Stories by Melissa C. Lott

In June, Professor Mildred Dresselhaus will formally receive the 2015 IEEE Medal of Honor for her leadership and contributions across many fields of science and engineering. She is the first woman to receive the organisation’s highest honor since its inception in 1917.

What happens when lithium-ion batteries overheat and explode? In a paper published yesterday in Nature, researchers at University College London (UCL) documented their process for simultaneously imaging both the inside and outside of lithium ion batteries as they overheat.

Both crude oil and natural gas reserves in the United States increased in 2013, according to a new report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

On Saturday, a start-up called Hyliion was awarded the U.S. Department of Energy Clean Energy Entrepreneurship prize at the 15th annual Rice Business Plan Competition in Houston.

Where does it comes from? Where does it go? These two questions were asked last summer here on Plugged In with respect to the energy use in the United States.

Children’s lungs are growing substantially stronger as air pollution in Southern California decreases. The Los Angeles area had struggled with air pollution for decades.

Despite a slight uptick since January, global oil prices are still half of what they were a year ago. These low prices have benefited consumers by dropping the price of gasoline and diesel across the United States.

The City of Light’s green makeover touched the iconic Eiffel Tower last week as it ramped up two onsite wind turbines. These turbines are installed inside the tower’s metal scaffolding on the second level, and are painted in the same color to minimize their visual impact on the 126-year-old tower.

Just three countries currently produce shale gas at commercial levels according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) – the United States, Canada, and China.

I have received many interesting questions from readers in response to last Sunday's article "Controlling the Path of Least Resistance with Smart Wires." This week, I consolidated these questions and took them back to Smart Wires – the start-up company behind the power flow control technology that was featured in the previous discussion - to [...]

Researchers in Finland have developed a flexible and recyclable organic solar panel in the form of a leaf. At the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland pilot plant, these solar panels were printed directly onto a thin sheet of film to create a solar wallpaper that can be used to produce electricity from interior lighting or sunlight. According to [...]

Innovators gather in DC this week to discuss how to modernize the U.S. electric grid in the face of a changing electricity sector. The ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit kicks off today in Washington DC and will highlight technologies that could fundamentally alter how the nation generates, uses, and stores electricity.

According to reports released over the past 6 months, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and Southern Company have successfully deployed networks of distributed power flow control devices to relieve stress on the nation's electricity grid.

If two-thirds of Fortune 100 companies want to buy electricity generated by off-site renewable energy sources this year, why hasn't more capacity been built?

In the United States, reducing electricity probably won't lead to a significant reduction in direct oil consumption. Instead (in terms of fossil fuels) it is more likely to reduce your consumption of coal and natural gas.

Idling of cars costs money, consumes energy, and pollutes the air. But, when winter temperatures dip below freezing, many Americans intentionally idle their cars for long periods of time.

Global oil prices are at their lowest levels in six years. Supply is up and demand increases are sluggish. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA) oil prices have crashed by 60% since June.

Since last summer, global crude oil prices have dropped by about 60%, from upwards of $110 to the current $45 per barrel. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the heart of this crash lies in simple supply and demand economics.

The United Kingdom has been on a purposeful path toward a less carbon-intensive energy sector since passing the UK Climate Change Act in 2008.

It has been a busy year here at Plugged In. We have said a fond farewell (for now) to David Wogan and were excited to see Scott Huler launch a new project on Scientific American’s Expeditions.

With the close of 2014 came the closing of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant. At 1:04 pm EST on Monday, the 620 Megawatt plant in southern Vermont was completely shut down.

For the truck lovers out there – check out the BelAZ 75710 dump truck that is currently at work in a Siberian mine in the Kuzbass region of Russia.

Electricity suppliers have been shedding jobs over the past three years, with a net loss of 5,800 jobs across the United States. While non-hydro renewable power plants have seen significant growth, these job additions were not enough to offset losses at nuclear, fossil fuel, and hydroelectric power plants.

Humans produce around 360 pounds of poo over the course of a year - and the United Kingdom's "Bio Bus" is taking this poo on the road. This 40-seater, single-decker bus now runs the 20-mile stretch between Bath and Bristol Airport in southwest England.