We see batteries almost every day, but our brain hardly registers them unless we need one. On average, we throw away over 179,000 batteries every year, plus an additional 140,000 rechargeable batteries. We all know these small reactors create electricity, but what you may not know is the earliest known battery, called the “Baghdad Battery” is from 250BC. It was re-discovered in 1938 in the basement of the Baghdad museum. Controversy surrounds this earliest example of a battery, but suggested uses include electroplating, pain relief, or a religious tingle.
American scientist and inventor Benjamin Franklin first used the term "battery" in 1749 when he was doing experiments with electricity using a set of linked capacitors. The first true battery was invented by the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta in 1800. Volta stacked discs of copper and zinc separated by a cloth soaked in salty water. Wires connected to either end of the stack produced a continuously stable current.
#batteries #lithium #
Now, get ready for the extreme advancement of x-ray technology. A brilliant new light shines in France, where officials at the ESRF announced the reopening of their completely rebuilt x-ray source. The ring-shaped machine, 844 meters around or 2,769-foot circle, generates x-ray beams 100 times brighter than its predecessor and 10 trillion times brighter than medical x-rays. The intense radiation could open up new vistas in x-ray science, such as imaging whole organs in three dimensions.
#x-ray #esrf #advancex-ray
One of the biggest challenges facing crewed missions to Mars is figuring out how to protect crewmembers from the onslaught of deadly cosmic rays. Now, scientists at a number of universities say there’s growing evidence that an unusual solution could be effective: building shields out of a radiation-absorbing fungus that grows near the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.
#ChernobylNuclearPowerPlant #CryptococcusNeoformans
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