Lehigh University

Backed by a $2 million grant from the National Science Foundation, a Lehigh research team is working to create a promising new method of producing renewable fuel.

Aluminum recycling has become a successful business since its inception a century ago. Nearly a third of the aluminum produced in the United States is made from aluminum scraps that have been recycled in a process—usually remelting—that uses only 5 to 10 percent of the energy it takes to extract aluminum from mined bauxite ore.

In a twist on "survival of the fittest," researchers including biologist Greg Lang have discovered that evolution is driven not by a single beneficial mutation but rather by a group of mutations, including ones called "genetic hitchhikers" that are simply along for the ride.

The computing devices and software programs that enable the technology on which the modern world relies, says Hector Muñoz-Avila, can be likened to adolescents.