Battery

While lithium extraction technologies generally focus on ways to get the essential metal out of the ground, there's another source to mine: existing batteries that no longer work. A new technique could now make that process economically viable.

Inspired by children's science projects that used a lemon and copper wire to power a lightbulb, researchers explored how citric acid could enhance a gelatin-based electrolyte and create a biodegradable battery that can also stretch.

A human-metabolism-inspired biofuel cell uses glucose and riboflavin to deliver 20 times more energy than similar previous tech. Made from cheap, eco-friendly substances, it offers energy storage for a world craving electrification.

Scientists have been working on enhancing concrete to store energy. That includes researchers at MIT, who found a way to combine cement, water, and carbon black to create a 'supercapacitor' for this purpose back in 2023. It's now 10x better at this.

Shell says it's developed a thermal management fluid for electric vehicles (EV) that can help speed up battery charging dramatically – we're talking 10%-80% in under 10 minutes. Not bad for an oil and gas company, eh?

Solid-state batteries have an edge over lithium-ion ones, thanks to the use of a non-flammable electrolyte. Hardware upstart BMX is packing this tech into a power bank to juice up your phone anywhere you go, without the chance of self-combusting.

Storing clean energy to use later poses a challenge in regions that have long stretches with low wind and sunlight, stressing power grids fed by renewable sources. Augwind Energy believes it's found a solution thousands of feet below the ground.

Around this time last year, Yaber launched two portable 1080p projectors designed to provide entertainment on outdoor adventures. They both required a dongle to access Google TV, but the company has now rectified that with the T2 Plus GTV edition.

In an effort to reduce the use of precious land to build renewable energy storage facilities, the Fraunhofer Institute has been cooking up a wild but plausible idea: dropping concrete storage spheres down to the depths of our oceans.

Adding new meaning to the term "fusion cuisine," robot science and gastronomy united to create an elaborate cake that features edible components and the world's first edible rechargeable battery. (Well, it's rechargeable until you eat it.)

As it starts to get a little warmer in the Northern Hemisphere, you might be looking to the yard for movie nights. Many portable projectors still need to be plugged in, but Dangbei's Freedo caters for cable-free watching for up to 2.5 hours.

Researchers at Korea's Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science & Technology have created a nuclear battery that could turn radiation directly into electricity for decades – but without all the scary stuff associated with nuclear radiation.