This archive covers technology and innovation breakthroughs that improve lives, protect the environment, and expand human possibility. From medical devices to clean energy tools, the stories here focus on what’s working and who’s making it happen.
Although sodium-ion battery technology has a lower density (and is less mature) than lithium-ion, its lower costs, more abundant supplies and superior cold-weather performance could help accelerate mass EV adoption worldwide.
A team at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has achieved fusion ignition, producing a net energy gain from a fusion reaction for the first time ever. The feat was hailed as a “moment of history” by physicists and another major breakthrough in the quest for near-limitless clean energy.
A new class of antibiotics has been discovered for the first time in more than 60 years, and artificial intelligence helped get us there. MIT researchers trained deep-learning models to sift through roughly 12 million chemical compounds, eventually landing on two promising candidates that each cut MRSA populations tenfold in mouse studies. Just as importantly, the team built their AI to be transparent, so scientists can actually see why certain molecules work. That matters because the same framework could be turned loose on other drug-resistant infections, offering real hope against superbugs that kill tens of thousands of people every year.
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology exposed CO2 to catalysts and then electrolysis that turns the gas into a powder called sodium formate, which can be safely stored for decades. The breakthrough follows an almost century-long effort to turn CO2 into a cheap, clean fuel. Researchers have previously turned CO2 into fuels that required too much energy to make or were difficult to store long-term.
The reactor, dubbed JT-60SA, represents the latest testbed for a potentially transformative source of renewable energy harvested from atoms fusing together under immense pressure and incredibly high temperatures — without risking a nuclear meltdown.
In the first trial, at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Center in Australia, CRC patients receiving just divarasib had a 35.9% positive response rate, which was considered extremely promising.
After only two doses, nearly eight out of ten participants in a phase 2 trial by Toronto-based pharmaceutical company Cybin experienced remission from major depressive disorder at six weeks. The company has a planned phase 3 study slated to commence by the end of Q1 2024.
Initially, a Ford E-Transit fitted with a receiver will be used to gather data as part of a five-year pilot to perfect the technology in real-world settings and study potential public transport applications – though there are plans to open the electric road system to the public within the next few years.
Green ammonia offers a solution to one of the hardest tasks in decarbonization: replacing diesel in large ships. Yara is stepping forward with a commitment to launch the world’s first clean ammonia-powered container ship, ready for service in 2026. Shipping is responsible for between 1.7 and 3% of global CO2 emissions.
Sustainable aviation fuel just crossed the Atlantic on its own, with no fossil jet fuel in the tank. A Gulfstream G600 flew from Savannah, Georgia to Farnborough, England in under seven hours, becoming the first aircraft to make the transatlantic journey on 100% SAF. The engines weren’t modified for the trip, hinting that existing planes could one day run on cleaner fuel without expensive retrofits. Gulfstream now plans to share the flight data with U.S. regulators to help certify full SAF use beyond today’s blended limits. For an industry where battery and hydrogen flight remain distant, this single crossing offers something rare: a glimpse of long-haul aviation that could actually clean up before 2050.
