It’s the best electrical energy storage technology we have today, but lithium-ion batteries still have a range of problems. They’re heavy, expensive, can be a fire hazard, and these complex systems get noticeably weaker over time. Addressing that last issue, though, researchers at Tohoku University in Japan have figured out how to observe battery degradation in real-time, something that could allow engineers to develop advanced new chemistries that decay at significantly slower rates.


