See how NC State Scientists are using plants to clean up mining waste while also extracting rare, valuable metals.

Here’s what you’ll learn when reading this story: For more than three decades, scientists have explored ways to leverage certain metal-producing powers of hyperaccumulators, a family of more than 700 ...

See more of our trusted coverage when you search. Prefer Newsweek on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. A "breakthrough" discovery about the fern species Blechnum orientale ...

Rare earth metals that the company extracts from the rusty colored rock. (Photo by Don Bartletti/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images) Mining minerals from natural deposits is costly in both economic ...

Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily. Alpine pennycress is a charming little plant. Its low-growing rosette of green leaves ...

Malaysia’s Kinabalu Park, which surrounds Mount Kinabalu, the 20th-largest peak in the world, is home to a nickel mine like none other. In lieu of heavy machinery, plumes of sulfur dioxide, or rivers ...

Alpine pennycress is one of a select group of plants that have evolved the ability to pull impressive amounts of valuable metals out of the soil. Photo via Shutterstock. Alpine pennycress is a ...

Researchers at North Carolina State University are working to change that. They're using plants to extract valuable metals from contaminated soil and water, a process known as phytomining. "At the ...