The global financial crisis is affecting supply and driving up prices, claimed speakers at the fourth Living with Minerals conference in London, UK. Michael Forrest finds out what is shaping UK policy.

Researchers in the Republic of Korea have overcome the obstacles in current methods of fabricating metal nanodot arrays with dot sizes of less than 100nm, which have applications in solar panels and data storage.

China can now boast more materials science papers than any other country, but as we move into 2012, just how far advanced is research and development? Eoin Redahan finds out.

A computer chip that can ‘learn’ could improve our understanding of how the brain works, lead to a better human-machine interface and pave the way for artificial intelligence.

A collaborative group of scientists at Bath, Birmingham and Warwick universities are looking into new solid electrolytes that work at temperatures of ~500-700ºC, spurring growing interest in new apatite-type silicates and germanates.

Cuadrilla Resources, Britain’s first shale gas exploration license holder, claims a 500 square mile area around Blackpool, Preston and Southport contains enough methane to meet national gas demand for at least 50 years.

An Etruscan shrew in attack mode has inspired the next generation of search and rescue robots. 

The Bristol–Oxford Nuclear Research Centre (NRC) is to provide the cutting-edge research needed to fuel Britain’s nuclear future.

Researchers in the US have created new gamma-ray detector materials that may lead to the development of handheld devices for nuclear, national security and biomedical applications.

At the Environmental Gas Summit 2011, an alternative source of fuel should have the energy industry dancing in tandem, but the environmental implications of shale gas have left it dispersed, with each sector determined on fighting its own corner.