It's literally just been reported in the scientific journal Nature that a team from the US has improved the standard lithium ion battery that's often found in our mobiles, portable media players, etc.
They've altered it so that the charging and discharging rates are 100x faster. Although it doesn't necessarily mean the energy storage capacity is greatly altered, it should be much more convenient to charge up. As an example, using a battery like this means it could take just one minute to fully charge up a mobile - how good is that? More on the story here http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7938001.stm.
They've altered it so that the charging and discharging rates are 100x faster. Although it doesn't necessarily mean the energy storage capacity is greatly altered, it should be much more convenient to charge up. As an example, using a battery like this means it could take just one minute to fully charge up a mobile - how good is that? More on the story here http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7938001.stm.