Your phone battery doesn't like being fully charged or discharged. This is why it's sometimes advised that to extend its life, you shouldn't charge your phone beyond 80 per cent, or let it drop below 20 per cent.But what's actually happening inside a lithium-ion battery to cause this effect, and what does it mean for battery engineering — and the life of the battery in your phone, or your electric car?Jonathan Webb powers through the chemistry of batteries with Professor Neeraj Sharma.You can binge more episodes of the Lab Notes podcast with science editor and presenter Jonathan Webb on the ABC Listen app (Australia). You'll find episodes on animal behaviour, human health, space exploration and so much more.Get in touch with us: labnotes@abc.net.auFeaturing:Professor Neeraj Sharma, University of New South WalesThis episode of Lab Notes was produced on the lands of the Gadigal, Ngunnawal and Ngambri people.
Millions, perhaps billions of sharks teeth lie on the ocean floor. Valuable mineral deposits collect on their fossilised remains. Now they are viewed as a resource and if exploited devastation will come to an little known ecosystem.
Deep in an old gold mine in South Dakota, scientists witnessed a flash of energy in a giant pool of xenon. Some in the astronomical community are pretty excited, saying this is our best hint yet at what dark matter is. How do we know, why does it matter — and what happens next?Jonathan Webb shines a light on dark matter with Dr Theresa Fruth, who was involved in the potential discovery.You can binge more episodes of the Lab Notes podcast with science editor and presenter Jonathan Webb on the ABC Listen app (Australia). You'll find episodes on animal behaviour, human health, space exploration and so much more.Get in touch with us: labnotes@abc.net.auFeaturing:Dr Theresa Fruth, University of SydneyFurther information:'Exciting hint' of dark matter spotted by LUX-ZEPLIN detector, physicists reportSearch for dark matter particle interactions in an extended nuclear recoil energy window with the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experimentThis episode of Lab Notes was produced on the lands of the Gadigal, Ngunnawal and Ngambri people.
Plus the tree bark which hosts a whole world of methane-absorbing microbes
AI is getting so good at maths that it is now tackling, and apparently solving, some of the hardest mathematical problems that exist. But as huge companies like OpenAI and Anthropic race to outdo each other, human mathematicians are getting caught in the crossfire... and their field is changing forever. Jonathan Webb speaks to ABC AI Technology Reporter Cam Wilson about the furore over the Navier-Stokes equations and the million-dollar Millennium Prize.Featuring:Cam Wilson, AI Reporter at ABC.Professor Tristan Buckmaster, Mathematician at New York University.You can binge more episodes of the Lab Notes podcast with science editor and presenter Jonathan Webb on the ABC Listen app (Australia). You'll find episodes on animal behaviour, human health, space exploration and so much more.Get in touch with us: labnotes@abc.net.auThis episode of Lab Notes was produced on the lands of the Gadigal and Kaurna people.