
Science
Fool's Gold Has Been Hiding Real Lithium This Whole Time
A West Virginia lab has found measurable lithium locked inside pyrite from Appalachian black shale, an unexpected source for the metal that runs the battery economy.
Casey Cooper·

A West Virginia lab has found measurable lithium locked inside pyrite from Appalachian black shale, an unexpected source for the metal that runs the battery economy.

2.4 billion years ago, cyanobacteria flooded Earth with a toxic gas called oxygen, triggering the planet's first mass extinction and making complex life possible.

Lava tubes beneath the lunar and Martian surfaces could be large enough to shelter entire settlements. Robots are already learning to explore them.

In a remote corner of northern Quebec lies a rocky outcrop that dates back 4.16 billion years, the only surviving fragment from Earth's violent, molten youth.