President Biden on Monday warned businesses to bolster their defenses in case of a cyberattack from Russia aimed at critical infrastructure. There’s another vulnerability to our electrical and digital systems that people rarely hear about: the danger from a geomagnetic storm. David Wallace, an electrical engineer specialized in the power grid from Mississippi State University, encapsulates the many ways a burst of solar energy that reaches our atmosphere could disrupt daily life. The planet has experienced these events in the past and, as Wallace says, it is only a matter of time before another geomagnetic storm hits.

A very active area of medical research is in the treatment of PTSD and other mental illnesses using psychotropic drugs such as psilocybin that influence a person’s mental state. To better understand how psychedelic chemicals influence the brain, a research team used machine learning to map the words people used to describe their hallucinogenic experiences with specific receptors in the brain. Their findings confirm what the current literature shows about how these drugs affect different parts of the brain, which the researchers hope will yield insights into how these compounds can be used effectively.

The market for geothermal energy in the U.S. is “stagnant,” but incorporating lithium extraction into the process could help expand it, write Bryant Jones from Boise State University and Michael McKibben of the University of California, Riverside. Lithium is a critical mineral for batteries used in electric vehicles and energy storage, yet there is only one facility in the U.S. producing lithium now. Adding another domestic source of lithium could improve energy and mineral security for the United States and its allies, they write.

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Typical amounts of solar particles hitting the earth’s magnetosphere can be beautiful, but too much could be catastrophic. Svein-Magne Tunli - tunliweb.no/Wikimedia

A large solar storm could knock out the power grid and the internet – an electrical engineer explains how

David Wallace, Mississippi State University

Every few centuries the sun blasts the Earth with a huge amount of high-energy particles. If it were to happen today, it would wreak havoc on technology.

Psychedelics have been the subject of a recent surge of interest in their potential therapeutic effects. metamorworks/iStock via Getty Images

AI maps psychedelic ‘trip’ experiences to regions of the brain – opening new route to psychiatric treatments

Galen Ballentine, SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University; Sam Friedman, Harvard University

Pinpointing the molecular targets behind the subjective effects of psychedelic drugs could help clinicians and researchers better treat psychiatric conditions.

A pilot plant near the Salton Sea in California pairs lithium extraction with geothermal energy production. Michael McKibben

How a few geothermal plants could solve America’s lithium supply crunch and boost the EV battery industry

Bryant Jones, Boise State University; Michael McKibben, University of California, Riverside

Lithium is essential for batteries that power electric vehicles and store energy from solar and wind farms. A new U.S. source could provide 10 times more lithium than the country uses today.

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