Scientists at the DoE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have struck the battery mother lode: They’ve created an all-solid lithium-sulfur battery that is cheaper, less flammable, and has four times the energy density of conventional lithium-ion batteries.
via New sulfur-based battery is safer, cheaper, more powerful than lithium-ion | ExtremeTech.
(This isn’t ICT related, but I found it interesting anyway)
These products are typically fabric bags filled with wheat or another grain which are intended to be heated in a microwave. However, the bag can catch fire in the microwave if it is heated for too long. This is a particular concern with wheat packs that don’t have clear heating instructions.The ACCC is also aware of cases where wheat bags have caught fire after being put under bedding.
“… it’s possible that if you have a battery failure and there is a bunch of batteries in close proximity, the failure of one could lead to a failure of adjacent batteries.” Such scenarios, he said, are what fire-protection engineers are looking at now.
…
(battery) failures, Long, Kahn, and Mikolajczak wrote, can result in increases of cell temperature and pressure. Subsequently, the cell may undergo venting, vent gasses may ignite, contents may be ejected, and thermal runaway may propagate to adjacent cells.
…
“Halon 1301, the fire extinguishing agent in passenger aircraft cargo compartment fire suppression systems, has no observable effect on a metal battery fire.”
…
the proliferation of electric vehicles, with charging stations in public areas and in residences, further noting that batteries may be stored at battery-switching locations, thereby posing “high-voltage and fire safety challenges in addition to those associated with Li-ion batteries themselves.”
via Fire Protection Engineers Address Li-ion Safety >> Evaluation Engineering.
warning for people with implanted defibrillators … If a person falls asleep with the iPad 2 on the chest, the magnets in the cover can “accidentally turn off” the heart device, said Chien, a high school freshman in Stockton, California, whose father is a doctor. “I definitely think people should be aware. That’s why I’m presenting the study.”
While the study was done with an iPad 2, any device that incorporates magnets can, in theory, cause the same effects.
via iPad 2 Heart Risk Discovered By 14 Year Old Girl | Defibrillators.
“During previous tests, the batteries scarcely crossed the 200-cycle mark. By means of a special combination of anode and cathode material, we have now managed to extend the life span of lithium-sulfur button cells to 1400 cycles,”
The experts at IWS measure the capacity of a battery in watt hours per kilogram whpk. Over the long term, they expect lithium-sulfur batteries to reach an energy density of up to 600 whpk. For comparison: the maximum energy density of the lithium-ion batteries currently in use is a mere 250 whpk. “In the medium term, figures around the 500 whpk mark are more realistic. In practical terms, this means you can drive twice as far with the same battery weight,” says Althues. This of course implies that significantly lighter battery models are possible …
via A longer life for lithium-sulfur batteries :: ElectronicsOnline.
Preparing safety standards for devices and systems used by billions of people and the need to merge the activities of two separate IEC TCs that covered, respectively, data processing equipment and office machines, and electronic equipment for household and similar use, led to the creation of IEC TC 108 in 2001.
IEC e-tech > March 2013 – Clearing up misconceptions on IEC 62368-1.
“For many years AV and ITE products have been introduced in the market place at an ever quicker pace and technologies used to produce them have been converging. IEC TC (Technical Committee) 108: Safety of electronic equipment within the field of audio/video, information technology and communication technology, which prepares the separate IEC 60065 and IEC 60950-1 series of safety standards for AV and IT equipment, felt necessary to create a “hazard-based” standard, which would cover both. This led to the development of a new International Standard, IEC 62368-1, Audio/video, information and communication technology equipment – Part 1: Safety requirements, published in January 2010. This standard has gained wide acceptance in many markets where national versions have been published.”
“Several national standards around the world have been published based on Edition No. 1 of IEC 62368-1, and it is expected that it will be more widely adopted by other countries and regions when Edition 2 is published later in 2013.”
World’s top supercomputer from ‘09 is now obsolete, will be dismantled
Texting while walking? Nevada assemblyman moves to ban it
via Texting while walking? Nevada assemblyman moves to ban it – latimes.com.
Munford said: “I was just amazed by what I saw,” he said. “So many people are almost oblivious. They are texting and texting, totally unaware as they cross even six-lane highways.”
IEC e-tech > January/February 2013 – Think lumens not watts.
Extract:
For decades, choosing a new or replacement light bulb has been easy: consumers would look at the wattage … (however) replacement of incandescent bulbs by energy-efficient products… introduced confusion … as … producers often only gave the watt equivalent of the new bulbs. … The situation is no clearer now that LED-based lamps are becoming more popular and increasing in efficiency all the time.
Watts indicate the power needed to light the bulb, and lumens indicates the amount of visible light emitted by a source. The value of the bulbs required may differ according to the lighting effect desired. The table in the article gives average ratings for incandescent, CFL and LED bulbs.
The requirements to sell electrical equipment in Queensland changed on 1 March 2013 with the introduction of a new Electrical Equipment Safety System EESS and changes to the Electrical Safety Regulation 2002… It will lead to harmonised legislation throughout Australia and enable the public to search a national database of responsible suppliers and electrical equipment registrations for the first time. The database will allow electrical equipment to be easily traced to the supplier and its legal supply in Australia and New Zealand to be verified.The EESS changes the requirements for businesses that import, manufacture or sell in-scope electrical equipment. All in-scope electrical equipment sold in Queensland must be linked to a registered responsible supplier prior to sale. If it is Level 2 or Level 3 equipment it must also registered on the national database.Technical safety requirements have not changed under the EESS, but tighter evidence of conformity is required for some items.
via Requirements for selling electrical equipment – Department of Justice and Attorney-General.
The UCLA researchers have developed a groundbreaking technique that uses a DVD burner to fabricate microscale graphene-based supercapacitors – devices that can charge and discharge a hundred to a thousand times faster than standard batteries. These microsupercapacitors, made from a one-atom-thick layer of graphitic carbon, can be easily manufactured and readily integrated into small devices such as next-generation pacemakers.
via Scaling up production of graphene microsupercapacitors :: ElectronicsOnline.
A new technology in the magnetic cooling of chips based on the straining of materials is claimed will lessen the impact on the environment compared to current technologies.
via Using magnetism to cool your chips :: ElectronicsOnline.
NABERS launches data centre ratings | Cabling connection.
“These new tools include what we believe to be a world’s first for rating the environmental performance of the IT equipment within a data centre,” Robyn says.
NSW Police Force (via Facebook)
https://www.facebook.com/nswpoliceforce?ref=stream
Police believe a spider may have been the cause of an explosion at a home in Kirribilli today.
Emergency services were called to the home in McDougall Street shortly after 1pm (Saturday 2 February 2013), after an explosion blew out the bathroom and kitchen windows and destroyed a washing machine.
A 66-year-old woman told police and fire fighters she’d seen a spider on her washing machine and sprayed it with an insecticide, however, it ran under the machine.
She sprayed more insecticide under the washing machine and fire investigators believe the engine ignited the spray, triggering the explosion. The washing machine was destroyed.
The homeowner was treated by NSW Ambulance Paramedics at the scene after sustaining singed hair and blurred vision.
There was no sign of the spider.
paulspiece.com 
You must be logged in to post a comment.