Scientists in Finland have measured the heaviest known nucleus to undergo proton emission, discovering the rare isotope 188-astatine. It exhibits a unique shape and may reveal a new kind of nuclear interaction.

Researchers have unveiled a new quantum material that could make quantum computers much more stable by using magnetism to protect delicate qubits from environmental disturbances. Unlike traditional approaches that rely on rare spin-orbit interactions, this method uses magnetic interactions—common in many materials—to create robust topological excitations. Combined with a new computational tool for finding such materials, this breakthrough could pave the way for practical, disturbance-resistant quantum computers.

Once on the brink during the last ice age, great white sharks made a remarkable recovery globally, but their DNA reveals a baffling story. Classic migration explanations fail, leaving scientists with a mystery that defies reproductive and evolutionary logic.

Mediterranean bryozoans, including the “false coral,” are showing alarming changes in structure and microbiomes under acidification and warming. Field studies at volcanic CO₂ vents reveal that these stressors combined sharply reduce survival, posing risks to marine ecosystems.

Rice University scientists have discovered a way to make tiny vibrations, called phonons, interfere with each other more strongly than ever before. Using a special sandwich of silver, graphene, and silicon carbide, they created a record-breaking effect so sensitive it can detect a single molecule without labels or complex equipment. This breakthrough could open new possibilities for powerful sensors, quantum devices, and technologies that control heat and energy at the smallest scales.

A groundbreaking study has found that a simple change in walking style can ease osteoarthritis pain as effectively as medication—without the side effects. By adjusting foot angle, participants reduced knee stress, slowed cartilage damage, and maintained the change for over a year.

Chemical evidence from a stalagmite in Mexico has revealed that the Classic Maya civilization’s decline coincided with repeated severe wet-season droughts, including one that lasted 13 years. These prolonged droughts corresponded with halted monument construction and political disruption at key Maya sites, suggesting that climate stress played a major role in the collapse. The findings demonstrate how stalagmites offer unmatched precision for linking environmental change to historical events.

Last updated: August 2025 (updated quarterly)
Written by:

Volts podcast is designed so that anyone can jump right in. Each episode is self-contained, but the topics are admittedly interconnected and they build upon one another. Given that the podcast is now at a weighty 400+ episodes, Sam (Volts team) put together the Volts Jump-Start guide to help you navigate the Volts library turned labyrinth. This guide contains two components:

❤️ Essential Episodes: “I’m new to Volts, where should I start?” This is a list of episodes that are foundational or capture the current state of a technology or issue. All Volts episodes are amazing but you will quickly get up to speed if you listen to these particular episodes.

🔎 Search Volts Library: Take a deep dive into the extensive Volts archive! Listen to every single episode on solar, wind or whatever you’re studying.

❤️ Essential Episodes

Maybe you’re new to Volts or you’d like to introduce a colleague to Volts. Start here. This list of Essential Episodes will help you jump-start your Volts journey. There’s a little something for everyone.

The list is refreshed regularly — we’re sure to swap in newer episodes when the tech or politics change. However, there are plenty of older episodes here. Why? Some topics are evergreen, like transmission basics and learning curves. Other topics [cough, cough hydropower] don’t move all that fast. And of course, older episodes provide historical context critical to understanding current events.

So here they are, the Essential Episodes, by category:

Transmission/Grid/Batteries

⚡ Transmission month: everything in one place (Feb 2021)
Volts was transmission-pilled before it was cool. This series of episodes on transmission is a fantastic 101 primer on the movement of electricity.

⚡ What’s the deal with interconnection queues? (Aug 2023)
New renewable projects connect to the grid via a “interconnection” queue. An explanation of the queue and why in the world it works the way that it does.

⚡ Getting more out of the grid we’ve already built (Sep 2023)
Grid-enhancing technologies can significantly improve performance of existing transmission. Utilities aren’t doing enough.

⚡ Free the smart meter data! (Aug 2024)
Consumers need better access to real-time utility data to reduce energy usage, participate in demand-response programs, and save money.

⚡ Managing a distributed grid (Nov 2023)
The grid is a cacophony. ”Grid orchestration” works to help utilities see, track, and coordinate energy resources.

⚡ Steps toward a unified electricity market in the western US (June 2023)
Western states have not joined together in a regional transmission organization to administer their transmission systems. They should.

⚡ When transmission planning actually goes well (Aug 2022)
An example of transmission planning done well: MISO’s transmission roadmap for 2,000 miles of new lines.

⚡ Tying utility profits to actually doing a good job (Oct 2024)
Most utility incentives don’t align with efficiency or decarbonization goals. This episode explores ”performance-based regulation."

🔋 Battery Week: everything in one place (May 2021)
Potentially Volts’ most popular series. An evergreen primer on lithium-ion batteries.

Solar/Wind/Hydro

☀️ What? The sun isn’t always shining? (Nov 2023)
A fan favorite. Here’s how we can build a decarbonized energy system that relies on variable wind and solar power.

☀️ Solar + storage is so much farther along than you think (July 2025)
Costs have declined so much that solar + storage can provide baseload-level power in sunny cities for less than the cost of new nuclear/gas.

☀️ What’s the deal with perovskite solar (July 2024)
Perovskite solar cells have always been the Next Big Thing in solar. They’re actually almost here now.

☀️ Minerals and the clean-energy transition: the basics (Jan 2022)
Scaling up mineral supply as demand skyrockets is a worthy challenge.

☀️ A clean energy transition that avoids environmentally sensitive land (May 2023)
Both the left and the right complain about solar/wind land use. Here’s how the clean energy transition can minimize impact on ecosystems.

🌬️ What's going on with offshore wind? (Dec 2023)
Offshore wind faces significant headwinds.

💧 What’s going on with hydropower? (April 2023)
The current state of hydropower and where the industry is headed.

Innovation/Business

💡 Which technologies get cheaper over time, and why? (Jan 2023)
Learning curves. Learn them; they are everywhere.

👔 Making shipping fuel with off-grid renewables (June 2023)
Businesses are opting to skip grid connection altogether. This one is harnessing renewables to make carbon-neutral methanol.

💡 Why electrifying industrial heat is such a big deal (March 2023)
25% of energy goes towards industrial processes. A company called Rondo makes a thermal battery to store renewable energy in bricks.

👔 Wrapping our heads around AI and climate (June 2024)
AI is a major energy sink but it’s also potentially useful climate tech.

Politics

✏️ Dan Savage on blue America in the age of Trump (Nov 2024)
Should Democrats embrace cities as their political base and future?

✏️ What’s going on with China these days? (April 2024)
China’s recent decarbonization efforts and demystifying the country’s intentions.

✏️ The current state of unions in America (Feb 2024)
The current tattered state of unions in the US and their future prospects.

✏️ Organizing local support for clean energy projects (Jan 2025)
Greenlight America is a great example of an organization that’s mobilizing supporters to advocate effectively at a local level.

✏️ How climate activists can help get things built (September 2023)
How the environmental movement can shift its focus from blocking what it doesn’t like to building what it does.

✏️ How big business sold America the myth of the free market (March 2023)
Have Americans been brainwashed into worshipping free markets?

✏️ The right-wing groups behind renewable energy misinformation (Dec 2023)
Here’s how right-wing groups rally opposition to renewable projects.

✏️ Coal plants are still getting financed, despite pledges otherwise (Nov 2022)
Follow the money! How financing keeps coal alive.

✏️ Utilities are lobbying against the public interest (Feb 2023)
Did you know that utilities use ratepayer $$$ to lobby against clean-energy?

Geothermal/Heat

🪨 What’s going on with geothermal? (March 2023)
Volts is big on geothermal! Learn about recent developments in geothermal and the opportunities ahead.

🪨 Enhanced geothermal power is finally a reality (July 2023)
Fervo Energy successfully brought online the first full-scale commercial power plant sourcing from enhanced geothermal systems.

🔥 What’s the deal with district energy? (Oct 2023)
Here’s how district energy could be a part of the clean energy transition.

Transportation/Housing

🚗 US transit costs and how to tame them (July 2025)
Why is building transit so costly, especially in America?

🚗 Minnesota forces transportation planners to take CC seriously (Sept 2023)
Minnesota’s ambitious transportation policy, which includes climate accountability measures that no other state has implemented.

🚗 Making sure electric vehicles help rather than hurt electricity grids (Oct 2022)
Ensuring that rapid EV expansion leads to improved grid stability.

🏠 The obscure but extremely important battle over building codes (March 2024)
Unlocking building codes. More important than you think.

🏠 The fight to build faster in California (June 2025)
California voted to reform its notorious environmental review law, CEQA.

🏠 Why housing is a pass/fail question for climate (March 2025)
Why are housing and urban land use so central to climate policy?

Climate

🌎 Focusing on the climate actions that can make a real difference (Sept 2022)
The seven most effective climate policy actions.

🌎 The trouble with net zero (May 2023)
Net zero is a vague term. Dig deep on what it is and what it isn’t.

🌎 Voluntary carbon offsets are headed for a crash (Aug 2023)
Are carbon offsets “unscalable, unjust, and unfixable”?

🌎 How to think about solar radiation management (Feb 2023)
Solar radiation management, the practice of adding shielding particles to the atmosphere. Like it or not, it’s a thing.

🌎 On the abuse (and proper use) of climate models (Jan 2023)
Model limitations, the role of human judgment, and how climate modeling could be improved.

🌎 Reducing the climate impacts of food and farming (June 2025)
The folly of biofuels, the promise of meat alternatives, and the central importance of increasing yields.

🌎 Climate change and insurance: a growing fustercluck (Dec 2024)
How climate change is breaking the insurance industry.

🔎 Search Volts Library

Google Sheets: Want to peruse the entire Volts library via spreadsheet? Click this link. Make sure to File —> Download if you want to play with the filters.

Substack: Substack’s native archive feature is annoying, but it does have a tagging system that’s good at categorizing episodes. If you rather search via Substack, here are our most popular tags: Activism, Advocacy, AI, Batteries, Built Environment, Business, Clean Electricity, Clean Energy, Climate, Climate Goals, Community, David Guest Pods, Decarbonization, Economics, Electrification, Energy Efficiency, Environment, EV, Federal, Finance, Gas, Geopolitics, Geothermal, GHG Emissions, Grid, Heat, Hydro, Hydrogen, Industry, Infrastructure, Innovation, International, IRA, Journalism, Legal, Mailbag, Markets, Mining, Modeling, Nuclear, Offsets, Permitting, Philanthropy, Policy, Politics, PR, Recycling, Research, Solar, Tax, Transmission, Transportation, USA, Utilities, Wind

Did you make it this far? Consider yourself JUMPSTARTED!

Arizona State University scientists have unveiled NasRED, a revolutionary one-drop blood test that can detect diseases like COVID-19, Ebola, HIV, and Lyme with incredible speed and precision. Using gold nanoparticles to spot microscopic disease markers, the device delivers results in just 15 minutes—outperforming traditional lab tests in sensitivity, speed, and affordability. Portable and costing only $2 per test, it could be deployed from remote clinics to urban hospitals, offering a lifeline for early detection and outbreak control worldwide.

Scientists at UC San Diego have discovered a small but powerful section of DNA, called HAR123, that could help explain what makes the human brain so unique. Instead of being a gene, HAR123 acts like a “volume control” for brain development, guiding how brain cells form and in what proportions. The human version of HAR123 behaves differently from the chimpanzee version, possibly giving us greater flexibility in how we think and learn. This finding could also help researchers understand the roots of certain brain-related conditions, including autism.

A curious red Martian rock nicknamed Sapphire Canyon has scientists excited, as its spotted appearance hints at possible organic origins. On Earth, researchers tested a powerful laser technique, O-PTIR, on a similar rock found by chance in Arizona, proving it can rapidly and precisely reveal a material’s chemical makeup. This high-resolution method could play a key role in analyzing Mars samples once they arrive, adding to its growing track record in NASA missions like Europa Clipper.

Researchers have found a clever way to make quantum dots, tiny light-emitting crystals, produce streams of perfectly controlled photons without relying on expensive, complex electronics. By using a precise sequence of laser pulses, the team can “tell” the quantum dots exactly how to emit light, making the process faster, cheaper, and more efficient. This advance could open the door to more practical quantum technologies, from ultra-secure communications to experiments that probe the limits of physics.

A team of agricultural economists, environmental scientists and policy experts envisions a path toward a carbon-neutral agricultural future by expanding the reach of policies designed to promote low-carbon biofuels for transportation and aviation.

Captured at a location called “Falbreen,” this 360-degree view mosaic was stitched together 96 images that were acquired May 26, 2025. In the upper image, the enhanced-color mosaic features deceptively blue skies and the 43rd rock abrasion (the white patch at center-left) of the NASA Perseverance rover’s mission at Mars. Below, in the natural-color version of the “Falbreen” panorama, colors have not been enhanced and the sky appears more reddish. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS

Weaver ants have cracked a teamwork puzzle that humans have struggled with for over a century — instead of slacking off as their group grows, they work harder. These tiny architects not only build elaborate leaf nests but also double their pulling power when more ants join in. Using a “force ratchet” system where some pull while others anchor, they outperform the efficiency of human teams and could inspire revolutionary advances in robotics cooperation.

In a Puerto Rican coffee farm, researchers uncovered a web of chaotic interactions between three ant species and a predator fly, revealing how shifting dominance patterns make pest management unpredictable. By combining theories of cyclic dominance and predator-mediated coexistence, they showed how ecological forces oscillate and intertwine, creating patterns too complex for simple forecasting. This deep dive into ant behavior underscores both the potential and the challenges of replacing pesticides with ecological methods, as nature’s own “rules” prove to be far from straightforward.

Denisovans, a mysterious human relative, left behind far more than a handful of fossils—they left genetic fingerprints in modern humans across the globe. Multiple interbreeding events with distinct Denisovan populations helped shape traits like high-altitude survival in Tibetans, cold-weather adaptation in Inuits, and enhanced immunity. Their influence spanned from Siberia to South America, and scientists are now uncovering how these genetic gifts transformed human evolution, even with such limited physical remains.

Cornell engineers have built the first fully integrated “microwave brain” — a silicon microchip that can process ultrafast data and wireless signals at the same time, while using less than 200 milliwatts of power. Instead of digital steps, it uses analog microwave physics for real-time computations like radar tracking, signal decoding, and anomaly detection. This unique neural network design bypasses traditional processing bottlenecks, achieving high accuracy without the extra circuitry or energy demands of digital systems.

Hubble has captured the faint beauty of NGC 45, a spiral galaxy in Cetus whose glowing pink star-forming clouds reveal hidden activity. It belongs to the rare class of low surface brightness galaxies, dimmer than the night sky yet rich in gas and dark matter.

Thirteen years after landing on Mars, NASA’s Curiosity rover is running smarter and more efficiently than ever. With new autonomy and multitasking capabilities, it’s maximizing the output from its long-lasting nuclear power source while exploring a striking region of boxwork formations that may hold clues to ancient water and possible microbial life. As it navigates the towering slopes of Mount Sharp, Curiosity’s upgrades help it conserve power, conduct more science, and continue unraveling how Mars transformed from a watery world to the frozen desert it is today.