All posts tagged: Metals

Scorpions reinforce their claws and stingers with metals

Scorpions reinforce their claws and stingers with metals

Published by skeptic

Scorpions fluoresce under ultraviolet light Erwin Niemand/Shutterstock Scorpions strengthen their claws and stingers with metal, effectively turning these weapons into the equivalent of a steel-capped boot. The use of metals to strengthen vulnerable body parts – such as teeth in vertebrates like Komodo dragons (Varanus komodoensis) – is already known, and the areas of a scorpion that contain metals are visible as stains to the naked eye. Sam Campbell at the University of Queensland, Australia, and his colleagues examined the claws and stingers of 18 species of scorpion from around the world to determine the extent and composition of their metal reinforcements. The team used two different X-ray techniques and electron microscopy to examine the scorpions, enabling them to map the presence of three main metals – iron, zinc and manganese. They also found traces of a range of other elements, including copper, nickel, silicon, chlorine, titanium and bromine. The metals are largely found within the tips of the stingers and along the cutting edge of the claws, as well as in their mouth and …

Tesla lithium refinery discharge contains toxic metals, drainage district demands halt

Tesla lithium refinery discharge contains toxic metals, drainage district demands halt

Published by skeptic

Independent lab testing has found traces of hexavalent chromium — a known carcinogen — along with arsenic and elevated levels of lithium in wastewater discharged from Tesla’s nearly $1 billion lithium refinery in Robstown, Texas. The Nueces County Drainage District No. 2, which manages the ditch receiving Tesla’s 231,000-gallon daily discharge, has issued a cease-and-desist letter demanding the company halt its wastewater flow pending further discussion. The findings are particularly notable because when Tesla unveiled the Robstown refinery earlier this year, it touted the facility’s “acid-free” process as a cleaner alternative to traditional lithium refining. The company claimed its alkaline leach method produces benign byproducts — sand and limestone materials suitable for concrete — rather than the hazardous sodium sulfate waste typical of conventional acid-roasting operations. What the testing found The lab results, generated by accredited environmental testing firm Eurofins Environment Testing on April 10, paint a detailed picture of the refinery’s wastewater composition. A 24-hour composite sample collected on April 7 revealed: Advertisement – scroll for more content Hexavalent chromium measured at 0.0104 mg/L …

Heavy metals drop, but levels of PFAS in Svalbard reindeer skyrocket

Heavy metals drop, but levels of PFAS in Svalbard reindeer skyrocket

Published by skeptic

Toxic metals in reindeer populations have dropped over the last decade, but the levels of forever chemicals has risen dramatically, posing concerns about the species that consume the reindeer, which includes polar bears and humans. The Svalbard reindeer are a subspecies of reindeer(or caribou) found only on the island, where they have existed for at least 5,000 years. They are about the third of the size of typical reindeer species and after facing extinction in the early 20th Century, have bounced back to a population of roughly 22,000. The presence of heavy metals and other pollutants have been known to accrue in the Arctic, especially in species at the top of the food chain, such as the polar bear. But the Svalbard reindeer represent the only major grazing animal in the European Arctic, feeding on tundra vegetation and themselves feeding local predator populations- as well as being hunted for their meat by humans- and questions remain about how many organic pollutants are present in their meat and fur. Malin Andersson Stavridis spent four years in …

New triangular form of aluminum may be more valuable than platinum

New triangular form of aluminum may be more valuable than platinum

Published by Jenni Sidey

Platinum works beautifully. It speeds up chemical reactions, holds up under punishment, and sits reliably at the center of industrial processes worth billions of dollars annually. It also costs roughly 20,000 times more than the most abundant metal in the Earth’s crust. That gap has driven decades of searching. If chemists could coax a cheaper, more common element into behaving like platinum and its chemical cousins, the implications for manufacturing, sustainability, and cost would be enormous. A team at King’s College London has now taken a significant step in that direction, and the element they’re working with is aluminum. Dr Clare Bakewell and her laboratory have created a new form of aluminum, published in Nature Communications, that can break apart tough chemical bonds and generate molecular structures never previously observed. The discovery opens a line of chemistry that the researchers say goes beyond simply mimicking precious metals. “We chose aluminum as it’s super abundant, making it approximately 20,000 times less expensive than precious metals such as platinum and palladium,” Bakewell said. Dr Clare Bakewell and …

A US battery recycler lands a massive .1B metals refining deal

A US battery recycler lands a massive $1.1B metals refining deal

Published by skeptic

Photo: Nth Cycle Massachusetts-based critical metals refining company Nth Cycle has signed a 10-year agreement valued at about $1.1 billion with global commodities trader Trafigura to supply refined battery metals. The deal – announced as government and industry leaders gathered in Tokyo for the first Indo-Pacific Energy Security Ministerial and Business Forum – is the largest recycled battery metals refining agreement of its kind. Under the agreement, Trafigura will purchase 2,000 tonnes of contained nickel in mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP) and 1,500 tonnes of lithium carbonate. The materials will be refined from 12,000 tonnes of battery “black mass,” the shredded material recovered from used lithium-ion batteries. For Western battery supply chains, the scale of the deal is significant. It’s also the largest multi‑metal commercial agreement between a recycled battery feedstock supplier and a refiner. Advertisement – scroll for more content Nth Cycle first commercialized its technology in 2024 at a facility in Fairfield, Ohio. Now the company is planning new operations in South Carolina and the Netherlands to support the Trafigura agreement. The company will …

CME Halts All Metals, NatGas Markets Due To “Technical Issues”

CME Halts All Metals, NatGas Markets Due To “Technical Issues”

Published by Jenni Sidey

At around 1300ET, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) halted trading of all metals and NatGas contracts (futures and options) due to ‘technical issues’. Additionally, all day orders and GTDs with today’s date will be cancelled. All GTCs that have been acknowledged will remain working. Since the halt, spot prices for gold have declined… NatGas futures trading has re-opened (lower)… CME says that Globex Metals futures and options markets will Pre-open at 13:31 Central Time and Open at 13:45 Central Time. Developing… Loading recommendations… Source link

Scientists use microbes on ISS to extract valuable metals from meteorites

Scientists use microbes on ISS to extract valuable metals from meteorites

Published by Jenni Sidey

A meteorite chip sat in a small container, bathed in liquid, while the International Space Station floated overhead. Inside, a fungus spread thin threads across the rock. A bacterium built a slick biofilm. The question was simple to ask and harder to test: in microgravity, can microbes pull valuable metals out of asteroid-like material? A Cornell University and University of Edinburgh team says yes, at least in a proof-of-concept sense, and the fungus did the heavy lifting for one of the most sought-after metals in the sample. The experiment, called BioAsteroid and reported in npj Microgravity, compared a bacterium (Sphingomonas desiccabilis), a fungus (Penicillium simplicissimum), and a mixed “consortium” of both. Lead author Rosa Santomartino, an assistant professor of biological and environmental engineering at Cornell, worked with co-author Alessandro Stirpe, a research associate in microbiology. Charles Cockell, a professor of astrobiology at the University of Edinburgh, is the senior author. “This is probably the first experiment of its kind on the International Space Station on meteorite,” Santomartino said. Michael Scott Hopkins performs a microgravity experiment …

Futures Tumble As Plunging Metals And Bitcoin Spark Global Selloff, Margin Calls

Futures Tumble As Plunging Metals And Bitcoin Spark Global Selloff, Margin Calls

Published by Jenni Sidey

Stock futures slide extending Friday’s rout, although are well off session lows, with aggressive unwinds across commodities and a crypto rout adding to the risk-off mood and sparking cross-asset margin calls. As of 8:00am ET, S&P 500 futures are down 0.4%, rebounding from a drop of as much as 1% earlier; Nasdaq futures drop 0.8%, also trimming the drop by half, and lag with focus on AI concerns a key theme for pre-market trading. European stocks were weaker in early trade but have since returned to a positive footing, Stoxx 600 is up 0.2% and just a few points away from its all-time-high. Asian stocks retreated for a second session as risk-off sentiment dominated markets, with high-flying technology names and shares linked to precious metals leading an early selloff in a data-heavy week. The biggest action is in metals, with gold and silver extending sharp declines, though big declines are seen here. Oil fell with other commodities, with easing US-Iran tensions also contributing. Bitcoin plunged to a 10-month low in Asia trading as Korean Kamikaze piled on the short …

Scientists discover new quantum state where electrons stop acting like particles

Scientists discover new quantum state where electrons stop acting like particles

Published by Jenni Sidey

A new study in Nature Physics ties together two ideas that long seemed to live in different corners of condensed matter physics. One is quantum criticality, the restless tipping point where a material cannot settle into a single state. The other is electronic topology, the math-like “twists” in an electron’s wave behavior that can make certain properties unusually robust. The work was co-led by Rice University physicist Qimiao Si and Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien) physicist Silke Bühler-Paschen. Their teams argue that strong electron interactions can create a topological state, rather than destroy it, even in a regime where the usual picture of electrons as particle-like “quasiparticles” breaks down. “This is a fundamental step forward,” said Si, the Harry C. and Olga K. Wiess Professor of Physics and Astronomy and director of Rice’s Extreme Quantum Materials Alliance. “Our work shows that powerful quantum effects can combine to create something entirely new, which may help shape the future of quantum science.” Professor Qimiao Si, graduate student Lei Chen, and the Rice University research team. (CREDIT: …

PFAS-free versatile coatings for metals, plastics and glass

PFAS-free versatile coatings for metals, plastics and glass

Published by skeptic

Nanize patented technology creates durable, functional PFAS-free coatings that are fully cross-linked and covalently bound to the substrate in under one minute at temperatures below 70°C. Nanize have developed patented coating and curing technology for hydrolysing polysilazanes containing functional nano-additives to create glass-like, fully cross-linked and covalently bound surfaces. Our PFAS-free solutions for a wide range of applications deliver unmatched durability, ultra-low friction, and sub-minute curing at temperatures below 70°C without catalysts. Coatings without compromise proven by testing Having made over 20,000 individual tests, extensive lab validation of Nanize coatings has been undertaken, including by FTIR (Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy), to verify polymer crosslinking, hard curing, durability and performance. Test results confirm: Full curing in < 1 minute at temperatures below 70°C No catalyst required – minimising process complexity Dense crosslinked network confirmed by FTIR Proven covalent substrate bonding across a broad range of metals, plastics and glass Nanize ultra-rapidly cured polysilazane coatings are proven to create hard, durable, glass-like and dense 3-dimensional Si-O-Si dominant cross-linked structures that are covalently bonded to the substrate. Nanize: Coating …