‘Proton’ battery uses cheap carbon instead of lithium

A big challenge for the EV and renewable energy revolution is that the much-needed batteries are made from lithium, a relatively rare and pricey metal. Rather than focusing on other metals like magnesium, a team of scientists from RMIT University in Melbourne have figured it out to build rechargeable “proton” batteries from abundant carbon and […]

‘Altered Carbon’ Director Miguel Sapochnik on His Influences, Imagining the Future, and ‘Blade Runner’ [Interview]

Over the past few years, Miguel Sapochnik has been directing some of the most exciting episodes on television. Sapochnik’s Game of Thrones episodes, “Hardhome” and “Battle of the Bastards,” are unforgettable and earned him a well-deserved Emmy. Before returning for the final season of that HBO series, the director (who has also helmed episodes of House and True Detective) worked on one […]

Altered Carbon somehow nails the sci-fi book-to-TV landing on Netflix

Enlarge (credit: Netflix) Fans of the dystopian-noir novel Altered Carbon surely had to wonder what form it would take when turned into a TV series. Or, to borrow the 2002 book’s lingo, what “sleeve” the show would slip into. The result, whose entire first TV season debuted last week on Netflix, is a pretty surprising […]

‘Altered Carbon’ is more than just a ‘Blade Runner’ ripoff

Altered Carbon is the very definition of a guilty pleasure. The show, adapted by Laeta Kalogridis from Richard Morgan’s novel, isn’t exactly well written. And, like most Netflix joints, it goes on for way too long. But it’s gorgeous, it’s filled with charismatic actors and its cyberpunk aesthetic feels like a ’90s anime brought to […]

Budget deal has tax credit extensions for nuclear, fuel cells, carbon capture

Enlarge / Atomic plant Vogtle, located in Burke County, near Waynesboro, Georgia. (Photo by Pallava Bagla/Corbis via Getty Images) (credit: Getty Images) A two-year budget deal was approved by the House and the Senate this morning and signed by President Trump a few hours later. The budget (PDF) included a slew of tax credit extensions that […]