Energy

A team of experts led by the University of Minnesota Twin Cities has developed a gadget that electronically changes one metal to behave like another, allowing it to be used as a catalyst to accelerate chemical reactions. Known as a ‘catalytic condenser', the gadget is the first to show electronic modification of alternative materials to provide new features can result in faster and more efficient chemical processing. The innovation paves the way for new non-precious metal catalyst-based technologies for applications in…

President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, gestures during his speech at the closing ceremony of the Latin Bitcoin conference (LaBitConf) at Mizata Beach, El Salvador, where he announced "Bitcoin City", on November 20, 2021.Marvin Recinos | AFP | Getty ImagesEl Salvador just added another $15.5 million worth of bitcoin to its balance sheet, as the world's most popular cryptocurrency continues its sell-off.In a tweet on Monday, President Nayib Bukele revealed that the country bought the dip, adding another 500 bitcoin to…

Bitcoin dropped below the $30,000 level late Monday, breaching a symbolic price threshold.At its lowest price point, the world's most popular cryptocurrency was more than 12% lower on the day — and more than 56% off its November all-time high of around $69,000.The last time bitcoin traded below $30,000 was in July 2021, when the digital asset traded as low as $29,839.80. Yuya Hasegawa, a crypto market analyst at Japanese bitcoin exchange Bitbank, previously told CNBC that bitcoin would need to maintain a key psychological…

Bitcoin is off nearly 55% from its November peak, and 40% of holders are now underwater on their investments, according to new data from Glassnode.That percentage is even higher when you isolate for the short-term holders who got skin in the game in the last six months when the price of bitcoin peaked at around $69,000.In the last month alone, 15.5% of all bitcoin wallets fell into an unrealized loss, as the world's most popular cryptocurrency plunged to the $31,000 level, tracking tech stocks lower. Bitcoin's close…

Chinese companies like Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. BABA -5.79% are embracing buybacks and one-off dividends, handing cash to shareholders as they seek to shore up their battered stock prices and signal confidence in the long-term outlook. The dividend payouts and stock repurchases could help support a market that has been rattled by a series of challenges, which range from the economic impact of Beijing’s Covid-19 policies and sweeping regulatory crackdowns to concerns…

A representation of the energy equity gap based on data from 2,650 Arizona households from 2018-2019. Credit: Carnegie Mellon University Destenie Nock and Shuchen Cong are unveiling hidden energy poverty and insecurity. Their new metric, developed with collaborators at the University of Maryland and the Salt River Project, illustrates what they've termed the "energy equity gap."…

Activist hedge fund Third Point LLC told clients it has increased its stake in Shell SHEL -3.24% PLC and is still pushing the oil giant to restructure, six months after calling for a breakup of the company. Daniel Loeb’s New York-based hedge fund took a $750 million stake in Shell last year as of the third quarter, and called on it to separate into multiple companies—one focused on legacy businesses such…

Researchers uncover critical changes in the thermal properties of energy storage devices during operation, paving the way towards better thermal management.Modern energy storage devices, such as supercapacitors and batteries, have highly temperature-dependent performance. If a device gets too hot, it becomes susceptible to ‘thermal runaway.’ Thermal runaway—or uncontrolled overheating—can ultimately result in dangerous explosions or fires. Adopting a well-informed thermal management strategy is required for the stable and…

The interacting galaxy pair NGC 1512 and NGC 1510 take center stage in this image from the Dark Energy Camera, a state-of-the art wide-field imager on the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. NGC 1512 has been in the process of merging with its smaller galactic neighbor for 400 million years, and this drawn-out interaction has ignited waves of star formation and warped both galaxies. Credit: Dark Energy Survey/DOE/FNAL/DECam/CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA, Image…

Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm takes questions during a media briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S., November 23, 2021.Evelyn Hockstein | ReutersThe U.S. Department of Energy announced on Thursday it was taking its first steps to disburse more than $2.3 billion for carbon capture technology included in Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which the president signed in November, for carbon capture technology.Carbon dioxide emissions are a result of burning fossil fuels and are a primary cause of…