We look at the field of economic geology, or the scientific discipline concerned with the distribution of mineral deposits, the economic considerations involved in their recovery, and the assessment of the reserves available. Simon also discusses some of his latest work on looking at the impact of COVID-19 on the mineral supply chain and how the global pandemic and geopolitical tensions with China may change the way we think about raw materials and their supply chains.

According to data from short-term rental analytics firm AirDNA, Arizona’s Phoenix and Scottsdale area, the home of the 2023 Super Bowl, has seen a huge increase in booking demand, up 41% year-over-year, as of December 2022. This Sonoran Desert location has also seen an uptick in rental supply, with 23,249 listings in December 2022, up 47% year-over-year. These dynamics have pushed the area’s occupancy rate down 6%. A similar trend has been playing out in other desert destinations such as California’s Coachella Valley, where the Sonoran eventually meets the Mojave Desert, and in Marfa, Texas, in the Chihuahuan Desert.

The answer is complicated. It depends on what you mean by efficiency, as well as on some pretty important assumptions.

Rechargeable batteries have become the lifeblood of electronics, enabling the mobile revolution. Unfortunately, today's rechargeable batteries incorporate flammable liquid cores. That could change soon, however by switching to rechargeable batteries that have solid cores with nothing to spill, nothing to catch on fire, nothing to potentially explode.

Cobalt is a mineral that is essential in a wide variety of industrial applications from batteries to jet engines. However, most ore comes from mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a country that has been exploited for over 100 years. Due to the inherent risks and ethical issues of dealing with the country, finding sources from outside the region is a top US priority. However, high concentration cobalt sources are relatively rare, and most production comes as a byproduct from other mines (nickel, iron, etc).

Even though you can't see them, your home is full of microscopic germs that can make your family or visitors sick. "Even the cleanest home has bacteria and viruses," says Ernesto Abel-Santos, a professor of biochemistry at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. "In fact, most have benefits for us."

The harshest arctic winters have got nothing on the chill from deep space. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) continues to provide gifts for scientists and space enthusiasts with its latest discovery: ice found within the deepest reaches of an interstellar molecular cloud. As reported in the journal Nature Astronomy, the JWST measured the frozen molecules at minus 440 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 263 degrees Celsius).

A Jan. 22 Instagram post shows a person holding a shiny rock that appears to produce electricity and illuminate a small light connected to it by wires. "Electrically charged stones discovered in the Democratic Republic of the Congo," reads text in the post.

Experts say that while minerals within rocks can conduct electricity, rocks cannot store it or function as batteries on their own.

A minuscule bit of material in you car's exhaust system is attracting thieves, causing big headaches and costing victims thousands in repair bills.

As proof, social media users shared a video showing several people inspecting a small, shiny rock. One of the individuals connects two ends of what appears to be a wire to the rock, which activates a light on the wire. “Electrically charged stones discovered in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,” one Twitter user who shared the video wrote Saturday. The tweet was shared over 27,000 times.

Prompted by video last week of a coyote pack trotting merrily along a Henderson street — to say nothing of mountain lion sightings in edge-of-town neighborhoods — we talked to an expert in the human-wildlife interface.