Mya Le Thai is a scientist studying at the University of California. She recently discovered a process that may result in batteries that last forever. Thai said she had been frustrated that the batteries for her wireless devices degrade(退化). Over time, they fail to charge fully. She decided to do something about that problem.

At first, she and her team thought about inventing a new battery. But as they experimented, Thai discovered something that might permit lithium-ion batteries(锂电池) to last forever. Lithium-ion batteries power most wireless devices. Over time, the batteries lose the ability to hold a charge. One of the reasons lithium-ion batteries degrade is their use of nanowires(纳米线) to carry electricity. Nanowires are extremely thin. Nanowires are extremely efficient carriers of electricity, which makes them useful in batteries. But Thai said their thinness also makes them weak. “Nanowires break over time,” she said. “That’s why they lose capacity.”

But, Thai had a theory: The nanowires might last longer if covered with a gel(凝胶). She and the team tested her theory. The team tried many coverings for the wires. PMMA was one of them. The PMMA coated nanowires showed no evidence of damage. The results suggest that batteries could last forever, without losing charging ability. Thai hopes to continue her research to understand why this gel works so well and to see if any other gel could create better results.

Mya Le Thai told VOA she is enjoying the publicity about her discovery. She said she never expected her research to get media coverage. “It’s kind of cool,” she said. “I’m really glad people are showing interest in my work and not just in the work itself, but also in technology and energy.”

Do you often lose things? Don’t worry. Now a new tool, which can be connected to any object you might lose, may be the way to solve your problem. The Tile, a small square linked up to your iphone or ipad by means of Bluetooth, lets you see how close you are to your missing item, within a 50-to-150-foot range (范围). If the item goes out of your phone’s 150-foot range, it can still be found on other smart phones with the same app.

When you drive the app on your phone, it shows you, with green bars that increase or decrease, how close or far away you are from the Tile. You can also program it to make a sound when you get close to the Tile. And you can link up your phone with up to ten Tiles. And if your lost object — a dog, for example, or a stolen bike — go out of your own phone’s 150-foot Bluetooth range, you can set it as a “lost item”. If any of the phones with the Tile app comes within range of your lost item, a message will be sent to your phone, telling you its position. The Tile app also has the function to remember where it last saw your Tile, so that you can easily find where you left it.

Since the Tiles use Bluetooth rather than GPS, they are never out of battery or needn’t to be charged, and they work for one year before needing to be replaced. And the app works with all generations of iPhones and iPads.

For further information, please visit www. tile666.com.

Neurotech—new, potentially revolutionary technology—promises to transform our lives. With all the global challenges of today, we need revolutionary technology to help the world cope.

There are different types of neurotech some are invasive, some are not. Invasive brain-computer interfaces involve placing microelectrodes or other kinds of neurotech materials directly onto the brain or even embedding them into the neural tissue. Such technology has already improved the quality of life and abilities of people with different illnesses or impairments, from epilepsy to Parkinson's Disease to chronic pain.

There is also noninvasive neurotech that can be used for similar applications. For example, researchers have developed wearables to infer a person's intended speech or movement. These are already quite impressive, but there is also neurolech that really pushes the envelope. Not only can it sense or read neurodata but it can also modulate (调节)—invasively and noninvasively. This research is still in early stages, but it's advancing rapidly.

As neurotech becomes more commonplace, we must consider the risks it might present, the morals around it, and the necessary regulation. We have to anticipate and deal with the implications related to the development and use of this technology. Any neurotech applications should consider potential consequences for the autonomy, privacy, responsibility, consent, integrity and dignity of a person.

What if someone were to face employment discrimination because the algorithms (算法) that power a, neurotech application used for hiring misinterpret his or her neurodata? What if a criminal gets a hold of the previous or current neurodata of the secretary of defense and steals top secret information? Concerns increase when we are not just monitoring someone's neurodata but also interpreting it, decoding the person's thoughts- with implications for accuracy and mental privacy.

One tricky aspect is that most of the neurodata generated by the nervous systems is unconscious. It means it is very possible to unknowingly or unintentionally provide neurotech with information that one otherwise wouldn't. So, in some applications of neurotech, the presumption of privacy within one's own mind may simply no longer be a certainty.

As new, emerging technology, neurotech challenges corporations, researchers and individuals to reaffirm our

commitment to responsible innovation, it's essential to enforce guardrails (防护措施) so that they lead to beneficial long-term outcomes—on company, national and interactional levels. We need to ensure that researchers and manufacturers of neurotech as well as policymakers and consumers approach it responsibly. Let's act now to avoid any future risks as neurotech matures—for the benefit of humanity.