‘Dechirper’ will give scientists more control over ‘color spectrum’ of LCLS X-ray pulses.

In the race to find materials of ever increasing thinness, surface area and conductivity to make better performing battery electrodes, a lump of clay might have just taken the lead. Materials scientists from Drexel University’s College of Engineering invented the clay, which is both highly conductive and can easily be molded into a variety of shapes and sizes. It represents a turn away from the rather complicated and costly processing—currently used to make materials for lithium-ion batteries and supercapacitors—and toward one that looks a bit like rolling out cookie dough with results that are even sweeter from an energy storage standpoint.

The Department of Energy (DOE) announced Aug. 4 that it will be collaborating with the Clearinghouse for the Open Research of the United States (CHORUS) as a component of its model for providing public access to peer-reviewed articles that report on DOE-funded research. CHORUS is a collaborative service developed by the not-for-profit organization CHOR, Inc. to provide easy public access to scholarly works.

The U.S. Department of Energy selected a University of Alabama start-up company for an approximate $1.5 million award to refine an alternative material to potentially extract uranium from the ocean.

Recycling keeps paper, plastics, and even jeans out of landfills. Could recycling rare-earth magnets do the same? Perhaps, if the recycling process can be improved.