2023-11-15 16:34:01
Batteries with cobalt are stopped.
Did you know that your mobile phone or laptop battery has a dark side? Although lithium ion batteries (LIB) are essential for electronic devices and electric cars, their production involves certain problems, such as the use of cobalt, a material with serious environmental and social problems linked to its extraction.
A group of researchers from the University of Tokyo has found a revolutionary alternative to cobalt in lithium-ion batteries. They used a novel combination of elements such as lithium, nickel, manganese, silicon and oxygen for the electrodes, all of which are much more common and less problematic than cobalt.
The new design not only eliminates the need for cobalt, but also offers surprising improvements in battery efficiency. The new batteries have a 60% higher energy density, which could translate into longer life. Additionally, they can deliver 4.4 volts, compared to 3.2-3.7 volts for typical batteries. Perhaps most impressive is their durability: these new batteries were able to be fully charged and discharged for more than 1,000 cycles (approximately three years of use and full charge) losing only 20% of their storage capacity.
This advance is exciting, but Professor Atsuo Yamada warns that there are still challenges to be addressed to further improve the safety and longevity of these batteries. However, they are confident that their research will lead to improved batteries for a variety of applications.
The impact of this discovery is not only technological, but also environmental, economic and social. By finding an alternative to cobalt, not only are batteries being improved, but ethical issues related to labor exploitation and environmental impact are also being addressed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where the world’s largest source of cobalt is located.
In short, this innovation could be a giant step towards a greener and more ethical world, allowing us to enjoy electronic devices and sustainable transportation without the burden of guilt associated with cobalt. It is an advance that goes beyond mere technology, touching fundamental aspects of how we want to live in harmony with our planet and each other.
The remains of Theia lie deep inside the Earth.
Before the 20th century, theories about the Moon’s origin encompassed ideas such as the fission of the Earth, the capture of a pre-existing celestial body, and its co-formation with the Earth from a primordial nebula. However, the discovery of differences in the composition of metals and volatile elements between the Earth and the Moon began to suggest a more violent event in its origin. In 1980, this notion took a significant turn when astronomers William K. Hartmann and Donald R. Davis proposed the giant impact theory in detail. They hypothesized that a Mars-sized body, called Theia, collided with Earth, a catastrophic event that eventually led to the formation of the Moon. This hypothesis gained strength thanks to the lunar samples brought back by the Apollo missions, whose isotopic composition showed surprising similarities with terrestrial rocks, supporting the idea of a common origin.
According to the giant impact model, this violent crash embedded material from Theia into the lower half of Earth’s mantle and launched debris into orbit that eventually coalesced to form the Moon.
A recent study suggests that most of Theia was absorbed by the young Earth, forming structures known as LLVP (Large Low-Shear-Velocity Provinces), while debris from the impact contributed to lunar formation. Scientists discovered LLVPs by measuring seismic waves, whose speeds vary depending on the materials passed through. Researcher Yuan, working with multidisciplinary collaborators, modeled different scenarios for the chemical composition of Theia and its collision with Earth. The simulations confirmed that part of Theia’s mantle would have been incorporated into that of the Earth, forming two distinct spots at the boundary between the core and the mantle, while other remains were ejected into outer space and mixed and agglutinated to form the Moon.
The material from Theia that mixed with the Earth’s mantle clumps together in two separate bubbles instead of completely mixing with the forming planet. The simulations indicated that much of the impact energy was concentrated in the upper half of the Earth’s mantle, leaving the lower mantle colder than previously thought. This allowed Theia’s blobs of iron-rich material to remain almost intact as they settled to the base of the mantle. Next steps in this research include examining how the early presence of heterogeneous material from Theia deep within the Earth may have influenced the planet’s internal processes, such as plate tectonics.
A nose to smell the oceans
Researchers from the American Chemical Association describe the development of an underwater device that captures molecules released into the sea by marine organisms. This capture concentrates the dissolved molecules and allows the analysis of their molecular structures and their potential properties as new drugs or medications.
Many marine environments, some of which may contain unique bioactive compounds, are threatened by pollution and climate change. It is important to analyze what substances of interest to humans can be found in their waters before these environments disappear. The researchers, who include Thierry Pérez and Charlotte Simmler, set out to create a device that collects these compounds without harming ecosystems. They have manufactured a waterproof device, called the In Situ Marine Molecules Recorder (I-SMEL), which uses filters made of different materials similar to makeup remover pads to absorb molecules dissolved in seawater. Depending on the chemical properties of the materials used, these filters may preferentially retain certain molecules according to their chemical properties. For example, if filters contain negatively charged materials, they will collect and retain molecules that are positively charged.
This device has been tested in caves in the Mediterranean Sea. The device successfully concentrated molecules, some of which were unknown and promising for their potential biological activity. Certain metabolites from sea sponges were significantly more concentrated in the extracts obtained from seawater filtered by the device than in the sponges themselves.
Another application of the I-SMEL device is that it allows obtaining information in a non-invasive way about the health status of ecosystems. This state of health is characterized by concentrations in a normal range, which will have to be determined, of the substances produced by the marine organisms that compose it.
At the moment, the device needs to be operated by a diver who will dive and swim with it. Long-term future development plans include modifying the device to allow it to operate autonomously, like a small submarine, and also allowing access to deeper waters that a diver cannot access.
Antimatter and matter behave in the same way under gravity.
Antimatter is, in many ways, the mirror of regular matter. We know that atoms are made up of smaller particles, the protons and neutrons in the nucleus and the electrons forming a cloud around them. All these particles have their counterpart in antimatter, the proton is opposed by the antiproton, a particle that has the same mass, but opposite electric charge (negative), the electron is opposed by the positron, which has the same mass as an electron but with a positive charge.
According to Einstein’s theory of relativity, mass is a source of gravity, which implies that antimatter should be affected by gravity just like matter, but this hypothesis had not been demonstrated until now. If antimatter responded to gravity differently than matter, it would have profound implications for our understanding of the universe, including theories about the expansion of the universe, dark energy, and matter-antimatter asymmetry.
When two particles of matter and antimatter come into contact, they disintegrate, releasing an enormous amount of energy. Since we live in a world of matter, measuring gravity in antimatter is very difficult. To ensure that antimatter persists, magnetic traps are made that keep it isolated from contact with ordinary matter. In this way, it has been possible not only to keep positrons and antiprotons confined, but also to associate them to create antimatter atoms equivalent to hydrogen: antihydrogen atoms.
CERN’s ALPHA-g experiment used a vertically oriented antihydrogen trap to release accumulated antihydrogen atoms and observe the influence of gravity on their movement as they escape and annihilate. The results show that antihydrogen atoms behave in a manner consistent with the gravitational attraction toward Earth, rejecting the idea of repulsive “antigravity.”
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