The Elements of Innovation Discovered

Articles from the January 25, 2023 edition


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  • A two-story-tall white Liebherr T 264 truck parked in a mine pit.

    Massive Fortescue mining truck battery

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Feb 8, 2023

    5 MWh battery designed by WAE for Liebherr haul truck charges in only 30 minutes. Australian iron ore miner Fortescue has received what is likely the largest electric vehicle battery in the world – a 1.4 megawatt-hour behemoth designed to power a 240-metric-ton mining haul truck it is developing in partnership with equipment manufacturer Liebherr. This massive 15-metric-ton battery – measuring a whopping 11.8 feet (3.6 meters) long, 5.2 feet (1.6 meters) tall, and 7.9 fee...

  • The front of BMW's next-generation of EVs or NEUE KLASSE.

    BMW committed to solid-state batteries

    A.J. Roan, Metal Tech News|Updated Feb 2, 2023

    Deepens alliance with Solid Power to commercialize next-gen cell tech. Under an expanded joint development agreement, BMW Group and Solid Power have added a research and development license as a basis for their common next steps, showing how much the luxury car maker believes in this next-gen technology of solid-state batteries. Spun out of a program at the University of Colorado in 2011, Solid Power is a U.S.-based battery developer that has been advancing solid-state...

  • Aerial view of the proposed Statevolt lithium battery plant near the Salton Sea.

    Statevolt secures So-Cal gigafactory site

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Feb 2, 2023

    Acquires land for EV battery factory in Lithium Valley. After months of searching for the ideal locale for a gigafactory capable of producing enough lithium-ion batteries for 650,000 electric vehicles per year, Statevolt has found a 154-acre site that can plug into the low-carbon energy and lithium being produced in the Salton Sea area of Southern California. "We have worked hard to find a suitable location to accommodate our vision and keep us near to our partners," said...

  • Geologist using hammer to break off a rock sample on a hillside in Alaska.

    USGS launches 3 new Earth MRI scans

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Feb 2, 2023

    As part of its nationwide scan for domestic sources of critical minerals, the U.S. Geological Survey is investing just over $1 million to gain a better understanding of the potential for cobalt, nickel, niobium, rare earths, manganese, platinum group elements, and other essential metals in Missouri, Montana, and Minnesota. In 2022, the U.S. Department of the Interior allotted more than $74 million to the USGS Earth Mapping Resources Initiative, or Earth MRI, a partnership...

  • Lasers shooting into space at the Very Large Telescope in Antofagasta, Chile.

    Researchers make first macro tractor beam

    A.J. Roan, Metal Tech News|Updated Jan 25, 2023

    Chinese scientists' success crosses threshold that has opened way for grabbing tech. Despite their influence on science fiction and even the occasional conspiracy theory, tractor beams, in reality, have not yet lived up to fantastical expectations. While it seems we are still far from capturing a spaceship that can do the Kessel Run in twelve parsecs, Earthlings have managed to use this light vacuum device to move about nano- and atomic-sized things – until now. Perhaps disreg...

  • Graphic of MIT's seed pocket technology on silicon wafers for 2D materials.

    2D materials shift Moore's Law paradigm

    A.J. Roan, Metal Tech News|Updated Jan 24, 2023

    Struggling to overcome the inevitable shortcomings of miniaturizing digital technologies due to the inherent limits of silicon, Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers have potentially reinstated Moore's Law with the synthesis of 2D materials on silicon wafers. True to Moore's Law, the number of transistors on a microchip has doubled every year since its origination in 1965; however, this trajectory is predicted to soon plateau because silicon – the backbone of m...