An Olympic-length swimming pool, therapy baths, and rooftop running track is floating on the Seine inside a sleek, steel-structured barge named Annette K.. Designed for public use year round, it’s a bold return to river life, made possible by the quiet strength of molybdenum-containing stainless steel.

For centuries, molybdenum was confused with lead and graphite until scientists finally isolated the element in 1781. It came into commercial use during World War I as a steel hardening agent. In the century that followed, hundreds of uses and functions of molybdenum have been uncovered, from corrosion resistance in stainless steels to an essential role in human health.

Imagine hiking through a remote wilderness, using a lightweight, bendable solar panel on a backpack to charge your phone. Or imagine aircraft that use sunlight to reduce reliance on fuel. The lightweight technology that makes this possible, known as a copper-indium-gallium-selenide (CIGS) thin-film, is pushing solar energy into places conventional silicon cannot reach. CIGS relies on a micrometer-thin layer of molybdenum, applied with atomic precision, that enables performance in the harshest conditions, from disaster zones to deep space.

The in-ground infrastructure woven into our cities often goes unnoticed, but it plays an essential role in how we live. Drains, maintenance access points, and manhole covers must reliably function in harsh urban conditions, while integrating seamlessly with their surroundings. When made from molybdenum-containing stainless steel, these fixtures can hold up beautifully, year after year.

A spectacular footbridge along Cornwall’s rugged coast replaces a lost land link and reconnects the two halves of Tintagel Castle, one of Britain’s most legendary historic sites. Designed to endure Cornwall’s harsh coastal climate, the footbridge blends old and new – linking not just rock to rock, but past to present.