FERC approves SPP plan to use topology optimization software against grid congestion
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on 19 August 2026 approved tariff revisions allowing the Southwest Power Pool to reconfigure its...
US Department of Education tells schools to judge ed tech by learning, not screen time
The US Department of Education issued education technology guidance on 20 August 2026 telling states and school districts to evaluate...
China’s solar expansion policy is linked to bird diversity loss, Science study finds
Policies that accelerated photovoltaic build-out in China are associated with measurable declines in local bird diversity, according to a study...
Batteries set Australian wholesale power prices 16.3 per cent of the time, regulator finds
Battery storage generation and charging load together set the wholesale price in Australia's National Electricity Market 16.3 per cent of...
Sage Geosystems brings its first geothermal plant online in Texas
Sage Geosystems has run a 3MW enhanced geothermal pilot plant near Christine, Texas for more than 120 days of grid-connected...
Google launches AI study tools across Search and Gemini
Google released a set of Google AI study tools across Search and the Gemini app on 19 August 2026, timed...
Crops adapt their photosynthesis to agrivoltaic shading, Hohenheim study finds
Five arable crops grown under real solar arrays and tree rows in Germany adjusted their leaf physiology to the reduced...
Simple Ways to Unwind After a Stressful Day
Image credit A stressful day can ruin your evenings and subsequent sleep if you are unable to wind down and...
Seven in ten US teens use AI for schoolwork, survey finds
Seventy per cent of American teenagers now use AI tools for schoolwork, but only 30 per cent say a teacher...
Form Energy raises $750m Series G at a lower valuation
Form Energy closed a $750 million Series G financing led by T. Rowe Price, the long-duration storage company announced from...
Ember report says batteries have unlocked anytime solar
Solar supplied just over 10 per cent of the world's electricity in the first half of 2026, and the batteries...
Policy Exchange report urges immediate ban on unsupervised online exams
UK universities should stop using unsupervised online exams at once, and the Office for Students and the Quality Assurance Agency...
Investor group urges 7% Safeguard Mechanism decline rate to 2035
Australia's Safeguard Mechanism will fall around 10 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent short of the country's 2035 emissions target...
Khanmigo AI tutoring study finds small maths gains in two-year trial
Giving middle school students access to Khan Academy's AI tutor Khanmigo raised maths achievement by 1.26 national percentile ranks per...
Texas AI in Education Task Force sets out four steps for K-12 AI literacy
The Texas AI in Education Task Force has published four recommendations for how the state should handle artificial intelligence in...
Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners closes Growth Markets Fund II at USD 3 billion
Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) announced on 14 August 2026 that Growth Markets Fund II has reached final close at approximately...
Australia’s Cheaper Home Batteries Program passes 500,000 installations
More than 500,000 batteries have been installed under Australia's Cheaper Home Batteries Program, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Minister for...
Reservoir raises $8 million for a predictive heat pump water heater
Reservoir, a Massachusetts startup building a heat pump water heater that predicts household hot water demand, raised $8 million in...
NUS makes an AI literacy course compulsory for all first-year students
The National University of Singapore (NUS) announced on 11 August 2026 that a NUS AI literacy course, THE1008 "Applied Generative...
Arevon brings the 1,200 MWh Nighthawk battery online in Poway, California
Arevon Energy announced on 12 August 2026 that the Nighthawk Energy Storage Project, a 300 megawatt (MW) / 1,200 megawatt-hour...
Senators introduce STRONG GRID Act to fund $700 million in microgrid deployment
U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), ranking member of the Senate Agriculture Subcommittee on Rural Development, Energy, and Credit, introduced the...
South Marion High School opens with Florida’s newest AI career and technical education track
South Marion High School (SMHS), the newest campus in Marion County Public Schools (MCPS), opened to its first students on...
EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation enters into application, restricting PFAS in food packaging
The European Union's Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) began applying across the bloc on August 12, 2026, establishing a...
NSW launches $1.4 million Smart Farming Program for Central-West growers
The New South Wales government announced a AU$1.4 million Smart Farming Program on August 11, 2026, offering grants to farmers...
KAIST and MIT convert seawater CO2 into stone for permanent storage
Researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) published a...
Survey finds parents and educators want stronger data literacy education for the AI era
Data Science 4 Everyone (DS4E), a K-12 data science coalition based at the University of Chicago, and the policy research...
Turnitin data show US students lead peers in offloading writing to AI
Turnitin released its Q2 2026 "Learning Integrity Insights Report" on July 7, 2026, finding that AI writing in higher education...
Sonnedix secures 730 million euros to expand solar and storage in Southern Europe
London-based renewable energy company Sonnedix announced on August 4, 2026 that it secured 730 million euros (roughly 840 million US...
Mitti Labs raises $9.5 million to scale AI rice farming platform
Deep-tech company Mitti Labs announced a $9.5 million Series A funding round on August 5, 2026, led by Aramco Ventures,...
Students from all 50 states pass the STUDENTS FIRST Act on AI in schools
Student delegates representing all 50 states passed a national policy framework for artificial intelligence use in K-12 schools, called the...
