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New method replaces nickel and cobalt in battery for cleaner, cheaper lithium-ion batteries

A team of McGill University researchers, working with colleagues in the United States and South Korea, has developed a new way to make high-performance lithium-ion battery materials that could help phase out expensive and/or difficult-to-source metals like nickel and cobalt.

The team’s breakthrough lies in creating a better method of producing “disordered rock-salt” (DRX) cathode particles, an alternative battery material. Until now, manufacturers struggled to control the size and quality of DRX particles, which made them unstable and hard to use in manufacturing settings. The researchers addressed that problem by developing a method to produce uniformly sized, highly crystalline particles with no grinding or post-processing required.

“Our method enables mass production of DRX cathodes with consistent quality, which is essential for their adoption in and renewable energy storage,” said Jinhyuk Lee, the paper’s corresponding author and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mining and Materials Engineering.

How plants sense heat during the day

For a decade, scientists have believed that plants sensed temperature mainly through specialized proteins, and mainly at night when the air is cool. New research suggests that during the day, another signal takes over. Sugar, produced in sunlight, helps plants detect heat and decide when to grow.

The study shows that plants rely on multiple heat-sensing systems, and that sugar plays a central and previously unrecognized role in daytime temperature response. The findings, published in Nature Communications, reshape a long-standing view of how plants interact with their environment and could influence future strategies for climate-resilient agriculture.

“Our textbooks say that proteins like phytochrome B and early flowering 3 (ELF3) are the main thermosensors in plants,” the senior author said. “But those models are based on nighttime data. We wanted to know what’s happening during the day, when light and temperature are both high because these are the conditions most plants actually experience.”

From 0 to 100 in 12 minutes—roadmap for lithium–sulfur batteries

Grab a coffee and your car is fully charged—this is how many people envision the future of mobility. But today’s batteries still fall short of this ideal. While modern lithium–ion batteries can charge from 20% to 80% in about 20 to 30 minutes, a full charge takes considerably longer—and fast charging puts significant stress on the cells.

A new international review study published in the journal Advanced Energy Materials now shows how lithium– batteries (LSBs) could overcome these limitations.

Researchers from Germany, India, and Taiwan—coordinated by Dr. Mozaffar Abdollahifar from the research group of Professor Rainer Adelung at Kiel University (CAU)—systematically analyzed hundreds of recent studies and identified mechanisms that can enable LSBs to operate stably and efficiently even at high charging rates. Their goal: charging times under 30 minutes—ideally as low as 12 minutes—combined with higher energy density and extended driving range.

Beating the AI bottleneck: Communications innovation could markedly improve AI training process

Artificial intelligence (AI) is infamous for its resource-heavy training, but a new study may have found a solution in a novel communications system, called ZEN, that markedly improves the way large language models (LLMs) train.

The research team at Rice University was helmed by doctoral graduate Zhuang Wang and computer science professor T.S. Eugene Ng with contributions from two other computer science faculty members: assistant professor Yuke Wang and professor Anshumali Shrivastava. Stevens University’s Zhaozhuo Xu and Jingyi Xi of Zhejiang University also contributed to the project.

Some sharks in the north Atlantic may delay their fall migrations south

Certain migratory species of sharks may remain swimming and feeding in Atlantic Ocean waters in areas of the northeast coast for longer periods of time later into fall before they head toward southern waters. Led by researchers in the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS) at Stony Brook University, the study tracked six shark species over five years by way of tagging them and acoustically tracking their movement.

New test distinguishes AI text with 96% accuracy and 1% margin of error — University of Michigan

American researchers from the University of Michigan have developed a new text recognition test, generated by AI and the one created by man.

Recognizing AI-generated content from human-generated content is not an easy task. There are no so many tools, that can effectively distinguish between the two, generated by AI from the human-made and avoid false accusations.

The new test by American researchers may be especially useful for scientists and students, who are increasingly faced with the fact that the works they create are perceived as generated by artificial intelligence. The developers have named their tool «Liketropy», as the theoretical basis of the method includes the statistical ideas of likelihood and entropy.

“Australia Just Changed Batteries Forever”: Quantum Tech Unleashed With 1,000 Times the Life, Leaving Global Energy Giants Reeling in Shock

A quantum battery operates on the principles of quantum mechanics, diverging from traditional batteries which rely on ion flow for charging and discharging. In quantum batteries, energy is stored by moving electrons into higher energy states with photons acting as charge carriers. During charging, photons transfer their energy to electrons, enabling storage.

Key quantum properties, such as entanglement and superabsorption, are harnessed to enhance the charging rate. Entanglement allows particles to function cohesively during the charging or discharging process, while superabsorption increases the energy storage capacity, leading to higher energy densities. Despite their theoretical potential and scalability, practical quantum batteries have faced challenges, with existing prototypes unable to sustain energy beyond a few nanoseconds.

“This Battery Breaks Every Rule”: Scientists Unveil Groundbreaking Water Battery That Delivers 220 Full Cycles With Zero Capacity Loss or Performance Drop

Ukraine to be the first in Europe to launch Starlink mobile Internet

«Kyivstar» plans to launch new Starlink services this year. Their range and capabilities will be expanded over time.

Oleksandr Komarov, CEO of «Kyivstar», told the agency about the company’s plans to Reuters in Rome. According to him, messaging will be launched by the end of 2025, and mobile satellite broadband will be launched in mid-2026.

Field tests of the new communication began in late 2024 as part of an agreement with SpaceX. For its part, Elon Musk’s space company will launch the possibility of direct communication with mobile phones in the country.

Could AI extend your life indefinitely? Futurist Ray Kurzweil thinks so

As AI infiltrates every aspect of our lives, who are some of the people behind this huge inflection point? In this special three-part series, you’ll hear from the people predicting and shaping our tech future. Host Manoush Zomorodi reports on the latest and revisits her favorite conversations with the minds crafting the digital world we live in today: what they’ve gotten right — and wrong — and where they think we’re headed next. Part 1 features futurist Ray Kurzweil and counterculture icon Stewart Brand. TED Radio Hour+ subscribers now get access to bonus episodes, with more ideas from TED speakers and a behind the scenes look with our producers. A Plus subscription also lets you listen to regular episodes (like this one!) without sponsors. Sign-up at plus.npr.org/ted.