COVER STORY This issue: Deep Questions. At the bottom of the Pacific Ocean lies a solution to the imminent battery shortage… at a great potential cost to biodiversity and life on earth. Scattered three miles deep along the floor of the central Pacific are trillions of black, misshapen nuggets that may just be the solution to an impending energy crisis. Similar in size and appearance to partially burned charcoal briquettes, the nuggets are called polymetallic…To understand the world we live in, read TIME.

The Afghan Lessons. What  the U.S. can learn from our 20-year war. The end was going to be painful. During the course of several administrations, the American public had grown tired of the war in Afghanistan and simply wanted it to end. The Biden Administration decided to rip the bandage off, but unfortunately it ripped off a tourniquet, and we are watching the hemorrhaging of American honor and the death of the hopes and dreams of many Afghans—particularly many girls and women…

China makes coal-powered plans, even as it promises a greener future. While leaders around the world talk about a post-pandemic “green recovery,” China has outlined plans to build 43 new coal-fired power plants, according to an Aug. 13 report from Global Energy Monitor and the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air. The new projects, announced in the first half of 2021, would add 1.25% to China’s annual carbon-dioxide output—despite the country’s pledge to be carbon neutral by 2060…