1: Ethereum (ETH)

After its recent upgrade, Ethereum is faster and more scalable. It's currently trading near $2,590, and its wide usage keeps it relevant for both developers and investors. ETH remains a solid long-term hold.

2: Solana (SOL)

Gaming, NFTs, and DeFi are all thriving on Solana, and with a growing ecosystem, more projects are moving in. Right now on reliable exchanges, the current price of Solana is around $176. If adoption continues, SOL could see significant upside this year. If you want exposure to a chain that is fast, cheap, and actually usable, Solana is worth serious attention.

3: Chainlink (LINK)

Simply put, Chainlink is the infrastructure behind a huge chunk of the crypto world, and as that world grows, so does the need for reliable oracles. The recent push toward staking and cross-chain data services only adds fuel to the fire. LINK isn't just a coin; it's a crucial piece of the crypto puzzle.

4: Avalanche (AVAX)

Big brands are starting to take notice, as well. There is a growing list of partnerships in gaming, finance, and enterprise. AVAX may not have the brand recognition of Ethereum or Solana, but it's quietly becoming a go-to option for serious builders.

5: Polkadot (DOT)

Projects on Polkadot aren't just building apps; they are building entire chains with focused purposes. It's also backed by some of the brightest minds in crypto, including Ethereum co-founder Gavin Wood.

DOT is sitting around $5, and it could see a lot more attention as developers build more cross-chain apps. If you believe in a future where blockchains need to talk to each other, this is one to watch.

Endnote

]]> Fri, 23 MAY 2025 02:09:37 AEST Los Angeles CA (SPX) May 22, 2025 - Small satellites have redefined access to space, enabling startups, academic teams, and emerging space programs to launch missions once limited to major players. Their low cost, compact size, and rapid development cycles make them ideal for today's fast-moving space sector. However, this democratization comes with a high price: a failure rate nearing 40% over the past two decades, according to NASA.

While some of these failures stem from launch errors or hardware flaws, a growing portion is tied to software issues, incomplete systems integration, or unstable communication protocols once in orbit. These failures often prevent satellites from achieving mission objectives and reflect deeper issues in how smallsats are tested and validated before launch.

The financial and reputational stakes are high. Each mission can run $50-60 million and weigh up to 500 kilograms. When failures occur, they can devastate investor confidence, derail academic progress, and delay government timelines. The implications extend well beyond lost hardware.

Unlike large spacecraft integrators, which routinely employ full-system digital validation and have kept failure rates below 10%, many smallsat teams rely primarily on component-level testing. While these tests ensure individual parts endure extreme conditions, they often miss how systems behave together. This leaves crews blind to failures in telemetry, command execution, or unexpected software behavior-until it's too late.

The root problem isn't weak engineering but outdated validation strategies that don't reflect mission complexity. Instead of expanding test volume, experts advocate for a new approach: digital system-level validation that mirrors actual spacecraft operations.

This is where tools like NeXosim come in. Developed by Polish software firm Asynchronics since 2022, NeXosim is an open-source, Rust-based simulation tool that models how satellite subsystems interact in real time. It handles telemetry, timing coordination, and protocol behavior, offering insight into system dynamics that traditional testing misses. Research labs and startups have already adopted it for missions between 75kg and 750kg.

"We're not building a simulator to show that everything works," says Adam Chikha, Chief Operating Officer at Asynchronics. "We're trying to show where things break-how systems interact under real timing and protocol constraints. That's the only way to know what's likely to go wrong in orbit."

Reducing failure rates in smallsat missions won't come solely from tougher hardware. It demands recognition that integration-not just endurance-is the true frontier in mission success.

]]> Fri, 23 MAY 2025 02:09:37 AEST Sydney, Australia (SPX) May 21, 2025 - Paladin Space, a startup incubated at the University of South Australia's Innovation and Collaboration Centre, has introduced Triton, the first reusable space payload designed to capture and store multiple pieces of orbital debris for potential recycling. This breakthrough technology was demonstrated at a private event hosted by the ICC.

The company's next objectives include securing early customers, initiating in-orbit testing, and preparing for mission qualification. Paladin Space also hinted at a forthcoming international expansion.

South Australian Treasurer and Minister for Defence and Space Industries, Stephen Mullighan, highlighted the achievement as evidence of the state's growing influence in global space innovation. "Paladin Space's innovative technology, which has been developed right here in South Australia, is a perfect example of what's possible when you foster an environment that nurtures bold ideas," Mullighan said. "It's an example of homegrown ingenuity where South Australia is developing innovative ideas aimed at solving global challenges."

The accumulation of high-velocity debris in Earth's orbit poses serious threats to satellites and space infrastructure. Industry analysis from Northern Sky Research projects the in-orbit servicing market will reach $4.7 billion by 2031, with about half dedicated to debris collection and recycling.

Triton is engineered to retrieve multiple fragments per mission and eject them in a precisely timed manner to ensure a safe trajectory. After ejection, Triton burns up in Earth's atmosphere within hours, preventing secondary debris. The design also supports compatibility with future orbital recycling stations.

"We are designing Triton to be able to dock easily with these in-orbit manufacturing stations so that the contents it collects can be recycled into metal rods or sheets for manufacturing satellites," said Paladin founder Harrison Box. "Not only is this practice sustainable, but incredibly cost effective for satellite manufacturers to 'skip' the launch phase of a mission and simply build their assets in space."

Triton's modular container can be scaled for various missions, ranging from 300mm to 600mm cubed, depending on customer needs. The startup, which was part of the 2023 Venture Catalyst Space accelerator backed by the South Australian Space Industry Centre, continues to benefit from UniSA's support.

"Triton is on course to revolutionise the space debris industry and contribute to manufacturing in space, a mind-blowing proposition," said Craig Jones, Deputy Director for Business Incubation at UniSA. "We are incredibly proud to have played a small part in supporting this team to build their enterprise."

Box credits UniSA for guidance that shaped critical aspects of his company's strategy and operations. He expressed commitment to keeping Paladin Space headquartered in South Australia as long as state support continues for the local space sector.

]]> Fri, 23 MAY 2025 02:09:37 AEST Los Angeles CA (SPX) May 20, 2025 - Synspective Inc., a leading provider of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite data and analytics, has introduced its new Object Detection and Classification (ODC) solution, aimed at improving the accuracy and efficiency of vessel and aircraft monitoring. This scalable system addresses the limitations of traditional surveillance, providing cost-effective, wide-area coverage.

Monitoring large maritime and land regions presents significant challenges, including weather disruptions and high operational costs. Traditional systems struggle with cloud cover, darkness, and limited reach, while ground-based methods often face high expenses and coverage gaps. To overcome these issues, Synspective's ODC solution utilizes SAR's persistent surveillance capabilities, ensuring uninterrupted, real-time monitoring regardless of weather or lighting conditions.

The ODC platform integrates Synspective's advanced SAR technology with SATIM's AI-driven Automatic Target Recognition (ATR) algorithms, delivering precise insights into the location, type, and movement of vessels and aircraft. This approach is bolstered by Synspective's ongoing expansion of its StriX SAR satellite constellation, with over 30 satellites planned by 2030, enhancing revisit rates and coverage for global surveillance.

"We are excited to launch the Object Detection and Classification solution, which significantly advances our SAR-based analytics for defense intelligence. Our collaboration with SATIM strengthens our solution lineup, reinforcing a core pillar of our company's growth strategy. By continuously innovating and expanding our solutions, we are working towards achieving our mission to realize a resilient future," said Motoyuki Arai, CEO and Founder of Synspective.

"Our technology is mission-agnostic, resolution-independent, and field-proven. Whether it's low-resolution wide-area scans or high-resolution tactical imagery, we transform SAR data into intelligence that matters. This partnership with Synspective not only validates our technology-it also aligns with our long-term vision to support large-scale, multi-orbit surveillance operations across diverse geographical regions," said Jacek Strzelczyk, CEO and Co-Founder of SATIM.

Key Features and Benefits:

High-Frequency Monitoring - Offers frequent revisits for enhanced situational awareness, supported by a growing satellite network.

Wide-Area Surveillance - Effectively covers expansive maritime zones, coastlines, airports, and remote regions.

Accurate Object Detection - Leverages SATIM's OREC technology for precise vessel and aircraft tracking.

Intelligent Object Classification - Utilizes AI/ML analytics for rapid object identification and decision support.

As Synspective continues to expand its satellite capabilities, the ODC solution sets new standards for real-time, large-scale surveillance across sectors such as maritime security, air traffic management, homeland defense, and supply chain logistics.

]]> Fri, 23 MAY 2025 02:09:37 AEST Sydney, Australia (SPX) May 19, 2025 - Researchers at the Defense Innovation Institute, part of the Chinese Academy of Military Science, have developed a novel method for optimizing the three-dimensional layout of satellite components, aiming to significantly enhance design efficiency and performance. Led by Professor Wen Yao, the team introduced the Satellite Three-dimensional Component Assignment and Layout Optimization (3D-SCALO) model, which focuses on heat dissipation performance while accounting for complex 3D geometry, static stability, and specific component placement constraints.

"Traditional satellite layout optimization has heavily relied on manual methods, which are not only time-consuming but also prevent us from fully exploring the potential of the design space," said Yufeng Xia, the paper's lead author. "With increasingly complex and diverse satellite missions, developing efficient holistic satellite design methods has become an urgent challenge."

The 3D-SCALO approach addresses the complex bilevel nature of satellite component layout design, integrating discrete assignment optimization and continuous position optimization into a single model using Mixed Integer Programming (MIP). This eliminates the need for iterative, nested calculations by transforming the problem into a single-level formulation, significantly reducing computational complexity.

To further enhance the precision of 3D spatial relationships within this model, the team developed a linearized 3D Phi-function method, which explicitly manages non-overlapping and safety distance constraints for cuboid components. For more complex, irregular shapes, the Finite Rectangle Method (FRM) was proposed, extending the model's applicability to a broader range of satellite designs.

Testing on real-world cases demonstrated the model's efficiency. In one engineering scenario involving 27 components distributed across 5 modules, the approach found an optimal solution in just 193.5 seconds, highlighting its potential for real-time application in high-stakes aerospace projects.

The team plans to continue advancing the 3D-SCALO framework, focusing on refined modeling and algorithmic enhancements to further support intelligent satellite design.

Research Report:Mixed integer programming modeling for the satellite three-dimensional component assignment and layout optimization problem

]]> Fri, 23 MAY 2025 02:09:37 AEST Los Angeles CA (SPX) May 12, 2025 - TAU Systems, a pioneer in laser-driven particle acceleration, in collaboration with the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin), has been granted an exclusive five-week beam time slot at the Extreme Light Infrastructure Nuclear Physics (ELI-NP) facility. This allocation provides access to the 10-petawatt laser, the most powerful ultrafast laser globally, creating a unique opportunity to advance self-guided Laser Wakefield Acceleration (LWFA) research and explore the limits of long-distance electron acceleration.

Despite notable progress in achieving electron energies in the tens and hundreds of megaelectronvolts (MeV) range, the path to multi-gigaelectronvolt (GeV) energies through LWFA remains challenging. Conventional methods, such as those involving external guiding and complex injection strategies, have reached up to 10 GeV, but self-guided LWFA at these energy levels is still largely unexplored. TAU Systems aims to bridge this gap by investigating single-stage LWFA in the ionization-injection regime, leveraging a 100-joule class multi-petawatt laser to test the limits of acceleration without the need for plasma structuring or external guiding.

"Our research aims to uncover the limits of self-guided LWFA and determine how acceleration distance is influenced by plasma density and laser energy," said Bjorn Manuel Hegelich, CEO at TAU Systems. "This experimental campaign at ELI-NP represents a critical step toward optimizing acceleration schemes and maximizing energy extraction for next-generation particle accelerators."

Researchers from TAU Systems and UT Austin, in partnership with ELI-NP scientists, plan to systematically vary gas target properties, acceleration distances, and plasma conditions to explore the fundamental constraints of self-guided LWFA. Depending on these parameters, the team may observe a combination of LWFA and direct laser acceleration or transitions to plasma wakefield acceleration (PWFA). These phenomena will be studied through detailed analysis of electron beam spectra, divergence, and the characteristics of betatron-like radiation emitted by the accelerated electrons.

"ELI-NP is home to the world's most powerful laser system, thus enabling new frontiers to be reached in the field of laser-plasma research and related applications," said Calin Alexandru Ur, Director of ELI-NP. "The development of innovative ideas is best fostered through worldwide scientific collaboration, and for this reason, ELI-NP operates as a user facility open to the international scientific community, promoting excellence in research. The collaboration with experts at UT Austin and TAU Systems is expected to result in significant advancements in laser-driven particle acceleration that in turn will pave the way to new applications for the benefit of society."

The results of this research could reshape the future of particle acceleration, providing a foundation for the development of more compact and efficient high-energy accelerators. These advances have potential applications across sectors including space exploration, semiconductor manufacturing, and medical technologies.

"The implications of the experiment are massive. We could rewrite the electron acceleration scaling laws," said Calin Hojbota, Principal Investigator for the proposal and UT Austin representative. "The ELI-NP laser has the highest power of all available lasers, so this is the only location where we can test LWFA in such extreme conditions."

He continued: "From a fundamental physics perspective, this experiment will show us how to accelerate electrons to ultra-high energies, how to wiggle them to produce brilliant gamma-ray beams, and how to prepare them for compact particle colliders. From a practical standpoint, these beams could find novel future applications, for example in mimicking space radiation or developing advanced muon scanners."

]]> Fri, 23 MAY 2025 02:09:37 AEST Hanoi (AFP) May 21, 2025 - A Vietnamese court on Wednesday jailed 23 officials and business people over the illegal exploitation and export of rare earths.

The trial comes after the US Geological Survey (USGS) this year significantly revised down its estimate of rare earth deposits in Vietnam, which it once considered the world's second largest.

The nine-day trial in Hanoi saw verdicts handed down to 27 defendants, including former Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Nguyen Linh Ngoc, who was given three years in jail for "violating state regulations causing wastefulness".

Others were given a range of prison sentences -- with 16 years being the highest -- for a number of offences, including violation of regulations on natural resources exploitation and causing environmental pollution.

Four people were given suspended sentences.

According to the court, the case concerning the exploitation, trade and export of mineral resources was "especially serious".

The court said that a firm called Thai Duong Company was unlawfully granted a mining licence for rare earth exploitation in Yen Phu mine in northern mountainous Yen Bai province between 2019 and 2023.

Defendants involved -- including environment officials as well as chief accountants and executives at various companies -- sold the rare earths and iron ore from the mine for close to $30 million, much of it to China.

USGS slashed this year its estimate of Vietnam's rare earth reserves from an estimated 22 million tons to 3.5 million, threatening its ambitions to compete with Beijing in a sector crucial to high-tech devices.

The revision meant the country dropped from the world's second largest reserve holder to the sixth, behind China, Brazil, India, Australia and Russia.

USGS describes mineral reserves data as "dynamic".

Reserves may be reduced as ore is mined or the feasibility of extraction diminishes, or they may continue to increase as additional deposits are developed, USGS says.

Rare earths are a group of 17 heavy metals that are abundant in the Earth's crust across the globe.

But mining the metals requires heavy chemical use that results in huge amounts of toxic waste and has caused several environmental disasters, making many countries wary of shouldering the heavy financial costs for production.

Each of the rare earths is used in industry and found in a variety of everyday and high-tech devices, from light bulbs to guided missiles.

]]> Fri, 23 MAY 2025 02:09:37 AEST Seattle (AFP) May 19, 2025 - Microsoft on Monday said its cloud servers will now host Grok from Elon Musk's xAI, days after the chatbot went off the rails with talk of "white genocide" in South Africa.

Musk told an event hosted by Microsoft that his company's models "aspire to truth with minimal error," adding that "there's always going to be some mistakes that are made."

The Grok chatbot last week ignited controversy by answering unrelated user prompts with unbacked right-wing propaganda about purported oppression of white South Africans.

In a recorded conversation with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Musk said that xAI would always acknowledge mistakes with its Grok AI models.

"It's incredibly important for AI models to be grounded in reality," the Tesla tycoon said.

Generative AI models are often pre-programmed by engineers -- through things known as system prompts -- to give or avoid specific responses or convey certain moods or styles, no matter the input given by the user.

Most recently, the latest model from industry leader OpenAI was found to be generating overly sycophantic responses, and the company quickly said it would make changes to remove the bug.

The answers provided by Grok drew alarm as they reflected a conspiracy theory often shared on social media by Musk, who was born in South Africa.

The company did not identify who made the code change, but said an "unauthorized modification" directed Grok to provide a specific response that "violated xAI's internal policies and core values."

Faced with criticism, the startup said it was implementing measures to make Grok's system prompts public, change its review processes and put in place a "24/7 monitoring team" to address future incidents.

While not specifically referring to the incident, Musk told the Microsoft event that xAI will practice transparency when mistakes are made.

This could be interpreted as a dig at archrival OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, which is Microsoft's main partner to build its in-house Copilot models.

OpenAI, which was co-founded by Musk in 2015, is often criticized for keeping its technology's internal workings secret, as opposed to more open models like Meta's Llama or the technology from Chinese company DeepSeek.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman also appeared remotely at the Microsoft Build event in Seattle, speaking in a live Q&A with Nadella in which the two tech leaders vaunted the latest developments in their joint partnership.

- 'Virtual teammate' -

The Grok models from xAI will be available on Microsoft's Azure AI Foundry, a platform that makes hundreds of models available for paying developers to build their own generative AI models.

The platform gives users access to popular models from various creators such as OpenAI, DeepSeek, Mistral, Meta, Stability AI, and now xAI.

AI tools for writing software code are rapidly evolving into "agents" that can assist developers, according to the Microsoft chief.

Some 15 million developers have used Github CoPilot AI to code or troubleshoot at the Microsoft-owned platform, the company said.

"This is one of the biggest changes to programming that I've ever seen," Altman said during his exchange with Nadella.

"This idea that you now have a real, virtual teammate, that you can assign work to."

Microsoft last week said it was slashing unnecessary layers of management and seizing the benefits of new technology as reports said the tech behemoth was laying off thousands of workers.

The tech giant did not disclose the total amount of lost jobs but US media reports said it will amount to about 6,000 people or about three percent of its global workforce.

]]> Fri, 23 MAY 2025 02:09:37 AEST Taipei (AFP) May 19, 2025 - Nvidia boss Jensen Huang announced plans for Taiwan's "first AI supercomputer", as he showcased on Monday the company's latest advances in artificial intelligence.

Global semiconductor chip giants have gathered in Taiwan for the island's top tech expo, Computex, as the sector grapples with the impact of US tariffs and disrupted supply chains.

Huang said Nvidia would work with Taiwanese tech giants Foxconn and TSMC as well as the government to build Taiwan's "first AI supercomputer .. for the AI infrastructure and AI ecosystem".

"Having a world-class AI infrastructure in Taiwan is really important," Huang said in a keynote addresss on the eve of Computex.

The four-day event will draw computer and chip companies from around the world to Taiwan, whose semiconductor industry is critical to the production of everything from iPhones to the servers that run ChatGPT.

Taiwan produces the bulk of the world's most advanced chips, including those needed for the most powerful AI applications and research.

Top executives from Qualcomm, MediaTek and Foxconn will also speak at Computex, where advances in moving AI from data centres into laptops, robots and cars will be in the spotlight.

"From Agentic AI driving smarter personal devices to Physical AI reshaping autonomy, the show maps out the next frontier," specialist research firm Counterpoint said in a note.

Tech expert Paul Yu told AFP the industry was at a "critical juncture" for AI hardware development.

"Over the past two and a half years, significant investment has driven rapid advances in AI technology," said Yu, of Witology Markettrend Research Institute.

"2025 to 2026 will be the crucial period for transitioning AI model training into profitable applications."

- 'Taiwan to continue to thrive' -

While US tariffs were the biggest issue facing the sector, most companies at Computex "will shy away from addressing tariffs directly as the situation is too uncertain," said Eric Smith of specialist platform TechInsights.

Last month, Washington announced a national security probe into imports of semiconductor technology, which could put the industry in the crosshairs of President Donald Trump's trade bazooka and inflict potentially devastating levies.

Since taking office in January, Trump has threatened hefty tariffs against many of America's biggest trade partners with the aim of forcing companies to move production to US soil.

Export-dependent Taiwan has pledged to increase investment in the United States as it seeks to avoid a 32 percent US tariff on its shipments.

But there are concerns the island could lose its dominance of the chip sector -- the so-called "silicon shield" protecting it from an invasion or blockade by China and an incentive for the United States to defend it.

TSMC, the Taiwanese contract chipmaking giant, has unveiled plans to inject an additional $100 billion into the United States, on top of the $65 billion already pledged.

TSMC-supplier GlobalWafers also announced plans last week to increase its US investment by $4 billion as the Taiwanese company opened a wafer facility in the US state Texas.

But Huang was optimistic on Friday when asked about the impact of tariffs on Taiwan, saying the island would "remain at the centre of the technology ecosystem".

"There are so many smart companies here, there are so many innovative and spirited companies," Huang said told reporters.

"I fully expect Taiwan to continue to thrive... before, after, throughout."

amj-joy/mtp

Nvidia

TSMC - TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY

QUALCOMM

MEDIATEK

]]> Fri, 23 MAY 2025 02:09:37 AEST Boston MA (SPX) May 22, 2025 - According to the American Road and Transportation Builders Association, one in three bridges needs repair or replacement, amounting to more than 200,000 bridges across the country. A key culprit of America's aging infrastructure is rebar that has accumulated rust, which cracks the concrete around it, making bridges more likely to collapse.

Now Allium Engineering, founded by two MIT PhDs, is tripling the lifetime of bridges and other structures with a new technology that uses a stainless steel cladding to make rebar resilient to corrosion. By eliminating corrosion, infrastructure lasts much longer, fewer repairs are required, and carbon emissions are reduced. The company's technology is easily integrated into existing steelmaking processes to make America's infrastructure more resilient, affordable, and sustainable over the next century.

"Across the U.S., the typical bridge deck lasts about 30 years on average - we're enabling 100-year lifetimes," says Allium co-founder and CEO Steven Jepeal PhD '21. "There's a huge backlog of infrastructure that needs to be replaced, and that has frankly aged faster than it was expected to, largely because the materials we were using at the time weren't cut out for the job. We're trying to ride the momentum of rebuilding America's infrastructure, but rebuild in a way that makes it last."

To accomplish that, Allium adds a thin protective layer of stainless steel on top of traditional steel rebar to make it more resistant to corrosion. About 100,000 pounds of Allium's stainless steel-clad rebar have already been used in construction projects around the U.S., and the company believes its process can be quickly scaled alongside steel mills.

"We integrate our system into mills so they don't have to do anything differently," says Jepeal, who co-founded Allium with Sam McAlpine PhD '22. "We add everything we need to make a normal product into a stainless-clad product so that any mill out there can make a material that won't corrode. That's what needs to happen for all of the world's infrastructure to be longer lasting."

Toward better bridges

"It definitely helped me catch the startup bug," Jepeal says. "MIT is also where I got my materials science chops."

McAlpine completed his PhD under Associate Professor Michael Short. In 2019, McAlpine and Short were working on an ARPA-E-funded project in which they would combine metals to improve corrosion-resistance in extreme environments.

Jepeal and McAlpine decided to start a company around applying a similar approach to improve the resilience of metals in everyday settings, working with MIT's Venture Mentoring Service and speaking with Tata Steel, one of the largest steel makers in the world that has worked with the MIT Industrial Liaison Program (ILP). Members of Tata told the founders that one of their biggest problems was steel corrosion.

A key early problem the founders set out to solve was depositing corrosion-resistant material without adding significant costs or disrupting existing processes. Steelmaking traditionally begins by putting huge pieces of precursor steel through machines called rollers at extremely high temperatures to stretch out the material. Jepeal compares the process to making pasta on an industrial scale.

The founders decided to add their cladding before the rolling process. Although Allium's system is customized, today the company makes use of existing pieces of equipment used in other metal processing applications, like welding, to add its cladding.

"We go into the mills and take big chunks of steel that are going through the steelmaking process but aren't the end-product, and we deposit stainless steel on the outside of their cheap carbon steel, which is typically just recycled scrap from products like cars and fridges," Jepeal says. "The treated steel then goes through the mill's typical process for making end products like rebar."

Each 40-foot piece of thick precursor steel turns into about a mile of rebar following the rolling process. Rebar treated by Allium is still more than 95 percent regular rebar and doesn't need any special post-processing or handling.

"What comes out of the mill looks like regular rebar," Jepeal says. "It is just as strong and can be bent, cut, and installed in all the same ways. But instead of being put into a bridge and lasting an average of 30 years, it will last 100 years or more."

Infrastructure to last

Allium's first facility has the capacity to produce about 1,000 tons of its long-lasting rebar each year, but the company is hoping to build more facilities closer to the steel mills it partners with, eventually integrating them into mill operations.

"Our mission of reducing emissions and improving this infrastructure is what's driving us to scale very quickly to meet the needs of the industry," Jepeal says. "Everyone we talk to wants this to be bigger than it is today."

Allium is also experimenting with other cladding materials and composites. Down the line, Jepeal sees Allium's tech being used for things beyond rebar like train tracks, steel beams, and pipes. But he stresses the company's focus on rebar will keep it busy for the foreseeable future.

"Almost all of our infrastructure has this corrosion problem, so it's the biggest problem we could imagine solving with our set of skills," Jepeal says. "Tunnels, bridges, roads, industrial buildings, power plants, chemical factories - all of them have this problem."

]]> Fri, 23 MAY 2025 02:09:37 AEST Subscribe to our daily selection of space, military, environment and energy newsletters responseText http://visitor.constantcontact.com/manage/optin/ea?v=0016gbbKsaiGSpQFojVO8ZoHw%3D%3D