Ammonia gas from the birdsâ feces sets off a reaction that potentially blunts some local effects of climate change
Category: sustainability
The Governance Case for Tesla Taking a Pre-IPO Stake in SpaceX
Elon Musk is considering Tesla taking a pre-IPO stake in SpaceX to integrate their businesses, accelerate ambitious projects, and increase the value of both companies ## ## Questions to inspire discussion.
Strategic Governance Alignment.
đ Q: Why should Tesla acquire a pre-IPO stake in SpaceX rather than waiting until after the IPO? A: A pre-IPO stake resolves governance and conflict risks before SpaceXâs planned $30B IPO in mid-2026, ensuring all transactions are recorded as part of the IPO and avoiding complications that could impact IPO pricing or create persistent post-IPO conflicts between the two companies.
đŻ Q: What is the core governance problem Tesla shareholders currently face with SpaceX? A: Tesla shareholders are exposed to SpaceX outcomes through dependencies on Starlink connectivity, orbital compute, and launch cadence without any ownership rights, governance rights, or downside protection as the companies converge operationally but not financially.
âïž Q: How would a pre-IPO stake transaction affect Teslaâs ownership structure and Muskâs control? A: The transaction would dilute Tesla by 20% but could raise market cap to $1.62-2T, increasing Muskâs stake to 22.1â24% and his net worth approaching $1T, enabling him to achieve 25% control significantly earlier than under the compensation plan.
Capital Requirements and Infrastructure.
Exposure to common air pollutants alters adolescent brain development, study finds
Physician-scientists at Oregon Health & Science University warn that exposure to air pollution may have serious implications for a childâs developing brain.
In a recent study published in the journal Environmental Research, researchers in OHSUâs Developmental Brain Imaging Lab found that air pollution is associated with structural changes in the adolescent brain, specifically in the frontal and temporal regions âthe areas responsible for executive function, language, mood regulation and socioemotional processing.
Air pollution causes harmful contaminants, such as particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide and ozone, to circulate in the environment. It has been exacerbated over the past two centuries by industrialization, vehicle emissions, and, more recently, wildfires.
Vapor-deposition method delivers unprecedented durability in perovskiteâsilicon tandem solar cells
NUS researchers have developed a vapor-deposition method that dramatically improves the long-term and high-temperature stability of perovskite-silicon (Si) tandem solar cells. The findings were published in Science.
This is the first time vapor deposition has been successfully applied to industrial micrometer-textured silicon wafers, the actual wafer structure used in commercial solar cell manufacturing, marking a major milestone for translating laboratory-scale tandem solar cells into real-world products.
The new method enables conformal, high-quality perovskite growth on industrial micrometer-scale textured silicon wafers, a critical requirement for mass production, and delivers more than 30% power-conversion efficiency with operational stability far exceeding 2,000 hours, including Tââ lifetimes âthe time taken for performance to drop to 90% of initial outputâof over 1,400 hours at 85°C under 1-sun illumination, a standard benchmark in solar energy representing a light intensity of 1,000 watts per square meter.
Ultra-low power, fully biodegradable artificial synapse offers record-breaking memory
In Nature Communications, a research team affiliated with UNIST present a fully biodegradable, robust, and energy-efficient artificial synapse that holds great promise for sustainable neuromorphic technologies. Made entirely from eco-friendly materials sourced from natureâsuch as shells, beans, and plant fibersâthis innovation could help address the growing problems of electronic waste and high energy use.
Traditional artificial synapses often struggle with high power consumption and limited lifespan. Led by Professor Hyunhyub Ko from the School of Energy and Chemical Engineering, the team aimed to address these issues by designing a device that mimics the brainâs synapses while being environmentally friendly.
Molecules as switches for sustainable light-driven technologies
Metal nanostructures can concentrate light so strongly that they can trigger chemical reactions. The key players in this process are plasmonsâcollective oscillations of free electrons in the metal that confine energy to extremely small volumes. A new study published in Science Advances now shows how crucial adsorbed molecules are in determining how quickly these plasmons lose their energy.
The team led by LMU nanophysicists Dr. Andrei Stefancu and Prof. Emiliano CortĂ©s identified two fundamentally different mechanisms of so-called chemical interface damping (CID), the plasmon damping caused by adsorbed molecules. Which mechanism dominates depends on how the electronic states of the molecule align with those of the metal surface, gold in this caseâand this alignment is even reflected in the materialâs electrical resistance.
Hybrid excitons: Combining the best of both worlds
Faster, more efficient, and more versatileâthese are the expectations for the technology that will produce our energy and handle information in the future. But how can these expectations be met? A major breakthrough in physics has now been made by an international team of researchers from the Universities of Göttingen, Marburg, the Berlin Humboldt in Germany, and Graz in Austria.
The scientists combined two highly promising types of materialâorganic semiconductors and two-dimensional semiconductorsâand studied their combined response to light using photoelectron spectroscopy and many-body perturbation theory.
This enabled them to observe and describe fundamental microscopic processes, such as energy transfer, at the 2D-organic interface with ultrafast time resolution, meaning one quadrillionth of a second. The combination of these properties holds promise for developing new technology such as the next generation of solar cells. The results are published in Nature Physics.
Batteries lose charge when they âbreatheâ: Understanding deterioration is a step toward longer-lasting batteries
Researchers have identified a key reason why the batteries used to power everything from smartphones to electric vehicles deteriorate over time, a critical step toward building faster, more reliable and longer-lasting batteries.
The research team from The University of Texas at Austin, Northeastern University, Stanford University and Argonne National Laboratory found that every cycle of charge and discharge causes batteries to expand and contract, similar to human breathing. This action causes battery components to warp just a tiny amount, putting strain on the battery and weakening it over time. This phenomenon, known as chemomechanical degradation, leads to reduced performance and lifespan.
The findings are published in the journal Science.
Putting the squeeze on dendrites: New strategy addresses persistent problem in next-generation solid-state batteries
New research by Brown University engineers identifies a simple strategy for combating a major stumbling block in the development of next-generation solid-state lithium batteries.
Solid-state batteries are considered the next frontier in energy storage, particularly for electric vehicles. Compared to current liquid electrolyte batteries, solid-state batteries have the potential for faster charging, longer range and safer operation due to decreased flammability. But thereâs been a consistent problem holding back their commercialization: lithium dendrites.
Dendrites are filaments of lithium metal that can grow inside a batteryâs electrolyte (the part of the battery that separates the anode from the cathode) during charging at high current. When they grow across the electrolyte, dendrites cause circuits between the batteryâs anode and cathode, which destroy the battery. So while solid electrolytes canâin theoryâenable faster charging than liquid electrolytes, the dendrite problem is one of the primary limitations that has to date prevented them from reaching that potential.