Scientists have announced Li-ion battery that ‘won’t catch fire.’
About:
- Lithium-ion batteries are vulnerable to fire and explosion, which often happens without warning. This is because they are built with flammable and combustible materials.
- Now, the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory has developed a Lithium-ion battery that will not catch fire.
- Li-ion batteries have emerged as the energy storage vehicle of choice for portable electronics, electric vehicles, and grid storage. These safety advancements mark a significant step forward in transforming the way Li-ion batteries are manufactured and used in electronic devices.
How does it functions?
- The team has announced the discovery of a new class of “water-in-salt” and “water-in-bisalt” electrolytes—referred to as WiS and WiBS, respectively.
- This new class of electrolytes, when incorporated in a polymer matrix, reduces water activity and elevates the battery’s energy capabilities and life cycle while ridding it of the flammable, toxic, and highly reactive solvents present in current Li-ion batteries. It’s a safe, powerful alternative.
Tasmanian tiger
Why in news?
- Recently released documents from Tasmania’s Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment show that thylacine, which is said to have gone extinct over 80 years ago, has been spotted across Tasmania 8 times during 2016 -2019.
News in detail
- The thylacine, now extinct, is one of the largest known carnivorous marsupials, evolving about 4 million years ago.
- The thylacine is commonly known as the Tasmanian tiger because of its striped lower back, or the Tasmanian wolf because of its canid-like characteristics.
- The last known thylacine died in captivity over 80 years ago, in Tasmania’s Hobart Zoo in 1936.
- It was native to Tasmania, New Guinea, and the Australian mainland.
- The thylacine appeared like a medium-to-large-size dog, except for its stiff tail and abdominal pouch similar to a kangaroo, and dark transverse stripes that radiated from the top of its back, reminiscent of a tiger.
Concept of Multiverse
- A new book titled ‘The Number of the Heavens’ written by science journalist Tom Siegfried explores how the concept of the multiverse has evolved.
About:
- Multiverse is a scientific concept under which some scientists believe that our universe may indeed be just one of many.
- The multiverse is a hypothetical group of multiple universes. Together, these universes comprise everything that exists: the entirety of space, time, matter, energy, and the physical laws and constants that describe them.
- The multiverse is also known as a maniverse, megaverse, metaverse, omniverse, or meta-universe. The different universes within the multiverse are called “parallel universes”, “other universes”, “alternate universes”, or “alterverses”.
- Prominent physicists are divided about whether any other universes exist outside of our own. Stephen Hawking was one of the proponent of the multiverse hypotheses.
Interpol to hold general assembly in India in 2022
- India will host the 91st Interpol General Assembly in 2022 after a proposal received the support of member countries at this year’s congregation at Santinago in Chile.
Key highlights
- The general assembly of Interpol, where representatives of all member countries converge, is an annual exercise where all major decisions affecting general policy, working methods and finances are deliberated by representatives.
- The 91st Interpol General Assembly in India in the year 2022 will be held as part of celebrations of the 75th anniversary of Indian Independence.
- Earlier, Interpol had hosted the general assembly in India in 1997.
- Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) represents Interpol in India as the country’s national central bureau.
Researchers develop new croissant-inspired energy storage system
- Researchers have developed a new dielectric capacitor — a device that stores energy like a battery — taking inspiration from how the French pastry, croissant, is made by folding multiple layers of dough.
Key highlights
- Croissants are made by pressing and folding dough to create a layered pastry. The researchers applied this technique to a dielectric capacitor, which is a device that stores energy like a battery.
- By pressing and folding a polymer film capacitor — a capacitor with an insulating plastic film — they were able to store 30 times more energy than the best-performing commercially available dielectric capacitor, biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP).
- The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, shows that this is the highest energy density ever reported in a polymer film capacitor.
- The advance may pave the way for efficient, low-cost, and environmentally-friendly electric energy storage systems for wind and solar sources.