One of the biggest obstacles on the road to the low-carbon energy future is caused by the rare-earth element lithium, a critical component for the batteries that can store the abundant and sustainable energy from renewable sources. The element occurs naturally as a salt in briny oases, called salares, in some of the world’s harshest environments, including the “Lithium Triangle” high in South America’s arid Altiplano. Mining lithium has the potential to destabilize already sensitive environments that are host to rare flora and fauna, as well as the Indigenous communities that have long made such places their homes.

While earlier research from the University of Massachusetts Amherst has shown that commonly accepted figures quantifying how much water can be withdrawn from salares overestimate the amount of water available by more than an order of magnitude, a recent study led by UMass Amherst graduate student Daniel Corkran uncovers the previously unknown physical mechanisms that govern sustainable water usage. And it overturns some of the commonly held assumptions about what counts as sustainable lithium mining.

OKLAHOMA CITY – Researchers from the University of Oklahoma Health Campus have published an article in the New England Journal of Medicine describing a novel care coordination and communication program and its potential for helping Indigenous people access the lifesaving cancer care that they need.

New research shows that climate change is exacerbating salmon declines in the Arctic, but warming waters could give another fish species a temporary boost.