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A new technique could pave the way for improving the workhorse lithium ion battery used in automobiles, cell phones and other devices so that it can recharge in seconds RAPID RECHARGE: Scientists tweaked a battery material to permit a super-quick flow of charge-carrying ions in and out. A new twist on the familiar lithium ion battery has yielded a type of power-storing material that charges and discharges at lightning speed. The finding could offer a boost for plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles and possibly allow cell phone batteries to regain a full charge in seconds rather than hours. Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.) report in Nature today that they devised a way for lithium ions in a battery to zip in and out about 100 times faster than previously demonstrated. "We took a basically great material called lithium iron phosphate [LiFePO4] and we tried to improve it further," says study author Byoungwoo Kang, a graduate student in M.I.T.'s Department of Materials Science and Engineering.

The problem with batteries is that they often contain toxic chemicals that can leach out into the environment. But what if the chemicals were completely natural? Professor Chungpin Liao and researchers at Coherent Control Laboratory in Taiwan are thinking in that direction. They have invented an organic battery powered by chlorophyll - the green-colored photosynthetic pigments found in most plant life.

A new battery made from non-toxic materials abundant in the Earth's crust could revolutionize the electric vehicles segment. The battery, powered by LifePO4 - a material used in advanced lithium-ion batteries, was developed by Universite de Montreal researchers.

Nickel-zinc (NiZn) batteries have the technology to deliver not only the recycling ability of other nickel-based battery types, but they also deliver a full 1.5 volts of power.

(NaturalNews) For decades, battery storage technology has been a heavy weight on the back of scientific innovation. From cell phones to electric vehicles, our technological capabilities always seem to be several steps ahead of our ability to power them. Several promising new technologies are currently under development to help power the 21st century, but one small start-up looks especially well positioned to transform the way we think about energy storage.

For many, using lithium-ion batteries to store energy has proven to be too expensive to be worth-while. This happens to not be the case for Chris Shelton of AES Energy Storage.

Researchers in the US are using pioneering technology to create long-lasting, more efficient nuclear batteries. We talk to Patrick J Pinhero, Alan K Wertsching and Jae Wan Kwon of the University of Missouri about pushing the boundaries of betavoltaic electricity generation. The University of Missouri (MU) is pushing boundaries in betavoltaic electricity generation.

Wandering through the Maker Fair expo, I came across this solar charger I hadn't heard of before. It's called GoBe, and looks like a great portable way to charge up some hefty devices, possibly even your laptop. It comes in two parts - a brief case-sized fold-out solar panel that can be propped up at different angles, and a lantern-sized battery pack. The solar panel has a max of 13 watts, which means you'll get back-up power to a laptop after a day's worth of charging, but can't really run a laptop off of it. However, it's great for charging up the GoBe hub so you have spare power for a wide range of other devices.

Chemists claim that by mimicking photosynthesis in the lab, they could revolutionize fuel production within five years. Katharine Sanderson reports. Dan Nocera, a chemist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, made a bold statement at the American Chemical Society's fall meeting in Philadelphia last month. He claimed that within five years he could build a device capable of producing locally sourced hydrogen gas, which could power all the world's houses, fill people's car batteries and revolutionize energy supply in the developing world. "I guarantee, in under five years, you'll see this," he said.

The world needs a "revolution" in science and technology to solve global warming, says Energy Secretary Steven Chu. Chu, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist, made the remarks in today's New York Times. The article was short on specifics, but Chu, former director of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, said Nobel-level breakthroughs were needed in electric batteries, solar power and crops that could be turned into fuel. "Science and technology can generate much better choices," Chu, a long-time proponent of alternative energy development, told the newspaper. "It has, consistently, over hundreds and hundreds of years." Among the points he made: