Month: May 2017

Enlarge / Lithium-ion batteries do a lot of great things, but they also do this more often than we'd like. (credit: Crushader)

Lithium batteries are currently the belle of the battery ball. They have a lot going for them, including high energy storage for their weight and the ability to charge and recharge many times before losing much capacity.

But we’re all familiar with the drawbacks, too. Lithium-ion batteries pose a fire risk, and the lithium and cobalt used in them aren’t the most abundant elements, which makes things more expensive.

Plenty of other possible battery chemistries could compete with lithium, but getting them to live up to their theoretical potential is difficult. Zinc, for example, performs admirably in your non-rechargeable alkaline batteries, and it could theoretically make a safer and cheaper rechargeable one—with a water-based electrolyte rather than a flammable organic one. This hasn’t happened, though, and the reason becomes apparent if you throw the batteries under a microscope.

Video shot/edited by Jennifer Hahn. (video link)

Smart running shoes and run-coaching wearables aren't new, but the Altra Torin IQ smart sneakers combine the tracking and coaching elements of each. Powered by iFit technology, the $220 Torin IQ shoes are a smarter version of the popular Torin sneaker the company has sold for some time. The IQ shoes are outfitted with sensors in the insole that capture distance, pace, and cadence, as well as key information about your running style, like landing zone and impact rate.

Not only will the shoes track how far and how fast you run, but they're also equipped with a voice coach that gives you pointers on how to run better while you're mid-stride. They essentially combine the biggest features of Under Armour's Gemini 2 smart shoes and the Lumo Run wearable coach. But that convenience alone doesn't make Torin IQs the best fit for people who want to improve their form and efficiency.

Enlarge / The Trout Run Sewage Treatment Plant in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. (credit: Montgomery County Planning Commission / Flickr)

Sylvia Lee, PhD, is a scientist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Milbrook, New York. She has access to an unusual—yet essential—set of laboratory equipment: a whole greenhouse filled with white fiberglass bathtubs. There’s no mistaking these vessels with those you’d find in the average bathroom, however. While these bathtubs are about the same length, they’re shallower, narrower, and have a raised racetrack-like interior that water circulates around. And none of the lab members spend time inside them.

Instead, researchers fill them with rocks and organisms obtained from local streams in upstate New York. And in place of bubble bath, they add to the water D-amphetamine, the same active substance found in several ADHD and narcolepsy medications. The water in the tubs is mixed with enough amphetamines to make the organisms think they’re sitting downstream from one of Baltimore’s water treatment plants. The goal of this lab is to find out what the US’ heavily medicated population might be doing to its surroundings.

The United States of America is a highly medicated country: almost seven in 10 Americans take prescription drugs. That translates to 4.4 billion prescriptions and nearly $310 billion spent on medication in 2015. Painkillers, cholesterol-lowering medications, and antidepressants top the list of drugs most commonly prescribed by doctors.