Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

ResponsiblePoet0 t1_j7kyfji wrote

Reply to comment by commandersprocket in New battery seems to offer it all: lithium-metal/lithium-air electrodes by nastratin

That's actually really comforting. I get so discouraged looking at all these failures, or theoretical technologies that never make it to production, so seeing it in this different light is really nice. Thanks.

5

datwunkid t1_j7l01n4 wrote

Not to mention research accumulates knowledge that can be tapped into later.

If it can't get out of the lab and onto the market today, there could be separate breakthroughs in the future that could help it.

Think of all those headlines of creating things with graphene and carbon nanotubes.

It's hyped up as this big revolutionary material that will change our society, but we can't make it at a cost effective scale.

If we ever do make it at scale, then we have so many practical uses ready to try out.

Or if we can't make it at scale, maybe we can find a very niche, but viable use for them that is worth the extremely high cost of them.

8

ShadowDV t1_j7ltbyx wrote

They aren’t failures, they are steps along the way to innovation

4

TimmJimmGrimm t1_j7qgf7v wrote

I was taught that each amazing break through is often in one dimension of the battery problem-set: expands-when-charged, holds-charge, charge-time, heats-when-(dis)charged, explosive/leaky, max-charge, etc, etc.

When each new technology is added into the meta-loop, it often adds 1% more overall efficiency. This is huge if you can do this ten times in ten years.

Engineering is a tough job, but it certainly sounds like a job that makes a huge difference to society.

Edit: here is an article from Ars Technics from 2021 - batteries have improved over a decade.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/05/eternally-five-years-away-no-batteries-are-improving-under-your-nose/

I bet that this continues to happen every year, the tortoise trying to win the tech-race.

2