Gizmorama - June 29, 2015

Good Morning,

We use batteries in so many electronic devices these days that you need to keep a stockpile on hand. But batteries in bulk can be so expensive.

Well, thanks to new technology batteries can now be manufactured more efficiently while cutting costs.

Learn about this and more interesting stories from the scientific community in today's issue.

Until Next Time,
Erin

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*-- New technology makes batteries cheaper, more efficient --*
BOSTON (UPI) - Researchers at MIT have developed a new manufacturing strategy that cuts the cost of battery production in half.

In addition to slashing costs, the new technology promises to produce a better performing and more easily recycled battery. The key to the across-the-board improvements is hybridization.

The new manufacturing method has allowed scientists to combine the benefits of both liquid-based flow batteries and traditional solid ones. Researchers call the battery "semisolid."

The battery features an electrode in the form of tiny suspended particles. The electrode is suspended in liquid, which allows manufactures to forego the drying process involved in traditional solid battery construction.

Scientists were able to use thicker, less delicate electrodes when employing a semisolid design. This removed complexity from the manufacturing process, and made the battery more resilient and flexible.

Liquid technology is ideal for small batteries that don't have to hold a significant charge. But for larger ion batteries intended for industrial uses, liquid technology requires too many components and an inefficient manufacturing process.

The new method brings the benefits of liquid technology to big batteries -- but without the baggage.

"We realized that a better way to make use of this flowable electrode technology was to reinvent the [lithium ion] manufacturing process," Yet-Ming Chiang, lead researcher and MIT professor, explained in a press release.

Chiang and his colleagues have already spun the technology off into a new company, which is partnering with a number of companies to produce more than 1,000 prototypes.


*-- Rosetta mission extended, probe may land on comet 67P --*
DARMSTADT, Germany (UPI) - Officials at the European Space Agency have announced the continuation of the Rosetta mission. The probe will continue orbiting Comet 67P for an extra nine months, through September 2016.

During the extended mission, the probe is expected to attempt a number of potentially risky maneuvers, and may even try to land on the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

ESA's budget originally funded the mission through the end of the year, but officials with the agency's Science Programme Committee recently agreed to fork over the money to keep the project alive.

"This is fantastic news for science," Matt Taylor, lead scientist on the Rosetta mission, said in a press release. "We'll be able to monitor the decline in the comet's activity as we move away from the sun again, and we'll have the opportunity to fly closer to the comet to continue collecting more unique data. By comparing detailed before and after data, we'll have a much better understanding of how comets evolve during their lifetimes."

Rosetta will make its closest approach to the sun in August. Researchers hope to use their extra orbit time to move the probe closer to the nucleus in order to document the chemical and physical changes precipitated by the comet's "summer." This close orbit will also give scientists one last chance to locate the Philae lander.

Engineers also hope to initiate slightly riskier moves, like sending Rosetta across the night-side of the comet to study the plasma, dust and gas interactions -- as well as to collect samples of the dust and debris spewed from the comet's innards.

Finally, scientists want to end the mission with a touchdown.

"This time, as we're riding along next to the comet, the most logical way to end the mission is to set Rosetta down on the surface," said Patrick Martin, Rosetta's mission manager.

Whether that means a controlled landing or a fiery crash is open for debate.

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