New battery designs could lead to gains in power and capacity
Researchers are looking beyond the cathode
IN THEir QUEST to build a better battery, researchers have blazed a trail through the elements of the periodic table. The earliest prototype cells ran on nickel and cadmium; successors have used everything from zinc and iron to sodium and lead.
This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline “All change”
Science & technology September 21st 2024
From the September 21st 2024 edition
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AI researchers receive the Nobel prize for physics
The award, to Geoffrey Hinton and John Hopfield, stretches the definition of the field
A Nobel prize for the discovery of micro-RNA
These tiny molecules regulate genes and control how cells develop and behave
AI offers an intriguing new way to diagnose mental-health conditions
Models look for sound patterns undetectable by the human ear
Why it’s so hard to tell which climate policies actually work
Better tools are needed to analyse their effects
Isolated communities are more at risk of rare genetic diseases
The isolation can be geographic or cultural
An adult fruit fly brain has been mapped—human brains could follow
For now, it is the most sophisticated connectome ever made