Lighter, less expensive and more energy dense than other secondary battery technologies, lithium-ion has become the dominant form of rechargeable battery today. It powers everything from mobile phones and laptops to cars and commercial jets. But there is one little problem — these batteries don't just short circuit, they explode into flames. Here's what goes on inside a lithium cell before it goes boom. Read More >>

Nobody thinks about batteries—until they've run out of juice, of course. But this humble and surprisingly ancient technology has done far more for human civilization than most people realize. Read More >>

While gadgets improve by leaps and bounds every year, the technology that powers them hasn't. Batteries still suck, unless something comes of this research at Northwestern University that promises new lithium-ion alternatives that charge ten times faster with ten times the capacity. Read More >>