Meet John Liu, the student who used corn stalks and wheat straw to recover lithium from dilute water |

Image: @JJYAj/YouTube/AI Regenerated Lithium is a crucial ingredient in rechargeable batteries, but recovering it from dilute sources can be difficult and energy-intensive. John Liu, a high school student from St. Paul, Minnesota, approached that problem by looking at materials that are usually left behind after harvest: corn stalks and wheat straw. His project, titled ‘Passive…

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A South African couple combined 11 former livestock farms into a 67,000-acre reserve, restored the land and brought cheetahs back to the Great Karoo after 130 years

Samara reintroduced wild cheetahs to the Great Karoo in 2004 after 130 years. (Picture: Samara) In 1997, couple Sarah and Mark Tompkins set out to restore a part of South Africa’s Great Karoo that had lost much of its wildlife. Their effort eventually turned 11 former livestock farms into a 67,000-acre reserve, creating a large…

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Meet Frank Lucci, the 18-year-old Texas student who built a high-precision robot sensor for under $25; it is nearly 20 times cheaper than existing options

Born in San Antonio, Lucci built SubArc for his engineering project for the Regeneron Science Talent Search. Imagine building a tiny piece of technology that tells robots exactly how they are moving, and doing it for the cost of a typical dinner. This is exactly what 18-year-old Texas student Frank Lucci set out to do…

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A Michigan woman gave birth in the back of an Uber; one year later, the driver returned for the baby’s ‘One Wild Ride’ birthday as her godmother

Braya Ray was in for a big surprise when she hopped into Meghan “Maggie” Whatley’s Uber last year. Not only did Ray, 25, unexpectedly welcome her baby daughter Grace in the backseat of Whatley’s car, but the experience bonded the pair so much that now, one year later, Whatley, 35, joined Ray’s family to celebrate…

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An Iowa couple bought an abandoned fire station for $90,000; nearly 10 years later, they had turned the black-mold-covered 1960 building into their family dream home

Photo: absolutprop_firehouse_flip/ Instagram Growing up in Iowa, Steven and Ashley Evans knew all about the local fire station in Cedar Rapids because it was right by the high school they both attended. “We always dreamed we’d live here one day. It went up for sale and we thought we’d come check it out,” Steven, 40,…

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‘India could use water as weapon’: Pakistan minister as Indus Waters Treaty remains in abeyance

Pakistan minister Ahsan Iqbal (File photo) Pakistan minister Ahsan Iqbal has said India could “weaponise” the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) and expressed hope that “better sense” would prevail to prevent the two neighbours from going to war again, this time over water.He noted that the treaty had remained “untouchable” for almost seven decades since it…

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In the early 1970s, Virginia Beach compacted 640,000 tons of garbage into a 60-foot hill; the dump became America’s first landfill park and now spans 165 acres

Mount Trashmore Park (Image Credit: Wikipedia) In Virginia Beach, one of the city’s most recognisable parks began with something most communities would rather hide: a mountain of garbage. According to the City of Virginia Beach, a 640,000-ton pile of garbage was converted into a 60-foot-high hill that became Mount Trashmore Park. What had once been…

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In 1969, a Church’s Fried Chicken co-founder bought 3,000 acres of neglected Texas ranchland; decades of restoration brought long-absent springs and flowing water back

Bamberger Ranch PreservePhoto credit: https://www.bambergerranch.org Back in 1969, R. C. Bamberger made a bold move that left many locals scratching their heads. The co-founder of Church’s Fried Chicken bought 3,000 acres of badly damaged land in the Texas Hill Country, stepping into a landscape ruined by generations of heavy cattle grazing. The topsoil was washed…

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Potential For Injury Or Death: ‘Could result in injury or death’: Thanedar urges US to halt ICE’s electric shock glove plan

Indian-American Congressman Shri Thanedar warns against ICE’s electric shock gloves Indian-American Congressman Shri Thanedar and two other senior Democratic lawmakers have urged the US government to immediately halt Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) plan to procure gloves capable of delivering electric shocks to officers and agents.In a letter to homeland security secretary Markwayne Mullin on…

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Mexican governor seeks leave again amid backlash after return following US drug charges indictment

Mexican governor has been accused of drug trafficking by the US, but Mexico has said there isn’t substantial evidence Sinaloa Governor Ruben Rocha has again asked to step away from office, just days after returning to his post following a more than three-month leave prompted by US drug-trafficking charges.Rocha, 77, sought the leave on Saturday…

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