The Atlantic

Video: Looking for Energy Innovation? Look to Materials Science

Materials science has hitched its wagon to computing power -- and that's a good thing

In the first week of the , we've been talking a lot about the role of battery technology in the. They can model and predict the behavior of materials with increasing accuracy, so they're conducting experiments with newly available computing power instead of with real world materials. It's not only faster, but their science will continue to get faster because its hooked to the exponential increases in processing power that have turned ENIAC into the iPad.

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from The Atlantic

The Atlantic6 min read
Florida’s Experiment With Measles
The state of Florida is trying out a new approach to measles control: No one will be forced to not get sick. Joseph Ladapo, the state’s top health official, announced this week that the six cases of the disease reported among students at an elementar
The Atlantic6 min read
There’s Only One Way to Fix Air Pollution Now
It feels like a sin against the sanctitude of being alive to put a dollar value on one year of a human life. A year spent living instead of dead is obviously priceless, beyond the measure of something so unprofound as money. But it gets a price tag i
The Atlantic8 min readAmerican Government
The Most Consequential Recent First Lady
This article was featured in the One Story to Read Today newsletter. Sign up for it here. The most consequential first lady of modern times was Melania Trump. I know, I know. We are supposed to believe it was Hillary Clinton, with her unbaked cookies

Related Books & Audiobooks