Private fusion companies raised $3.8 billion in the first eight months of this year, already surpassing all of last year's investment, as firms like Pacific Fusion and Helion Energy push toward commercial electricity targets. Despite this funding surge and scientific milestones like the National Ignition Facility's 2022 net energy gain experiment, no company has yet demonstrated a system that produces more electricity than it consumes on a sustained, grid-ready basis.
In 2023, Poland's state-backed Orlen energy group tried to buy 6 million barrels of Venezuelan crude during a sanctions reprieve, hiring intermediary Hannon and UK firm Lexcor Energy to handle the deal in USDT stablecoin. Multiple currency-to-crypto conversions in Dubai went wrong, leaving tens of millions unaccounted for, and a representative who carried USB drives loaded with crypto wallets to Venezuela was reportedly defrauded by fake brokers posing as PDVSA officials.
MIT Technology Review's latest list of under-35 innovators highlights researchers and founders working on climate tech, including Jae-Won Chung's software for measuring AI models' energy consumption, Jing Wei's AI-based pollution tracking, and Zhonghua Zheng's city-specific climate models. The list also features Mohammad Alkhadra of Lithios and Benjamin Mowbray of Rock Zero, two startups developing faster, cheaper methods to extract lithium from brine and hardrock ore respectively.
A new survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and the University of Chicago's Energy Policy Institute finds that 53% of Americans are extremely or very concerned about AI's environmental impact, up from 41% a year ago. The rise is driven largely by Democrats, though the poll also shows widespread unease about the local effects of data centers that power AI and cloud computing.
Micron has launched its first 512GB DDR5-9200 memory module aimed at high-density servers, allowing systems to reach up to 12TB of total memory. The module uses vertically stacked DRAM dies connected via through-silicon vias, and is currently being validated by AMD and Intel for their upcoming server platforms.
Businesses are facing a sharp increase in energy costs, and companies are split on whether to pass those costs to consumers immediately through price hikes or absorb them for now. The divide reflects differing bets on how long the energy cost surge will last and how sensitive customers are to price changes.
Researchers describe a molecular computation approach that proceeds through energetically downhill reactions rather than requiring external energy input to drive each step. This design allows chemical systems to perform computational operations while consuming less energy than conventional molecular computing schemes.
An engineering explainer examines why the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve does not rely on the commercial standard of external floating roof tanks to hold its 714 million barrels of crude. It shows that scaling up conventional tank farms would require roughly 1,130 tanks spread across about 45,000 acres, an area comparable to Washington, D.C., while leaving the oil highly exposed to fire and attack.
New data shows that more than 70% of recently added solar power capacity in the United States is being built in states that voted for Donald Trump. This trend continues despite Republican-backed policies at the federal level that could slow renewable energy expansion going forward.
A team of Chinese scientists modified perovskite solar cells to survive and function while submerged several meters below the ocean surface. By altering the perovskite's chemical composition, adding a water-repelling coating, and using larger crystal structures, they created cells resistant to seawater degradation that still efficiently capture dim, filtered sunlight.
CenterPoint Energy has confirmed in an SEC filing that an unauthorized party accessed customer personal information through one of its external-facing systems. The disclosure follows claims from a hacker who says they exfiltrated 7.49 million records—including names, addresses, account numbers, billing details and partial Social Security numbers—by exploiting an unprotected public API lacking rate limiting or firewall defenses.
Exploration companies in nearly 30 countries are drilling to locate natural hydrogen gas trapped in underground rock formations, betting it could serve as a carbon-free energy source. Venture capitalists have poured almost $500 million into this search since 2023, with firms like UK-based H2Au already drilling test wells in Kansas.
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