Kid News This Week: Charged up world – innovations in batteries and power, deep sea “dark oxygen,” precious “fool’s gold”
Oct 16, 2024
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Dive into the electrifying world of batteries! Discover how skyscrapers are doubling as massive energy sources and innovative uses of wood in battery technology. Learn about solar strips that charge devices and the fascinating deep-sea rocks that could hold the key to sustainable power. Even fool's gold gets a second look, revealing its surprising worth. Packed with fun facts and engaging insights, this podcast is a whirlwind tour of groundbreaking energy innovations!
Innovative skyscraper batteries convert kinetic energy into electricity by utilizing heavy weights, offering a sustainable energy storage solution.
Research indicates that pyrite, or fool's gold, may contain valuable lithium, potentially revolutionizing battery sourcing and production.
Deep dives
Innovative Energy Solutions
Recent advancements in battery technology explore unconventional solutions for energy storage. A significant innovation involves transforming skyscrapers into batteries that utilize kinetic and gravitational potential energy rather than chemical reactions. This concept, proposed by architectural and engineering firms, features heavy weights in the skyscraper's walls that can move up and down, converting stored energy into electricity. By harnessing renewable energy sources to lift these weights, the skyscraper battery offers a cleaner and more sustainable alternative to traditional chemical batteries.
Wood as a Sustainable Battery Component
Another groundbreaking development in battery technology involves using wood for more sustainable energy solutions. A Finnish company discovered that lignin, a component of wood, can be utilized to create safer and environmentally friendly batteries, known as lignode. This innovation comes at a crucial time when the demand for electric vehicle batteries is rising, yet sourcing the necessary materials can be harmful to the environment. This new utilization of wood aims to provide a green and sustainable alternative to traditional battery materials.
Rethinking Lithium Sources
The podcast also addresses the surprising potential of pyrite, commonly known as fool's gold, as a source of lithium. Researchers from West Virginia found that this shiny mineral, typically deemed worthless, contains significant amounts of lithium embedded within its structure. This discovery could open new avenues for lithium sourcing, which is essential for making batteries but is often linked to environmental degradation during extraction. The link between pyrite and lithium remains under investigation, but this finding suggests that what was once considered fool's gold might have substantial value, contributing to future battery technologies.
In world news for kids this episode we take a deep dive into the charged-up world of batteries, we’re talking about mammoth batteries the size of skyscrapers – or is that skyscrapers that double up as batteries – a re-look at using wood to make batteries, plus solar strips – not panels – that could charge us all up. Oh, and did we mention the “powerful” deep sea rocks and the fool’s gold that might not be so foolish but in fact pretty precious – all that and more this episode!
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