Batteries’ next generation

New materials are powering the battery revolution [Click here to view this message in your web-browser](. Edition: US 4 October 2018 [The Conversation]( Academic rigor, journalistic flair Editor's note Lithium-ion batteries are in almost every electronic device. But how to make them better? To build the next generation of energy storage, researchers are [experimenting with the chemistry and structure]( of batteries, North Carolina State University’s Veronica Augustyn explains. That includes making new materials and looking deep inside batteries to see what’s happening at the atomic level. Black women make up 25 percent of Brazil’s population – but just about 1 percent of its congressional representatives. That may change on Sunday, thanks to a [record number of black women who are on the ballot]( in Brazil’s general election. The 1,237 Afro-Brazilian women running for public office is a reaction to the alarming rise of sexism and racism in Brazilian politics, writes Kia Lilly Caldwell, a professor of African diaspora studies at UNC-Chapel Hill. With newsrooms shrinking and advertising revenue collapsing, it’s tough being a journalist in the 21st century. Texas A&M media historian Randall Sumpter sees a lot of parallels in the Gilded Age of the late 19th century. Back then, media markets were oversaturated, reporter’s pay was being slashed, and owners were convinced that only sensationalism would sell. [Sumpter describes the shady practices]( that Gilded Age reporters engaged in to scrape by. Jeff Inglis Science + Technology Editor Top stories Research is finding better ways to make batteries both big and small. Romaset/Shutterstock.com [New materials are powering the battery revolution]( Veronica Augustyn, North Carolina State University Is it too much to dream of batteries that are part of the structure of an item, helping to shape the form of a smartphone, car or building while also powering its functions? Black women in Brazil protest presidential frontrunner Jair Bolsonaro, who is known for his disparaging remarks about women, on Sept. 29, 2018. AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo [Sexism, racism drive black women to run for office in both Brazil and US]( Kia Lilly Caldwell, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill In Brazil, a record 1,237 black women will stand for office in Sunday's general election. As in the US, their campaigns reflect deep personal concern about rising racism and sexism in politics. An 1899 photograph of the pressroom of the Planet, a newspaper in Richmond, Va. Everett Historical/Shutterstock.com [Think journalism’s a tough field today? Try being a reporter in the Gilded Age]( Randall S. Sumpter, Texas A&M University To survive in 19th-century newsrooms, reporters would have to hustle to get by, even if it meant producing fakes, staging events and sharing work with reporters from competing newspapers. Science + Technology - [Nobel goes to chemists who learned to ‘hack’ evolution in the lab]( Brian Bachmann, Vanderbilt University Nature doesn't always make the things we need so three Nobel Prize winners figured out how to fast-track evolution in the lab to create medicines, biofuels and industrial chemicals for modern life. Education - [Controversial young adult novel offers insight into Kavanaugh hearings, sexual assault]( Kelly Roberts, Meredith College An English professor says educators should use "Speak" – an often banned novel about sexual assault – to engage young people about the topic. 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Hendon, University of Oregon The science behind why what your barista achieves at the cafe tastes better than what you can come up with at home. Today’s quote [“Donna Strickland is only the third woman to win the Nobel Prize in physics, out of 210 recipients, and the first since 1963.”]( [2018 Nobel Prize for physics goes to tools made from light beams – a particle physicist explains]( Todd Adams Florida State University [Todd Adams] [Follow us on Twitter.]( [Join us on Facebook.]( You’re receiving this newsletter from [The Conversation](. Not interested anymore? [Unsubscribe instantly](. We’ll miss you. 89 South Street - Suite 202 Boston, MA 02111