From The Labs: Summer Innovations

Batteries have long been the bane of tech engineers’ existence – in order to make gadgets cooler and smaller, batteries need to change. It turns out, though, that shrinking batteries is one of the most difficult jobs. Now, researchers in Germany say they have developed a new process to print tiny, flexible batteries – which can be used in everything from bank cards to medical gadgets – for just pennies each. The new batteries weigh just a gram – the weight of one paperclip – and are thinner than a credit card. They can be printed from a special machine and are able to give 1.5 V of power. Since the batteries are so small, they can easily be lined up next to each other for 3 or 4.5V of power, the researchers say. Right now, their life isn’t very long – but in the future flexible tiny batteries could be powering all sorts of wearable gadgets.