Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology

Magnetic levitation is used to float things like lamps and trains, but usually it requires a power source. Now, scientists in Japan have developed a way to make a floating platform that requires no external power, out of regular old graphite.

A research team in Japan has come up with a way of incorporating silicon into lithium battery anodes that overcomes the durability issues that have plagued such efforts so far, through tiny nano-scale arches that bring some much-needed strength.