Blog

AI Data Centers Require a Lot of Water, Where Does It Go?

2026-08-07T18:20:53Z

AI data centers use water to cool the servers. (Image Credit: UCR/Evan Fields) I was wondering why water used in data centers can’t be reused. Nature cycles water constantly, it seems odd that the water is used to cool but then disappears. Why...(read more)

Honeycomb-Shaped 3D PV Modules Could Generate More Electricity Than Flat Panels

2026-07-31T18:26:33Z

Figure showing the honeycomb-structured 3D PV design, the mechanical metamaterial support, and the light recapture mechanism. (Image Credit: Advanced Materials Technologies) Although PV modules are useful, they have a flaw. They don’t retain a...(read more)

Ancient Cities Are Now Using Solar Panels in Roof Tiles

2026-07-10T20:48:30Z

Roof tiles in the Villa of the Mysteries produce power. (Image Credit: Pompeii Archaeological Park) Renewables in ancient cities? While solar panels produce clean energy, there’s usually a catch. The problem? Solar panels affect the appearance...(read more)

MIT Develops a New Technique to Extract Lithium from Spodumene Rock

2026-06-12T16:38:33Z

(Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons) MIT researchers recently created a new method to extract lithium from spodumene rock using a low-temperature process. A bathroom renovation inspired the research. At the time, Yet-Ming Chiang, MIT’s Kyocera Pr...(read more)

Researchers Develop Water Battery That Can Be Safely Disposed

2026-05-21T19:25:08Z

Comparing the neutral pH 7 with other battery technologies. (Image Credit: nature) Researchers at the City University of Hong Kong have developed an aqueous battery with a pH 7 electrolyte. The battery system is built with water-based materials and ...(read more)

A Modeling Study Predicts That Solar Farms Could Produce Rainfall

2026-04-24T14:18:42Z

A solar farm. (Image Credit: TheOtherKev/pixabay) Is that bad? In the UAE, where water is harder to come by than oil, cloud seeding or desalination plants produce freshwater for everyone living there. Now, a 2024 modeling study says huge solar farms...(read more)

Deep Fission is Burying Nuclear Reactors One Mile Deep

2026-04-08T19:45:50Z

Deep Fission is a startup focusing on the burial of nuclear reactors as a cheaper, simpler alternative to traditional above-ground power plants. (Image Credit: Deep Fission) Nuclear power is becoming more complex and costly, and one startup wants to...(read more)

Engineers Build a Alt Energy Device That Generates Power at Night

2026-03-04T20:51:19Z

Render and data show radiative cooling of the top plate to the night sky and warming of the bottom plate to the ground. This produced a temperature difference that powered the engine. (Image Credit: ScienceAdvances) Engineers at the University ...(read more)

Japan’s Sidewalks Converts Human Footsteps into Useable Electricity

2026-03-03T21:03:12Z

(Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons) Wind and sunlight are the most common sources of renewable energy, powering turbines and solar panels worldwide. Japan and other countries are now tapping a subtler source: footsteps on piezoelectric sidewalks to ge...(read more)

Japan is Working on Three Surprising Hydrogen Projects

2026-02-20T20:09:20Z

Rendering of the co-firing hydrogen engine built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries. (Image Credit: Kawasaki) Kawasaki Heavy Industries constructed the first-ever 8MW KG Series co-firing hydrogen engine, which generates electricity. It operates on natural...(read more)

Japan Extracts Rare Earth Elements from Seabed Mud

2026-02-09T15:09:54Z

Japan’s Chikyu deep-sea drilling vessel recently extracted samples of rare earth elements from seabed sediment. (Photo By Gleam - Photo taken by Gleam., CC BY-SA 3.0) Japan is starting to take action on a decade-old plan to move away from Chi...(read more)

Energy left in "dead" batteries?!

2026-02-01T16:49:51Z

Hi Element14 Community! Traditional alkaline batteries tend to "die" at the most inconvenient times. I used to I have them in devices like wireless mouse and keyboards, and it felt that the batteries were draining fairly quickly, catc...(read more)

Building a Smart Electronic Load | 2026 Update (#3)

2026-01-18T18:22:09Z

Hi E14 Community! Wanted to give a quick update on my Smart Electronic Load project. Since the last time from one year ago, Building a Smart Electronic Load | DAC and Initial Firmware (#2), the project was progressing relati...(read more)

Triplet Antennas Unlock Low-Voltage NIR-II LEDs

2025-12-30T21:02:13Z

Artist’s rendering of a lanthanide-doped nanoparticle in the shape of a spider and the web (made of 9-ACA). (Image Credit: Zhongzheng Yu/) Engineers at the University of Cambridge have developed a technique that enables the electrical activati...(read more)

Hot Gadget Alert: My First Tinker With the Multicomp Pro Thermal Camera

2025-12-19T13:29:38Z

Unboxing the Multicomp Pro Professional Thermal Imager : A First Look The fine (and clearly very patient) folks of the element14 Community somehow concluded that my particular brand of Halloween-themed tinkering deserved to win this year’s Hall...(read more)