No, that's probably the worst part. Or at least a stupid thing to say.
Determined, planned research would be the best way to develop things, so we would not have to rely on stupid luck to advance civilization.
You mean like Velcro, Teflon, penicillin, microwave ovens, and vulcanized rubber?
You call it luck. The journalist called it a gift from the battery gods. The truth lies somewhere between those extremes ... can you say ‘serendipity’?
A lot of things are discovered that are unanticipated side effects of other research that was looking for something else. synthetic dyes, for example. Penicillin was an accidental discovery. So were Radiography showing bones and the medical benefits of them. All accidental. There's a word for that: Serendipity.
Agreed, but is also true that many things were discovered quite by accident, and people who recognize those unexpected things and investigate them are very valuable, as are the accidental things.
Some of the greatest discoveries have been accidents.
They are:
Stainless steel
Anesthesia
Dynamite
Cornflakes
Penicillin
Play Doh
Super Glue
Velcro
X Rays
Safety Glass
Mauve (Which led the way for other dye colors)
Pacemaker
Post-It Notes
Microwave
Slinky
Ice Cream Cones
Teflon
Vulcanized Rubber
Plastic
Radioactivity
Saccharin
Smart Dust
Potato Chips
Coca Cola
Popsicles
It happened in a Battery Lab! Pretty far from a random discovery.
Why don’t you put your thoughts down on a “Post It” or bounce it around with Silly Putty.../S
There was no accident; just bad writing and lack of comprehension on the journolist’s part.
They were looking for something and found it. Then they found it had a nice side effect.
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.
That’s how technology frequently grows. Planned research is great, but real leaps come because somebody said “huh, that’s funny”.
I think you missed something - this was part of research into advancing nanowire technology via a gel electrolyte vs. the standard liquid. This extended life-cycle development, while not specifically what was being pursued, was a welcome “added benefit”. Many many “discoveries” over the years have come while researching/pursuing other goals.