Formula One race cars will take to the track this week in Singapore, where they'll reach blistering speeds above 200 mph, some of them with the aid of electric drive technology.

In Sandy Lake, Ontario (population 2,650), the diesel fuel that powers this remote community a thousand miles northwest of Toronto costs around $9 a gallon. And even then, in its harsh northern climate, it provides electricity only some of the time. So the community is looking for alternatives, and a Canadian mining company thinks it has found one in a new battery using the little-known metal vanadium.