Heather Hunsperger - Undecided with Matt Ferrell

Heather Hunsperger is a scientist, writer, and wordplay enthusiast. After earning a PhD at the University of Washington, she traded her lab coat for a keyboard to tell the stories behind the science.

Chunk of aluminum next to a battery cell

Energy Storage

Why Aluminum Batteries Could Beat Lithium

Your lights just flickered. Not for long. Just a split second. You probably didn’t think much about it, but somewhere a battery may ...

By Heather Hunsperger1 month ago0

A kesterite solar cell held next to a chunk of metal

Renewable Energy

The Solar Underdog That Could Rival Perovskite

Perovskite solar cells are smashing efficiency records and starting to hit the market, but what if the real future of solar is a ...

By Heather HunspergerJanuary 20, 20260

Energy Production

Why Coastal Cities Are Betting on Osmotic Power

What if you could power cities just by mixing river water with seawater? Around 15,000 TWh of energy pours into the oceans each ...

By Heather HunspergerDecember 9, 20250

Misc

Plastic Recycling Not Requiring Sorting Could Be Coming

What if every piece of plastic waste, like bottles, bags, even clothes, could be rebuilt from scratch, no sorting required? Not just melted ...

By Heather HunspergerNovember 11, 20250

A lump of zinc next to three AAA batteries

Energy Storage

The Surprising Battery Discovery No One Saw Coming

We’ve been told for years that fast-charging kills batteries. The typical warning is that if you spring for too much current too quickly, ...

By Heather HunspergerOctober 14, 20250

Satellites beaming laser energy to the earth

Energy Production

Why Space Solar Might Finally Work (But Not How You Think)

Thanks to reusable rockets that fly, land, and fly again, launch costs are coming back down to Earth. And that’s revived a ...

By Heather HunspergerSeptember 30, 20250

A hand holding a handful of Sargassum Seaweed

Sustainable Tech

This Seaweed Was a Caribbean Disaster, Now It’s Gold

Caribbean beaches are ankle-deep in slimy, smelly seaweed. Wave after wave of sargassum is blanketing shorelines from Barbados to Cancún. It traps sea ...

By Heather HunspergerAugust 26, 20250

A red blood cell floating next to a coin cell battery.

Energy Storage

How Blood Holds the Secret to Better, Cheaper Batteries

This Battery Has Blood In It (Kinda). What if the secret to next-generation batteries is circulating in your blood, and the blueprint for ...

By Heather HunspergerJuly 29, 20250

The Poo Emoji with an arrow pointed at two Elvion batteries

Misc

Why Nothing Is Truly Waste Anymore

When we talk about the circular economy, we picture batteries stripped for their metals, factory floor scraps spun into sweaters, and agricultural waste ...

By Heather HunspergerJuly 8, 20250