“As of June 4, 2026, Antares Nuclear’s Mark-0 reactor became the first reactor in the Department of Energy’s Reactor Pilot Program to reach criticality at the Idaho National Laboratory. Antares is one of 11 companies taking part in the Pilot Program.

These reactors are not gigawatt-scale commercial plants, but they are essential first-of-a-kind demonstrations. Done well, the program can generate the data, operating experience, and regulatory lessons that help clear the path for commercial advanced reactor deployment. It fills the gap in the prototyping stage of the innovation cycle—a stage that is crucial for the U.S. to succeed. That Antares has been able to reach criticality a full month before the July 4, 2026 deadline established for the program is a welcome indicator of the program’s potential success.”

From The Ecomodernist.

“Matter Industries founder Adam Root has developed a filter to trap microfibres at home and on an industrial scale…

Root’s invention is the basis of his Bristol-based company, Matter Industries, which claims it can capture 97% of microfibres before they escape a washing machine. In 2025, it made Matter a runner-up in the oceans category of the Earthshot prize. (Root was just behind Rebecca Hubbard, the director of the High Seas Alliance, who campaigned to create the historic high seas treaty.) Matter’s filter is now available in more than 30 European markets and the UK, and the company plans to expand to the US…

His invention joins others including Xeros, and the US-based Cleanr and Filtrol, that work to filter out microplastic before it reaches waterways.

His filter cleaning itself is, according to Root, what makes his particular invention unique. Matter Industries finds that each wash cycle produces about 1g of fibre waste, and to capture as much as possible the mesh must be especially fine. But this makes filters prone to blockage, so Root’s version rinses itself after each wash, clearing the mesh surface so that wastewater can continue flowing through.”

From The Guardian.

“Extracting lithium from hard rock today is an energy- and waste-intensive process that is often far more expensive than getting lithium from brine water, which also has major environmental drawbacks. Currently, lithium hard rock extraction involves baking the rock at over 1,000 Celsius and chemically leaching it to extract lithium. The rest of the rock is discarded.

Now, a team of researchers from MIT and elsewhere has developed a low-temperature process for extracting battery-grade lithium from the most common type of lithium-bearing mineral. The process uses a liquid reagent to dissolve the rock into the useful forms of its constituent parts: not just battery-ready lithium salts, but also smelter-grade alumina and cement-ready silica. After the minerals are extracted, the solvent and reagent can be recovered and used again so waste levels approach zero.

The researchers estimate the closed-loop process is half the cost of traditional lithium hard rock extraction and could make it cost-competitive with extracting lithium from brine water.

A paper describing the process was published today in Science. The researchers have already begun commercializing the technology through an MIT spinout, Rock Zero.”

From MIT News.

“The most recent national survey has now revealed the highest ever number of Dartford Warblers recorded on RSPB nature reserves, with 264 pairs counted in 2025 – that’s a 44% increase in just five years! The wider UK population estimate has also reached 4,100 pairs, up from 3,200 during the last national survey in 2006.”

From RSPB.