This battery breakthrough could change the world

GearBurn ^ | July 12, 2016 | By Wiehahn Diederichs

[DAC21]

Another day, another astonishing battery breakthrough.

[TheNext]

The Engineer here waited 60 posts for the relevant point.

The important point has not been stated yet. I am grateful to my inner Engineer that simplifies solutions since relevance is so obscure.

Go to the front of the class if someone can state the relevant idea. I will give a hint, it is a negative.

[Moonman62]

I wish I had a dollar for every time I’ve seen an article about a battery breakthrough that never made it to market. I’d be a millionaire.

[SoCal Pubbie]

I didn’t want to touch that one with a 10 foot pole.

[TheNext]

Whoever finds the answer first wins. So here is another hint, and maybe giveaway.

List three properties of a battery, rank their importance, then state if this discovery is a breakthrough or a dud.

a) duration it holds initial charge eg 3 months
b) battery life eg 200k cycles
c) ???

Breakthrough or a Dud?

Determine property c) for the answer.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Not quite the way it happened according to the biochemists on "In Our Time with Melvyn Bragg - Penicillin." Close, but no mention of a cantaloupe. There isn't any agreement on where the mold spores came from.

WARNING: Clicking the above link will download the podcast to your machine. It's a great podcast.

[marktwain]

Energy density.

[Falconspeed]

‘Tthank you battery gods.’ Wimp. Just be honest and real and say: Thank you, God the Father, for the wonders of creation. New discoveries show Your splendor.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

But they didn't actually discover it by accident.

They were looking for something and found it. Then they found it had a nice side effect.

[KC Burke]

anyone else using envelop batteries?

[GOPJ]

Great news...

[Rome2000]

My go to is the dry cell with the screw terminals on top.

Now THATS a battery!

[Crucial]

Many great dicoveries are accidental. Plastic was created by accident. X-rays were discovered by accident, along with gunpowder, antibiotics (penicillin) and nuclear fission. The list goes on and on.

[OneVike]

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Sorry, but most inventions have been discovered by mistake. The telephone comes to mind for one.

[poconopundit]

That’s the key question. I still like my Dollar Tree 8-pack of batteries for one dollar. They don’t last as long as the Energizer, but lots of portable devices they work just fine. And you’re spending $12.00 a year on batteries, not $50.00

[poconopundit]

Property c is cost — or manufacturability. There was no discussion of cost in the story.

[Fresh Wind]

There they are again...those pesky little weasel words “may have”.

[Swordmaker]

The side effect is that this will distrupt Apple’s business model, because they time their product announcements to match their battery lifetime.

Uh, nope. My original iPhone, purchased on June 27, 2007, is still operational, and still holding a charge, being used as an iPod touch by my 4 ½ year old grand daughter with the original battery still in it. That phone was handed down through various family members and finally retired from cell phone use a year or so ago. At that time it held 80% of its original daily charge time. Nice try. If what you claim were true, Apple mobile devices wouldn't be commanding the high resale prices they do, even three, four, and five years post introduction.

[Robert DeLong]

And another genius was discovered!!! Interesting story, I did not know that. Thanks.

[MHGinTN]

Stiff competition