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This oblique image of Basho shows the distinctive dark halo that encircles the crater. The halo is composed of so-called Low Reflectance Material (LRM), which was excavated from depth when the crater was formed. Basho is also renowned for its bright ray craters, which render the crater easily visible even from very far away. Credit: Courtesy NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington

Scientists have long been puzzled about what makes Mercury’s surface so dark. The innermost planet reflects much less sunlight than the Moon, a body on which surface darkness is controlled by the abundance of iron-rich minerals. These are known to be rare at Mercury’s surface, so what is the “darkening agent” there?

About a year ago, scientists proposed that Mer...

This scanning electron microscope image shows bee pollen studied for potential use as electrodes for lithium-ion batteries. Color was added to the original black-and-white image. Credit: Purdue University image/ Jialiang Tang

Pollen could represent a boon for battery makers: Recent research has suggested their potential use as anodes in Li-ion batteries. “Our findings have demonstrated that renewable pollens could produce carbon architectures for anode applications in energy storage devices,” said A/Prof Vilas Pol. The anodes in most of today’s lithium-ion batteries are made of graphite. Lithium ions are contained in electrolyte, and these ions are stored in the anode during recharging.

The researchers tested bee pollen- and cattail pollen-derived carbons as anodes...