The Battery Revolution Is Finally Here

“Electric vehicles are advancing at an incredible pace, but we’re very much still in the early days. The Tesla Model S and X still use battery cell formats never imagined for use in cars. A lot is about to happen in the world of automotive batteries, though. We’re entering a new chapter of electrification, with new, ground-breaking technology already hitting the market. Most people just haven’t seen it yet. The push toward the next generation of batteries has two schools of thought: advance current technology to new heights, or change gears completely into a new type of battery cell. Factorial, QuantumScape and Group14 are all companies with a horse in this race, and each has ideas about achieving the state of the art. All of them have partnerships with major automakers, which means what they’re doing today may have a big impact on the cars you’ll buy soon.” (Inside Evs)

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CCOR-1, the world’s first operational, space-based coronagraph, began observing the sun’s corona, the faint outermost layer of the solar atmosphere, on Sept. 19. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has released the first images of solar flares from the Compact Coronagraph (CCOR-1), a new telescope designed for continuous monitoring of the sun’s corona. This instrument provides data every 15 minutes, significantly improving space weather forecasts and enhancing preparedness for solar storms that can disrupt technology on Earth. As the sun nears a peak in its 11-year activity cycle, accurate monitoring becomes increasingly crucial for protecting infrastructure and communication systems.(via New York Times/NOAA/NASA/GOES-19/CCOR-1)

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