Do You Take Your Batteries Over Easy?

Do you want your phone, tablet, and laptop powered by longer-lasting batteries with more power? Of course you do — and the secret is in the yolk:

Scientists at MIT and Tsinghua University have developed a nanoparticle battery electrode whose egg-like design is built to last. Their invention, which houses a shape-changing aluminum “yolk” in a titanium dioxide cell, can go through charging cycles without degrading like the graphite electrodes in conventional power packs. That could improve not only the overall longevity of the battery, but also its capacity and maximum power. You’d have gadgets that not only hold out for longer between charges, but don’t need to be replaced quite so often under heavy use.

This is still a lab experiment, but it’s closer to practical reality than you think. The manufacturing technique is simple, and these materials are relatively easy to find.

We’ve reached a point in battery and power-conservation technology where a tablet with moderate use only needs to go on the charger once or twice a week. The next challenge is getting smartphones to that same level of not-having-to-think-about-it.