gay arts, weirdness, nostalgy, cats

While everyone is looking for the next rare-earth metal to build batteries, Finland is just looking at the beach. Polar Night Energy has developed a "sand battery" that stores renewable energy in giant silos filled with—you guessed it—sand.

It’s elegantly simple: excess wind and solar power heat the sand up to 600°C. That sand can hold that heat for months. It doesn't turn it back into electricity (which is inefficient); it pumps that heat directly into the homes of entire communities during the brutal Finnish winter.

Photographer Christopher Paetkau captured a polar bear mother and her three cubs sleeping on muddy ground instead of Arctic ice, a heartbreaking image that was shortlisted for the 2026 Wildlife Photographer of the Year Nuveen People's Choice Award.