When cell towers are damaged or overloaded, phones work harder to stay connected, using up more power. Weak signals, frequent reconnecting, and increased activity from the phone's modem are among the main reasons the battery does not last as long in these situations.
Three children, two aged 7 and one of them a 5-year-old boy, were riding electric motorbikes in Angwin Tuesday evening when all three reportedly crashed into the side of a 2023 Chevrolet Malibu. The crash happened around 6:15 pm, as Bay City News reports, on the 400 block of Newton Way.
Never place batteries of any type in your curbside recycling bin. Batteries can damage recycling equipment and, if lithium batteries are mixed in, cause fires. Always use designated battery collection programs.
The Mercedes-Benz EQB electric crossover is being recalled for the third time in the United States because its high-voltage battery might catch fire due to an internal short circuit. In total, the automaker is recalling 11,895 EQB EVs sold in the U.S., some of which have already been part of two separate recalls for the same issue, but the fixes that were applied have not eliminated the issues, so now there's a third recall.
For the most part, rechargeable battery-powered devices are incredibly well-behaved. It's a good thing, really, because most of us are happy to go to sleep with a charging smartphone not far from our head each night, and cram ourselves onto an aircraft and spend many hours at 40,000 feet surrounded by hundreds of different devices -- all of varying quality and state of repair -- containing a rechargeable battery.
New figures have indicated a record-breaking 206 ebike and escooter fires broke out in London during 2025, according to the London Fire Brigade (LFB). Two Londoners died in the fires last year, with a total of five people since 2023. A brigade spokesperson said the blazes were often caused by faulty or poorly built vehicles, usually bought online or second hand, leading to failures in lithium-ion batteries, conversion kits or chargers.
When the battery starts discharging, the sulfur at the cathode starts losing electrons and forming sulfur tetrachloride (SCl 4), using chloride it stole from the electrolyte. As the electrons flow into the anode, they combine with the sodium, which plates onto the aluminum, forming a layer of sodium metal. Obviously, this wouldn't work with an aqueous electrolyte, given how powerfully sodium reacts with water.
Tom Moloughney's Chevrolet Equinox EV unexpectedly bricked itself a few days ago, even though it had been running problem-free until then and it's only done around 9,500 miles since new. Tom posted a video on his channel, State of Charge, explaining what happened. He started up the Equinox after it had been sitting for about six days and it showed that it had 46% battery remaining.
LFB Dozens of firefighters have extinguished a fire in the basement of a data centre in east London. London Fire Brigade (LFB) said around 60 firefighters and eight fire engines were called to Nutmeg Lane, Blackwall at 04:50 GMT on Saturday. The fire broke out in a battery room containing lead-acid batteries and was brought under control before 07:00. The cause of the blaze has not been determined.
PETTY THEFT: 9:56 a.m. at Safeway on Pollard Road. A woman came into the store and stole five bottles of alcohol on Oct. 14, 2025. The store did not report the theft at the time because they were not sure of the woman's name. PETTY THEFT: 1:45 p.m. on Central Avenue. A router and photo were stolen.
The team, from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Beijing Institute of Technology, recently published their findings in Nature Communications. According to their research, the process not only avoids conventional leaching chemicals and extreme heat to extract lithium from old batteries, but it also uses carbon dioxide in what the authors call a sequestration step, and turns other battery transition metals into new catalysts - with CO₂-rich water doing most of the chemical work.
Button cell batteries are the small, flat, round batteries found in watches, hearing aids, car key fobs, calculators, and medical devices. Although they are tiny, these batteries contain valuable materials that can be recovered and can harm the environment if not handled or disposed of correctly. The main challenge in recycling button cells is their small size and the difficulty of sorting them.
Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries are found in many devices we use every day, like smartphones, laptops, tablets, wireless earbuds, power tools, e-bikes, and electric vehicles. By 2023, there were more than 40 million electric vehicles on the road worldwide, and billions of portable electronics used Li-ion cells. These batteries are valuable for recycling, but they can be dangerous if not disposed of correctly.
The Jackery Explorer 300 Portable Power Station provides a convenient means to keep mobile devices and campsite accessories powered when they're not near an electrical outlet. It is a rectangular-shaped unit with a built-in handle and weighs approximately 7.1 pounds, making it easy to transport to other areas within the home or pack into the car. The chassis contains a rechargeable 293Wh Lithium-Ion battery that provides adequate power for a variety of small devices during short-duration power outages or camping adventures.