said.Then the team led by Candace Chan, a professor at Arizona State University, conducted proof-of-concept ion-exchange experiments. Using several methods, they showed they were able to swap out about one-ninth of the cobalt for nickel. Lapp joined the project later and provided guidance on ion exchange as well as on the most feasible and economically viable
Underwater 3D Printing of Concrete Ready for DARPA Assessment
, the Spencer T. Olin Professor of Engineering, in materials science and engineering; Jenny Sabin, the Arthur L. and Isabel B. Weisenberger Professor in Architecture in the College of Architecture, Art and Planning; as well as researchers from University of Michigan, Clarkson University and University of Arizona.The second phase of the DARPA challenge will culminate in a bake-off of sorts, with multiple teams 3D-printing an arch underwater, in March. For months, Nair’s team has been conducting test prints in a large tub of water – often producing multiple samples every week – in the Bovay
Oil Leaking from USS Arizona Could Provide Guidance for Thousands of WWII Shipwrecks
A new study published in Marine Pollution Bulletin shows that oil is still seeping from the wreck of the USS Arizona, more than 80 years after its sinking at Pearl Harbor. The study focuses on samples collected by the National Park Service in 2016 and 2018.Researchers, led by the University of Houston and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), analyzed oil samples collected from multiple leak points on the sunken battleship, using advanced molecular fingerprinting techniques. The results confirm the oil is a heavy fuel oil refined from California crude, consistent with U.S. Navy fueling practices
First Deep-Sea Mining Company Asks Trump for International Permit
THE HEARINGThe congressional hearing was organized by Republicans, many of whom support the nascent deep-sea mining industry."(It) can significantly help America buck the supply chain yoke placed on us by China and re-establish mineral independence," said Representative Paul Gosar, an Arizona Republican.Democrats pushed back, calling deep-sea mining uneconomical and a form of "subsidized plunder" of the world's oceans."The industry's financial models are based on wildly optimistic assumptions and fail to reflect the volatility and reality of global mineral markets
An Arctic “Beyond Recognition” Expected by 2100
of the study. “It’d be amazing if we could become more aware of this power and the responsibility that goes with it, as the future of the Arctic truly lies in our hands.”Other co-authors on the paper included Jackie Dawson of the University of Ottawa, Edward A.G. Schuur of Northern Arizona University, Dorthe Dahl-Jensen of the University of Manitoba and University of Copenhagen, and Céline Giesse of the University of Hamburg.
First Solar Bars Use of Deep-Sea Minerals
First Solar agreed to refrain from using minerals mined from the deep sea, an early win for shareholder environmental activists and a sign their agenda might make progress despite opposition from U.S. President Donald Trump's administration.The Tempe, Arizona-based photovoltaic manufacturer will keep the minerals out of its supply chain "until scientific findings are sufficient to assess the environmental risks of this potentially devastating new mining process," according to a summary of the agreement provided to Reuters by advocacy group As You Sow. In return, the group withdrew a
US Navy Divers Get Augmented Vision Display
along a marina during the disaster.Navy and Coda Octopus engineers also employed the DAVD 3D sonar systems to assist in salvage efforts after the March 2024 collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge. And DAVD was instrumental in efforts to map the murky waters surrounding the sunken USS Arizona. The purpose was to help U.S. Pacific Fleet and the National Park Service inspect the condition of submerged, severely degraded construction moorings used to build the memorial in the 1950s.Potential upgrades to DAVD could include GPS for georeferencing (relating a digital map or image to geographic
Podcast: Fascinated by Shipwrecks; USS Monitor Digitally Reimagined
design. He has led NOAA archaeological expeditions in the Florida Keys, the Great Lakes, California, the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, Alaska, and USS Monitor. He’s also participated in projects including a sunken Boeing B-29 Superfortress in Lake Mead, a Civil War blockade runner in Bermuda, USS Arizona, and was most recently part of an expedition to RMS Titanic. Tane’s projects have used technical diving, remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), and manned submersibles. Watch Fascinated by Shipwrecks, Episode 5, here
Shipwreck Podcast: Exploring Tragedy, History & Humanity with James Delgado
when he was exposed to the buried San Francisco Gold Rush ship Niantic while working for the National Park Service.He also gives moving accounts of famous shipwrecks that have had a profound emotional impact on him. These include Clotilda, the last known U.S. slave ship to bring captives to America, USS Arizona, and the sunken ships at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands, the site of nuclear bomb tests between 1946 and 1958. Jim also talks ca-reer advice and imparts important life lessons wrapped up in the context of his work.About James DelgadoJames Delgado, Ph.D. is among the world’s leading experts
August 2026
