Keep a safe distance from your laptop

[NeoGen]

Apple's laptops are catching fire too now. Pity they don't have a photo of it.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060829/...battery_recall

[Steve Lux]

MMMMmmmmmm...... Roasted apples!

More info about Lithiun Ion battery failures:

Existing Lithium Ion Batteries
Rechargeable lithium ion batteries currently use graphite for the negative electrode and typically lithium cobalt oxide for the positive electrode. The electrolyte is a lithium salt dissolved in an organic solvent which is flammable.

During charge, lithium ions deposit inside the graphite particles. However the rate at which lithium ions can deposit is limited by the electro-chemical properties of the graphite, and if they can not enter the graphite particles they, instead, may collect (plate) on the negative electrode's surface as lithium metal. This can occur if the ions are deposited too rapidly on the graphite electrode as might be the case if the battery is charged too quickly. If this plating occurs, the battery will severely degrade in performance and in extreme cases, will short, causing overheating and thermal runaway - a major fire hazard.

That was from this link: http://www.b2i.us/profiles/investor/...6&Category=856

According to thier site articles they have the next better thing in Lithium ion battery technology.

[NeoGen]

It's Toshiba's turn now...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060920/...battery_recall

4.1 M from Dell
1.8 M from Apple
340 K from Toshiba
-----------------------
>6 M Total

This is almost as big as Intel's recall many years ago of the early Pentiums because of the FPU bug!

[Strongbow]

Anyone with a Fujitsu / Fujitsu-Siemens laptop is fine as we do not use Sony batteries in our range of laptops!

[Strongbow]

Forget multiple cores it's battery season!

Plastic batteries...
http://www.brown.edu/Administration/...07/06-022.html

I like the idea of moulding cases out of this stuff, thinner laptops, phones etc...

[Nflight]

Imagine the possibilities, build the solar panels with these polymers, as the sun goes down the remaining charge is diminished overtime till the sun goes back up in the sky.
A self contained onsite charging system, all-in-one solar factory!

Another brainstorm, use the tremendous charging capacity as an accumulator to store excess juice for those times when you need excess electrons. (Example: charging the laser pulses at Sandia National Labratory as they work on the Fusion reactors/tokomaks)

Just thinking off the cuff here! :roll:

[Strongbow]

...charging the laser pulses at Sandia National Labratory as they work on the Fusion reactors/tokomaks)

Just thinking off the cuff here! :roll:

:shock: :shock: :shock:

...and there's me 'thinking off the cuff' around just small phones and laptops!

I'm going back to bed!

[Strongbow]

...and now USB rechargeable AA batteries :roll:

http://crave.cnet.co.uk/peripherals/...9283728,00.htm