Watch a tour of a battery manufacturing gigafactory

During manufacturing, lithium-ion and alkaline batteries are tested for short-circuiting

Lithium-ion batteries are made by manufacturing anodes, cathodes, and electrolytes via chemical processes, assembling these components into cells, and enclosing multiple interconnected cells within a protective casing. Disposable alkaline battery production involves filling steel containers with preforms—rings of powdered cathode material—paper-based separators, electrolyte solution, and an anode gel.

Take a drone tour of a Tesla factory

The first of Tesla's large-scale European manufacturing plants for its electric vehicles was opened in Berlin in 2022. It—along with other facilities in Nevada, New York, Texas, and Shanghai—collectively manufactures solar panels, batteries, and other energy collection and storage products.

Growing EV adoption requires battery management infrastructure

Despite rechargeable batteries' limited life cycle, companies like Spiers New Technologies have developed methods to repair, refurbish, repurpose and recycle these components to minimize environmental waste, lower demand for new critical minerals, and increase electric vehicle lifetimes.

BYD Auto is the largest EV maker in China, overtaking Tesla

As of 2023, the company has 40% of the electric vehicle market in China and produces more than 3 million EVs for customers worldwide. Its vertical integration, which includes building its own batteries and cargo ships, has allowed BYD to lower retail costs.

Watch a tour of an integrated circuit fabrication plant

Explore the protocols in place to ensure clean rooms have no dust to jeopardize the integrity of silicon wafers as they are transformed into working microchips. Layering, photolithography, etching, and chemical vapor deposition are shown alongside digital visualizations.

Sony set the standard for cylinder-shaped batteries when it repurposed manufacturing equipment used to make rolls of magnetic recording tape.

The world's largest lemon battery was made from nearly 3,000 lemons

By connecting lemons with a piece of zinc on one side and a piece of copper on the other, a team from the Royal Society of Chemistry created a fruit battery with a capacity of 2,307.8 volts.

Sony set the standard for cylinder-shaped batteries when it repurposed manufacturing equipment used to make rolls of magnetic recording tape.

View the five most expensive metals used to make batteries

Before 2021, when lithium carbonate became the most expensive metal for use in electric vehicle cathodes, cobalt was the most costly battery metal. Of the top five, copper is the only metal not used in cathodes, arguably the most important part of the battery, which determines performance, longevity, and range.

The first lithium-ion battery was invented at ExxonMobil

Initially a side project that became a priority due to the 1973 oil crisis, the battery's flammability risks and manufacturing challenges, along with the waning crisis, led the company to shut down its battery program. Other researchers would gradually improve upon published prototype designs in the next decade.

How Faber-Castell makes pencils

One of the world's oldest industrial companies, Faber-Castell produces over 2 billion pencils a year, among many other staple products. In this quick video, watch the company's well-tried process for manufacturing the essential utensil, from mixing the graphite and clay to milling the wood of the pencils.

How TSMC, the world's biggest chip manufacturer, makes money

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company has more than 500 clients across the world, but none are bigger or more consequential to its business than Apple. The iPhone maker accounts for 25% of TSMC's total revenue. TSMC controls more than 60% of the global market share in semiconductor manufacturing. Dive into the economics and outlook of this important company here.

As of 2025, the Factory of the Future 1.0 is the world's largest 3D printer

Housed at the University of Maine, the machine incorporates AI and can utilize bio-based materials to construct homes exceeding 3,000 square feet in size. Homes made from these materials are fully recyclable, as their components can be deconstructed, ground up, and reused as raw materials for printing.

AI's growing energy demands are driving tech companies to consider nuclear power

Big Tech has rebranded nuclear power as a green solution to address the strain on the grid from millions of people using power-hungry AI tools. As of mid-2025, generating one image uses as much electricity as charging the average smartphone, or leaving a household light bulb on for 87 consecutive days.

Sand 'batteries' can store excess electricity from the power grid as thermal energy

Energy collected from solar or wind power is used to heat insulated silos full of sand to temperatures as high as 450 degrees Celsius (842 degrees Fahrenheit), which can be retained for long periods. These thermal energy storage systems can be designed to boil water and generate electricity when needed.

Synthetic biology transforms cells into custom DNA foundries

At companies like Ginkgo Bioworks, researchers are reprogramming cells to act as workshops that can create custom molecules, such as medicines and fertilizers, by stitching together DNA sequences—often in novel combinations—before inserting them into an organism's genome.

Explore five of the largest particle accelerators on Earth

Unlike traditional linear accelerators, the CBETA energy recovery linac reduces waste by capturing and recycling residual energy from the acceleration of electrons. The SuperKEKB collides electrons and positrons—the antimatter version of electrons—to search for abnormal physics beyond the standard model.

Electrical grids worldwide must double their power delivery capacity by 2050 to meet surging demand from AI and electric vehicles.

Turning nuclear waste into cancer medications

This video explores Terrapower, a company transforming nuclear waste into lifesaving cancer treatments. This is accomplished through the production and use of Actinium 225, a rare isotope derived from thorium, which is used in targeted alpha therapy to treat cancer.

Tesla's alternating current power's most of the world's electric grids

In 1879, Thomas Edison’s light bulb relied on direct current, but such currents can't efficiently transmit power over long distances. Nikola Tesla introduced alternating current, which feature far fewer energy loses. Despite Edison’s attempts to discredit AC, Tesla proved its efficiency by lighting the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair.

Watch how deep-sea mining equipment collects and processes polymetallic nodules—metal-rich, potato-shaped rocks—from the ocean floor and creates environmentally damaging plumes of sediments.

How tea gets made

Tea is one of the most consumed beverages in the world, and this video walks us through the process of supplying it from farms to our mugs. Workers handpick leaves, ferment them, and dry them as part of this involved operation. Follow along for a scientific understanding of the many steps it takes to produce tea and appreciate the detail and effort to create its flavor, aroma, and color.

The world's biggest silver producers, mapped

Mexico, with its deep history of silver mining, is the dominant leader in silver production, with over 200 million ounces (as of 2023), with China and Peru in second and third place. The precious metal is increasingly important for the electronics industry, and its price is expected to keep rising. See a chart of the biggest silver miners here.

China makes 90% of the world's fireworks, with Liuyang as its production capital

Fireworks were invented in China, but their predecessor, the firecracker, was discovered in Liuyang upon burning bamboo. Pyrotechnics have since become part of the city's culture. Liuyang has won many international fireworks display competitions.

Watch how deep-sea mining equipment collects and processes polymetallic nodules—metal-rich, potato-shaped rocks—from the ocean floor and creates environmentally damaging plumes of sediments.

Audi spent over three years developing engine sounds for its electric vehicles

Unlike the sounds made by combustion engines in gas-powered vehicles, electric cars produce no motor sounds. The company's acoustics team worked with composer Rudolf Helpmier to craft an electric-inspired revving sound for its R8 e-tron supercar.

Glass can be endlessly recycled without losing quality

Sand from specialized mines is thoroughly cleaned and melted at more than 1,600 degrees Celsius before being poured onto liquid tin and evenly spread out to form glass sheets. Some factories are designed to reprocess 100% of glass scraps created when cutting glass with diamond-tipped blades or lasers.

Candymaker Haribo focuses on gummies to simplify production

Focusing on a specific kind of candy gives the company expertise on texture, ingredients, factory processes, and more. The company's decentralized production allows for regional specification.

See how fireworks are made and learn how metals like magnesium and copper are responsible for different colors.

How fusion—which releases energy when two lighter atoms combine to form a heavier atom—differs from fission

Massive 3D printers have been used to build homes by stacking layers of 'concrete toothpaste,' a fire-resistant material that effectively insulates against outside noise.

The use of fungi to detoxify land and water—a process known as mycoremediation—has been used to clean up natural resources affected by the 2025 California wildfires.

The name 'Silicon Valley' arose from the founding of Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory in Fairchild Semiconductor in 1956-57, founded near Stanford University in Palo Alto

SpaceX's S-1 or 'prospectus' revealed many previously unknown details about the company, including its unprofitability despite doing $18.7B in revenue in 2025, exactly how many voting shares Elon Musk will have in the company (roughly 85%), and more.

How Amazon operates a 'flywheel' business model, a self-reinforcing cycle that drives continuous growth

Explore what it's like inside a patient isolation unit, used in situations such as treating a patient or suspected patient with Ebola.

The syncytiotrophoblast is the outer layer of the placenta and the largest human cell, spanning an area about twice that of a king-sized bedsheet.

At the beginning of the 20th century, a group of young men ate standard American food—replete with food additives like borax and formaldehyde—as part of government research to better understand food safety.

The first line of 'immortal' human cells, which can divide indefinitely and are used in scientific research, was nonconsensually taken from a Black woman.

As of 2025, the most cited papers in science include a review of graphene, methods to improve image recognition, streamlining electron density calculations, and optimizing protein studies.

Explore the history, structure, and species of Australia's Great Barrier Reef with this interactive journey narrated by Sir David Attenborough.

Legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed the SC Johnson headquarters in Wisconsin, aiming to make a cathedral-like workplace

Louisiana's 'Cancer Alley' is infamous for having some of the highest industrial pollution, toxic air emissions, and cancer risks in the US.

For centuries, Niagara Falls has been a magnet for daredevils seeking to conquer one of nature's most powerful wonders, with its 200-foot drop and water rushing at 32 feet per second with 280 tons of force.

Visualize how CRISPR-Cas9—a type of immune system used by single-celled organisms to attack invasive viruses—targets and makes precise changes to a gene's DNA.

About 2,000 US babies are born annually without some portion of their limbs, potentially leading to a lifetime of pricey prosthetics.

NBA superstar Victor Wembanyama spent the 2025 summer training with monks in central China to enhance his body and mind.

Children are now three times more likely to say they want to be a YouTuber when they grow up than an astronaut, with some even attending 'YouTube camps' that teach kids how to create content for the platform.

Walt Disney's early film 'Alice's Wonderland' was a groundbreaking innovation in the silent film era

See how Budweiser's famous Clydesdales spend their days at Warm Springs Ranch, where roughly 70 to 80 of the beer brand's giant horses can be found at any given time.