Texas researchers are using robot fish to help U.S. mineral supply

• But lithium mining and extraction are not so environmentally friendly. The researchers are aiming for a cleaner way to gather the mineral.

State of play: The research is supported by $1 million from the U.S. Department of Energy, which announced the awards earlier this summer.

What they're saying: "Unlike traditional mining that digs up land or pumps brine from underground and requires massive amounts of energy, these autonomous … nanorobots move freely through seawater to harvest lithium with virtually zero infrastructure footprint," Jingjing (Jenny) Qiu, mechanical engineering professor and one of the lead researchers, said in a statement.

• "Our goal is to develop a technology that supports a more reliable domestic lithium supply chain while reducing the environmental footprint associated with traditional extraction methods," Qiu added.

How it works: The robots swim like fish and gather lithium ions along the way. They can be activated by light and then recovered using magnetic fields.

Reality check: It can be difficult to separate lithium from other minerals in the sea.

• The research team's challenges also include scaling the robots for industrial use and ensuring they're durable enough to take on the ocean.

What's next: The next focus is on improving the fish robots' performance, testing their efficiency and evaluating potential environmental impacts.