Science
Thorium: Why India Is Betting on a Different Nuclear Fuel
India holds vast thorium reserves and a unique three-stage plan to use them. Here is why the country is betting on a…
Science News
Science
Graphene: The One-Atom-Thick Material Stronger Than Steel
One atom thick, 200 times stronger than steel, more conductive than copper. Twenty years after sticky-tape isolation, what graphene can actually do.
Science
Nuclear Fusion: Why Recreating the Sun’s Power on Earth Is So Hard
Fusing atoms powers the Sun, but recreating it on Earth is brutally hard. Here is why fusion energy remains decades away, and…
Science
How Glass Is Made: From Sand to Smartphone Screens
Sand, soda, lime and fire: glass is a liquid's disorder frozen solid. From float lines to fibre optics to Gorilla Glass, how…
Science
Small Modular Reactors: The Future of Nuclear Power?
Small modular reactors promise cheaper, safer nuclear power built in factories. Here is what SMRs really are, and whether they are the…
Science
Superalloys: The Metals That Survive Inside Jet Engines
Turbine blades spin in gas hotter than their melting point and survive. The metallurgy of superalloys: single crystals, ceramic coats and 70…
Science
How Solar Panels Turn Sunlight Into Electricity
Solar panels turn sunlight into electricity with no moving parts. Here is the physics of the photovoltaic effect, from photons to power…
Science
Biodegradable Plastics: The Chemistry of Materials That Disappear
Plastics that rot like leaves exist, but most need industrial composting absent in India. The chemistry of biodegradables, and the fine print…
Science
Green Hydrogen: Why It Is Called the Fuel of the Future
Green hydrogen is called the fuel of the future. Here is how it is made with renewable electricity, and what it could…
Science
Concrete’s Carbon Problem – and the Greener Alternatives
Cement makes 8 per cent of global CO2, baked into limestone chemistry itself. Why concrete is so carbon-hungry, and the greener recipes…