Steel

The steel industry is responsible for around 8 percent of all global carbon emissions annually, and decarbonizing it will require an enormous effort. H2GS plans to lead the way with the world's largest fossil-free steel plant, using green hydrogen.

Electric scooters typically consist of a tubular metal frame, covered with plastic body panels. Swedish startup Stilride is taking what it claims is a more eco-friendly approach with a scooter made from folded sheets of stainless steel.

Chromium is used to make tool steel or stainless steel, and it’s thought to have been invented around the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Archaeologists have now discovered that Persians were mixing chromium into steel way back in the 11th century.

Electronic waste can be difficult to repurpose, as it often consists of two or more mixed materials. Now, however, Australian scientists have developed a method of converting so-called e-waste into a protective coating for steel.

Whenever you try to improve steel, there are usually tradeoffs involved. It’s a balancing act between different properties. Now, engineers have developed a new type of “super steel” that defies this, staying strong while still resisting fractures.

Steel slag is currently utilized both to treat wastewater, and as a concrete aggregate. New research now indicates that using it for the former makes it perform even better as the latter – so the same slag could be used twice.

Back in 2011, we heard about a rather quirky but apparently effective bike lock known as the TiGr. Now, its makers are back with a new version that's more compact and harder to cut through.

Scientists at North Carolina State University have determined that a new composite metal foam should outperform aluminum when used in the construction of aircraft wings.

Rock guitarists sometimes have a strange relationship with their instruments, with many sacrificing them to their art. When Sandvik decided to make an unbreakable all-metal guitar, naturally the company asked fellow Swede Yngwie Malmsteen to try and destroy it.

​A new Kickstarter campaign touting the "world's smallest and sharpest Damascus pocket knife" aims to put the strength of a samurai sword in your trousers. Its makers claim Damascus steel makes not only for a more robust blade, but one that stays sharper than blades made from normal steel.

Sandia engineers have developed the most durable metal alloy ever created. Made up of a combination of platinum and gold, the new material is 100 times more wear-resistant than high-strength steel, and the first metal alloy to join the same class as diamond. It also produces its own lubricant.

​Ordinarily, steel plants have to regularly halt production while a disposable probe gets lowered into the molten steel, measuring its temperature and collecting samples for chemical analysis. That may not be the case for much longer, though, thanks to a new laser-based inspection system.