Researchers make serious breakthrough that could lead to unbelievable energy tech: 'Promising candidates'
Scientists in South Korea may have just cracked a big challenge in battery tech.
A team at Hanyang University in Seoul has created a new design written up for the journal Nature Energy that could help solid-state batteries finally live up to the hype, delivering longer-lasting power for everything from electric vehicles to home energy systems.
Solid-state platforms "are promising candidates for next-generation batteries with high energy densities and safety," wrote the Korean researchers, as reported by Tech Xplore. But such designs still face major technical challenges, the scientists added, particularly "severe capacity fading" due to the rapid breakdown of their energy-storing materials.
That means that, over time, these high-tech batteries lose their ability to hold a charge, making them less useful and requiring more frequent replacements.
However, the Hanyang researchers say they've now figured out how to make one of the most important battery parts — the cathode — far more durable. The cathode is a section of the battery that stores and releases electricity, and it's often made with high amounts of nickel in solid-state systems.
To get to the root of why these nickel-rich cathodes degrade so quickly, the Korean team built four different versions of one and tested how they held up through repeated use. Based on their findings, the researchers redesigned the cathode to hold its shape better. In early tests, this upgraded design kept more than 80% of its charging power even after 300 charge cycles, a major improvement over earlier versions.
If the technology scales, it could mean longer-lasting batteries that don't need to be swapped out as often, saving both money and materials.
Solid-state batteries are so named for their upgraded electrolytes — the medium that allows energy to flow between components — which use solid materials instead of the often flammable liquids found in traditional lithium-ion batteries. Using these solids can also streamline the battery's function by making parts in traditional systems obsolete, a feature that could yield even lighter power packs in the future.
Because of their promised benefits, solid-state tech has attracted a lot of attention from researchers around the world, who are now chipping away at the remaining technical hurdles.
In the U.S., scientists at the Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois have been developing their own new kind of layered cathode made from nickel, manganese, and cobalt that performs more reliably at high voltages, a common weakness in today's battery tech. Their design reduces the amount of cobalt needed, helping to lower costs and reduce environmental harm linked to cobalt mining, all while keeping battery performance strong.
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Together, these breakthroughs point to a future where energy storage is cleaner, safer, and built to last. That would give people a lot more control over how they power their homes and lives — not to mention fewer reasons to worry about what happens when the battery dies.
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Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Yahoo
65 Absolutely Breaktaking Historical Pictures That Will Completely And Totally Change Your Perspective On The Universe
is a picture of Earth from ONE HOUR ago: Do you see yourself? this is a picture of Mars that was taken THIS WEEK: Weather looks nicer than New York City, not going to lie. is how big Earth is compared to Jupiter's Great Red Spot: I would hesitate to call that giant thing a "spot." It's disrespectful to Big Jupey. of which, the Great Red Spot on Jupiter is shrinking: According to NASA, "Some unknown activity in the planet's atmosphere may be draining energy and weakening the storm, causing it to shrink." while we're talkin' Jupiter, this is what Jupiter would look like if it were as close as the moon: Petition to replace the moon with Jupiter. Get on it, Biden. is what the Korean penisula — North Korea on top, South Korea on bottom – looks like from space: That arrow is pointing to Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea. 2001, there was a huge dust storm on Mars that obscured the whole planet from the outside: Imagine leaving your windows open on Mars that day. is what Florida looks like from space: To paraphrase Carl Sagan: Every Floridian you love, every Floridian who has robbed a gas station, every Floridian who has unwisely kept an exotic animal as a pet, every Floridian who has ever been seriously hurt flying off a jump in a backyard go-kart accident, has lived out their lives on that peninsula. this is what the Himalayas look like from International Space Station: Not so tall now, are you! is the last image NASA's InSight rover sent from Mars before running out of power at the end of its mission last December: we're on the subject, this is the last picture the Mars Opportunity rover took: Well, one of the final few. Goodnight, sweet prince. is what a volcano erupting looks like from space: Neat! to scale, is how far apart the Milky Way galaxy and the Andromeda galaxy are: FYI, the Milky Way is about 100,000 light-years across. is how big Earth is compared to Saturn: Earth is PUNY. this is how big the Moon and Pluto's moon Charon are compared to the Earth: You know what? I'm glad that puny little dwarf planet doesn't count as a planet anymore. is what Antarctica looks like from space: Read more about how this image was made here. is what the inside of a 1970s spacesuit looked like: Specially the Russian Orlan suit. Looks comfortable and not horrifying at all! can see volcanic eruptions on Jupiter's moon Io from space: Some are large enough to be seen from Earth, too. of IO, here's a picture of one of the moon's most unique mountains, named "Steeple Mountain:" It's about four miles high. is what the Pacific Ocean looks like from space: There are at least ten fish pictured here. is a picture of Pluto and its moons taken in 2006... Related: 13 Tweets From Women This Week That Made Me Laugh So Hard I Might Need Medical Attention this is a much, much clearer picture of Pluto taken only a decade later, in 2015: By NASA's New Horizons spacecraft from 476,000 miles out. is what the Space Shuttle Endeavour looked like as it left Earth and traveled into orbit: It looks like a little toy. is what a typhoon looks like from space: Specifically, Super Typhoon Maysak in 2015. picture was taken shortly after David Scott and Neil Armstrong's Gemini 8 space capsule landed in the Pacific Ocean: Some cool-looking extra-terrestrial dudes. is what the United Kingdom looked like from space during the winter of 2010: Likes like one of those Games of Thrones. is what a sunset looks like from space: Hmmm. Is this more or less impressive than the sunset your mom has as the background on her iPhone lock screen? Weigh in on this in the comments, please. Feb. 7, 1984, Bruce McCandless II performed the first-ever untethered space walk, and folks, it looks absolutely terrifying: He used a jet-propelled backpack to maneuver around. It was apparently very, very cold. is a picture of the ice mountains of Pluto as seen from the New Horizons space probe: The photo is 230 miles across, to put things into perspective. is what New Zealand looks like from space: I think I see Tom Bombadil. is how big an average-sized comet is compared to Paris: Specifically the Churyumov-Gerasimenko comet. Very chill, though. is a REAL picture of the moon crossing in front of the Earth: The image was taken by the DSCOVR spacecraft about a million miles away from Earth. Related: 18 People Who Took A Picture Of Something That — Oops — Is Super Dangerous is what a solar eclipse looks like from space: Like a pen blew up all over Earth. 1972, astronaut Charles Duke left behind a picture of his family on the moon's surface. It's been there ever since: The back of the photo reads, "This is the family of Astronaut Duke from Planet Earth, who landed on the Moon on the twentieth of April 1972." is how big everyone's favorite telescope, the Hubble Telescope, is: KRGEAC The Hubble Space Telescope at the Lockheed assembly plant 8913987 picture, taken in 1946, is one of the first images of Earth ever taken from space: It was captured from a 35-millimeter camera attached to a V-2 rocket. this is the first picture of Earth from the moon, taken in 1966 by Lunar Orbiter 1: Mars rovers are way, way bigger than you thought they were: This is the Perseverance rover. It's not a little RC car! is what a piece of the moon and a piece of Mars looks like: Read and see more here. are two of the earliest known photographs of Saturn and Jupiter, taken in the 19th century: probably familiar with the "Face on Mars," an image of a formation on Mars from the 1970s that launched a million conspiracy theories... this is what a much less blurry, much more recent photograph of that same "face" looks like: I still want to believe. is home to the tallest mountain in the solar system, the 72,000-foot-tall Olympus Mons: It's over 372 miles wide. That's bigger than Arizona. of Mars, this is what a sunset looks like on that there planet: Not as nice as Key West, but what are you gonna do. Martians make do. a bunch of trash left by humans on the moon. In fact, if you really want to know, there are 96 bags of human waste on that big pie in the sky: Now, THAT'S amore. might recognize Eugene from this iconic picture of his moon walk: recently captured one of the clearest pictures of Jupiter yet: Look at my boy Jupey! is the Willamette meteorite, the largest meteorite that's ever been found in the United States: It is the sixth largest in the world and weighs 15.5 tons. this is the Hoba meteorite, the largest meteorite on Earth: The largest that we know of, that is. It's located in Namibia. out on the edge of the Solar System is this big ol' hunk of rock called Ultima Thule, Arrokoth, or (486958) 2014 MU69 — the farthest thing from Earth humanity has ever "explored up close": Reminds me of two peanuts I ate earlier today. Those were some good peanuts. Aldrin took humanity's first "space selfie" while on a spacewalk in 1966: Never heard of a "space selfie"? Well, it's got its own Wikipedia page. is what the moon looks like in the Northern Hemisphere... this is what the moon looks like in the Southern Hemisphere. It's upside down: Well, I guess that just depends on the moon you lived your life with. is what Ireland looks like from space: I think I see Bono. finally, this is the statement President Jimmy Carter wrote and put aboard the Voyager 1 spacecraft, intended for any aliens the probe might encounter: It reads: "This Voyager spacecraft was constructed by the United States of America. We are a community of 240 million human beings among the more than 4 billion who inhabit the planet Earth. We human beings are still divided into nation states, but these states are rapidly becoming a single global civilization. "We cast this message into the cosmos. It is likely to survive a billion years into our future, when our civilization is profoundly altered and the surface of the Earth may be vastly changed. Of the 200 billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy, some — perhaps many — may have inhabited planets and spacefaring civilizations. If one such civilization intercepts Voyager and can understand these recorded contents, here is our message: "This is a present from a small distant world, a token of our sounds, our science, our images, our music, our thoughts, and our feelings. We are attempting to survive our time so we may live into yours. We hope someday, having solved the problems we face, to join a community of galactic civilizations. This record represents our hope and our determination, and our good will in a vast and awesome universe." is Eugene Cernan, who is, as of 2023, the last man to ever walk on the moon: He did it way back in 1972. It's been that long, folks! let's end by looking at the TRUE color of every planet in our solar system. This is what color Mercury really is: this is what Venus looks like to the naked eye: where you are, Earth, in true color: No surprise here. is what Mars looks like in real color: this is what Jupiter looks like without any filters: Saturn in all its true-color glory: this is Uranus in real color: Neptune in true color: finally, here's our little dwarf planet warrior, Pluto, in real color: Also in Internet Finds: The History We're Taught Is Wildly Sanitized, So Here 28 Disturbing Historical Events Everyone Should Be Aware Of Also in Internet Finds: Tattoo Artists Are Sharing The Tattoos They Felt REALLY Uncomfortable Doing, And I Have No Words Also in Internet Finds: "I've Worked In Various Prisons. I Will Take A Men's Over Women's Any Day Of The Week. Shit Is Scary": Former Female Inmates Are Sharing Their Most Disturbing Prison Experiences, And My Jaw Is Literally On The Floor
Buzz Feed
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- Buzz Feed
65 Extremely Rare Historical Pictures That Will Completely And Totally Change Your Perspective On The Universe
This is a picture of Earth from ONE HOUR ago: Do you see yourself? And this is a picture of Mars that was taken THIS WEEK: Weather looks nicer than New York City, not going to lie. This is how big Earth is compared to Jupiter's Great Red Spot: I would hesitate to call that giant thing a "spot." It's disrespectful to Big Jupey. Speaking of which, the Great Red Spot on Jupiter is shrinking: According to NASA, "Some unknown activity in the planet's atmosphere may be draining energy and weakening the storm, causing it to shrink." And while we're talkin' Jupiter, this is what Jupiter would look like if it were as close as the moon: Petition to replace the moon with Jupiter. Get on it, Biden. This is what the Korean penisula — North Korea on top, South Korea on bottom – looks like from space: That arrow is pointing to Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea. In 2001, there was a huge dust storm on Mars that obscured the whole planet from the outside: Imagine leaving your windows open on Mars that day. This is what Florida looks like from space: To paraphrase Carl Sagan: Every Floridian you love, every Floridian who has robbed a gas station, every Floridian who has unwisely kept an exotic animal as a pet, every Floridian who has ever been seriously hurt flying off a jump in a backyard go-kart accident, has lived out their lives on that peninsula. And this is what the Himalayas look like from International Space Station: Not so tall now, are you! This is the last image NASA's InSight rover sent from Mars before running out of power at the end of its mission last December: While we're on the subject, this is the last picture the Mars Opportunity rover took: Well, one of the final few. Goodnight, sweet prince. This is what a volcano erupting looks like from space: Neat! This, to scale, is how far apart the Milky Way galaxy and the Andromeda galaxy are: FYI, the Milky Way is about 100,000 light-years across. This is how big Earth is compared to Saturn: Earth is PUNY. And this is how big the Moon and Pluto's moon Charon are compared to the Earth: You know what? I'm glad that puny little dwarf planet doesn't count as a planet anymore. This is what Antarctica looks like from space: Read more about how this image was made here. This is what the inside of a 1970s spacesuit looked like: Specially the Russian Orlan suit. Looks comfortable and not horrifying at all! You can see volcanic eruptions on Jupiter's moon Io from space: Some are large enough to be seen from Earth, too. Speaking of IO, here's a picture of one of the moon's most unique mountains, named "Steeple Mountain:" It's about four miles high. This is what the Pacific Ocean looks like from space: There are at least ten fish pictured here. This is a picture of Pluto and its moons taken in 2006... And this is a much, much clearer picture of Pluto taken only a decade later, in 2015: By NASA's New Horizons spacecraft from 476,000 miles out. This is what the Space Shuttle Endeavour looked like as it left Earth and traveled into orbit: It looks like a little toy. This is what a typhoon looks like from space: Specifically, Super Typhoon Maysak in 2015. This picture was taken shortly after David Scott and Neil Armstrong's Gemini 8 space capsule landed in the Pacific Ocean: Some cool-looking extra-terrestrial dudes. This is what the United Kingdom looked like from space during the winter of 2010: Likes like one of those Games of Thrones. This is what a sunset looks like from space: Hmmm. Is this more or less impressive than the sunset your mom has as the background on her iPhone lock screen? Weigh in on this in the comments, please. On Feb. 7, 1984, Bruce McCandless II performed the first-ever untethered space walk, and folks, it looks absolutely terrifying: He used a jet-propelled backpack to maneuver around. It was apparently very, very cold. This is a picture of the ice mountains of Pluto as seen from the New Horizons space probe: The photo is 230 miles across, to put things into perspective. This is what New Zealand looks like from space: I think I see Tom Bombadil. This is how big an average-sized comet is compared to Paris: Specifically the Churyumov-Gerasimenko comet. Very chill, though. This is a REAL picture of the moon crossing in front of the Earth: The image was taken by the DSCOVR spacecraft about a million miles away from Earth. This is what a solar eclipse looks like from space: Like a pen blew up all over Earth. In 1972, astronaut Charles Duke left behind a picture of his family on the moon's surface. It's been there ever since: The back of the photo reads, "This is the family of Astronaut Duke from Planet Earth, who landed on the Moon on the twentieth of April 1972." This is how big everyone's favorite telescope, the Hubble Telescope, is: KRGEAC The Hubble Space Telescope at the Lockheed assembly plant 8913987 This picture, taken in 1946, is one of the first images of Earth ever taken from space: It was captured from a 35-millimeter camera attached to a V-2 rocket. And this is the first picture of Earth from the moon, taken in 1966 by Lunar Orbiter 1: The Mars rovers are way, way bigger than you thought they were: This is the Perseverance rover. It's not a little RC car! This is what a piece of the moon and a piece of Mars looks like: Read and see more here. These are two of the earliest known photographs of Saturn and Jupiter, taken in the 19th century: You're probably familiar with the "Face on Mars," an image of a formation on Mars from the 1970s that launched a million conspiracy theories... ...well, this is what a much less blurry, much more recent photograph of that same "face" looks like: I still want to believe. Mars is home to the tallest mountain in the solar system, the 72,000-foot-tall Olympus Mons: It's over 372 miles wide. That's bigger than Arizona. Speaking of Mars, this is what a sunset looks like on that there planet: Not as nice as Key West, but what are you gonna do. Martians make do. There's a bunch of trash left by humans on the moon. In fact, if you really want to know, there are 96 bags of human waste on that big pie in the sky: Now, THAT'S amore. You might recognize Eugene from this iconic picture of his moon walk: NASA recently captured one of the clearest pictures of Jupiter yet: Look at my boy Jupey! This is the Willamette meteorite, the largest meteorite that's ever been found in the United States: It is the sixth largest in the world and weighs 15.5 tons. And this is the Hoba meteorite, the largest meteorite on Earth: The largest that we know of, that is. It's located in Namibia. Way out on the edge of the Solar System is this big ol' hunk of rock called Ultima Thule, Arrokoth, or (486958) 2014 MU69 — the farthest thing from Earth humanity has ever "explored up close": Reminds me of two peanuts I ate earlier today. Those were some good peanuts. Buzz Aldrin took humanity's first "space selfie" while on a spacewalk in 1966: Never heard of a "space selfie"? Well, it's got its own Wikipedia page. This is what the moon looks like in the Northern Hemisphere... ...and this is what the moon looks like in the Southern Hemisphere. It's upside down: Well, I guess that just depends on the moon you lived your life with. This is what Ireland looks like from space: I think I see Bono. And finally, this is the statement President Jimmy Carter wrote and put aboard the Voyager 1 spacecraft, intended for any aliens the probe might encounter: It reads: "This Voyager spacecraft was constructed by the United States of America. We are a community of 240 million human beings among the more than 4 billion who inhabit the planet Earth. We human beings are still divided into nation states, but these states are rapidly becoming a single global civilization."We cast this message into the cosmos. It is likely to survive a billion years into our future, when our civilization is profoundly altered and the surface of the Earth may be vastly changed. Of the 200 billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy, some — perhaps many — may have inhabited planets and spacefaring civilizations. If one such civilization intercepts Voyager and can understand these recorded contents, here is our message:"This is a present from a small distant world, a token of our sounds, our science, our images, our music, our thoughts, and our feelings. We are attempting to survive our time so we may live into yours. We hope someday, having solved the problems we face, to join a community of galactic civilizations. This record represents our hope and our determination, and our good will in a vast and awesome universe." This is Eugene Cernan, who is, as of 2023, the last man to ever walk on the moon: He did it way back in 1972. It's been that long, folks! Finally, let's end by looking at the TRUE color of every planet in our solar system. This is what color Mercury really is: And this is what Venus looks like to the naked eye: Here's where you are, Earth, in true color: No surprise here. This is what Mars looks like in real color: And this is what Jupiter looks like without any filters: Here's Saturn in all its true-color glory: And this is Uranus in real color: Here's Neptune in true color: And, finally, here's our little dwarf planet warrior, Pluto, in real color:
Newsweek
a day ago
- Newsweek
HKC: Auto Parts Engineered for Safety
Supplied by an entity that has paid the news provider for its placement; not impartial journalism. Every automotive part must be backed by a level of quality that drivers and passengers can trust to protect them on their journeys. To become the suppliers of choice, manufacturers must maintain incredible quality standards while remaining agile and innovative to meet new challenges. Hankook Capability Corporation (HKC) began manufacturing as an electronic component producer and quickly established itself as the world standard for automotive part manufacturing. In 1986, it entered the seatbelt industry, and its most pivotal moment was being approached by a European Tier 1 automotive safety systems supplier, which launched HKC's international expansion efforts. CEO Sung-man Kim says that through the partnership, word quickly spread about its manufacturing expertise, which led to export opportunities. Today, the company manufactures automotive safety components such as channels, latches, tongues, rearview mirrors and battery BMA parts, shipping over 200 million parts to 25 countries annually. Sung-man Kim, CEO, Hankook Capability Co., Ltd. Credit: Courtesy of HKC Co., Ltd. Sung-man Kim, CEO, Hankook Capability Co., Ltd. Credit: Courtesy of HKC Co., Ltd. "Our competitive edge in international markets comes from two key factors: cost efficiency and superior quality management," Kim explains. Initially, it stood out to foreign car makers with its highly competitive pricing. Its exceptional quality management strengthened those partnerships, making it the sole supplier for several global automakers. Kim says that when discussing seatbelts, automakers immediately recognize HKC, and a key reason is its ability to meet the industry's rigorous standards. "Our ability to understand, meet and exceed these international requirements is a core strength," he states. In 2024, the company opened a manufacturing plant in Mexico, focusing on overmolding for batteries. The demand for EVs continues to grow and synergizes with its automotive safety capabilities. Leveraging its extensive technological capabilities and management expertise, HKC's entry into the battery market aligns well with its strengths, particularly mass production. The company has been awarded Supplier Quality (SQ) certifications by global Korean OEMs in 5 key sectors: metal stamping, heat treatment, over-molding, welding and surface treatment. In 2018, the Korean Government recognized it as a "Root Company," which are fundamental manufacturing firms specializing in core techniques like casting, molding, welding, plastic processing, surface treatment and heat treatment. 1 of 5 HKC is also investing in advanced manufacturing techniques that integrate AI. Its production lines utilize deep learning for visual inspections, and the company's goal is to incorporate AI into its real-time monitoring (POP) to trigger proactive alerts. The company is also working to implement the manufacturing information system (MIS) to further optimize efficiency. The company aims to continue expanding into Thailand, Vietnam or possibly Europe. "Our company started by serving global markets, and over the years, we have developed a deep understanding of cultural differences across various countries," Kim says. He refuses to let the company rest on its laurels and continues pushing it into new markets and industries. While HKC is known for seatbelts, he emphasizes that this is not the destination. "I want HKC to be a company that represents Korea and contributes significantly to the global industry." For more details, explore the website at: This report has been paid for by a third party. The views and opinions expressed are not those of Newsweek and are not an endorsement of the products, services or persons mentioned.
