Scientists say they have discovered the largest lithium deposit in the world inside an extinct volcano in the United States, capable of meeting global battery demand for decades. Volcanologists and geologists reported evidence of the McDermitt caldera on the border of Nevada and Oregon containing up to 120 million tonnes of lithium, holding the potential to disrupt the price and supply dynamics of lithium globally. The ancient supervolcano exploded around 16 million years ago, forming the rare metal inside its volcanic rock. Lithium ion batteries are used to power everything from smartphones to electric vehicles, however the vast amounts of lithium required to produce them has led to a “lithium rush”, according to the researchers. Current supply forecasts suggest roughly 1 million metric tons of lithium will be needed to meet global demand by 2040 – an eight-fold increase from the total global production last year. Calculations from researchers estimate that the McDermitt caldera could contain up to 120 million metric tons of lithium, making it 12-times larger than the amount of lithium in the salt flats in Bolivia, which were previously considered the largest lithium deposit on Earth. “Developing a sustainable and diverse supply chain to meet lower-carbon energy and national security goals requires mining the highest-grade domestic lithium resources with the lowest waste:ore strip ratios to minimise both the volume of material extracted from the Earth,”the researchers noted in a study, published in Science Advances. “Volcano sedimentary lithium resources have the potential to meet this requirement, as they tend to be shallow, high-tonnage deposits with low waste:ore strip ratios.” Mining could begin as early as 2026, according to geologists at Lithium Americas Corporation, who made the discovery alongside GNS Science and Oregon State University. However, the site for a proposed mine on the Nevada side of the caldera has already drawn protests from environmental groups, as well as two area tribes who claim it would be built atop sacred land. Responding to the latest discovery, Tesla boss Elon Musk said the deposit will only be economically significant to the electric car industry if it can be refined in an efficient way. “Lithium ore is quite common throughout the world. The limiting factor is lithium refining,” Mr Musk posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Sunday. “Same goes for the cathode, which is primarily iron (medium range cars) or nickel (long range) and the anode, which is carbon. Refining matters more than ore.” Read More Battery breakthroughs are about to trigger a transport revolution Former Alibaba chair Daniel Zhang steps down as head of cloud division How Google reshaped the world – and is about to do it all over again Update your iPhone immediately

Although we’re probably still a long way off from the sentient forms of AI that are depicted in film and literature, we can turn to fiction to probe the questions raised by these technological advancements.

Rishi Sunak will pledge to spend £1.6 billion ($2 billion) on climate projects, as the British premier arrives

Twitter owner Elon Musk and the chief executive he brought aboard just a month ago say the social media network will ditch the bird logo, rebrand the platform with the name X and...

It feels like this year, more than any other, we’re seeing a stream of science stories that continue to blow our minds. Every day is a school day online in 2023, and a host of studies, research papers and headline-making breakthroughs have completely changed our understanding of the world around us at every turn. There have been missions to the moon and findings about our planet which could turn everything we thought we knew on its head – not to mention baffling hearings on UFOs taking place in the US congress. These are the biggest science stories so far this year that have caught our attention in a big way. 'Alien corpses' unveiled in Mexico divide conspiracy theorists Christmas has come early for UFO watchers, with the alleged corpses of real-life aliens displayed for the world to see. The startling revelation came during a congress hearing in Mexico City on Tuesday, titled the Public Assembly for the Regulation of Unidentified Anomalous Aerial Phenomena (UAP). During the session, which was streamed online, Mexican ufologist Jaime Maussan presented what he claimed were two perfectly preserved “non-human entities”. Read more here. Buy now , Massive ocean discovered beneath the Earth's crust containing more water than on the surface People are only just realising that there’s a massive ocean hidden under the Earth’s crust. It turns out there’s a huge supply of water 400 miles underground stored in rock known as 'ringwoodite'. Scientists previously discovered that water is stored inside mantle rock in a sponge-like state, which isn’t a liquid, solid or a gas, but instead a fourth state. Read more here. Buy now , Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings

China’s security and surveillance industry is now focused on shoring up its vulnerabilities to the United States and other outside actors, worried about risks posed by hackers, advances in artificial intelligence and pressure from rival governments

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 2, 2023--

In recent years, the popularity of true crime documentaries has absolutely soared but now psychologists are warning that watching them to relax is a huge red flag. Thanks to streaming sites like Netflix, true crime documentaries have become a genre in and of themselves, but one expert has argued that watching them in order to fall asleep could be a sign of the harmful ways a person processes trauma. Doctor Thema Bryant explained how watching true crime for comfort because the trauma feels “familiar” is a sign that you may benefit from counselling. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Speaking on The Mel Robbins Podcast, Dr Bryant said: “If your idea of relaxing before you go to sleep is to watch three episodes of Law and Order, [then] I would encourage you to think about 'why is trauma relaxing to me?' “That's what it is. Harm, crime, violation, attacks, and that's what is going to soothe me into my bedtime.” @melrobbins If your idea of “relaxing” before bed is watching a few episodes of Law & Order (or any other #truecrime show), listen up. This was just ONE of the many incredible mic drop moments ? and knowledge bombs ? that @Dr Thema Bryant drops on the #melrobbinspodcast. Listen now!! ? “6 Signs You’re Disconnected From Your Power and How to Get It Back: Life-Changing Advice From the Remarkable Dr. Thema Bryant” ? in bio #melrobbins #podcast #trauma #traumatok #healing #bingewatching Dr Bryant explained that people often discuss their love of true crime in therapy with her and argued many people find it “normal and familiar”. She went on: “Some of us grew up in high-stress [situations], so people mistake peace for boring. And it's like, to come home to yourself, you have to lean into the discomfort because it’s going to feel unfamiliar.” In response to the podcast clip shared on TikTok, many reflected on their own relationship with this kind of television. One person wrote: “Wow that is exactly what I watch to relax. This was so enlightening.” Another argued: “The trauma isn't relaxing to me – it's the justice the characters/real people often get that I never did in my own life.” Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Amouranth may make a killing after investing in Activision Blizzard in March 2022

Ethan played one of Ross’ recent Podcast on Kick where he was talking to his sister when she said 'What’s stigma?'

MrBeast is the most subscribed individual creator on YouTuber and is known for his many philanthropic works

No sooner did ChatGPT get unleashed than hackers started “jailbreaking” the artificial intelligence chatbot – trying to override its safeguards so it could blurt out something unhinged or obscene