👨🔬🍪A Chinese-born MIT professor, accused of spying by the US, has cleared his name and helped discover the best semiconductor material ever found. The MIT team says cubic boron arsenide performs better than silicon at conducting heat and electricity. It could be a decade before semiconductors using the material become commercially available - IF they prove viable at all.
🔋🔌India's Exponent Energy may have discovered the answer to rapid EV charging. The startup says a combination of proprietary battery packs and charging infrastructure may make 15-minute charging a reality for OEMs who adopt the tech, which is the Bangalore-based company's goal. The solution promises smaller batteries with longer lives but requires both the battery and charger to be Exponent Energy's design.
🥵🏭 A scorching heat wave has caused a 6-day factory shutdown in the Chinese province of Sichuan. As a key manufacturing location for the semiconductor and solar panel industries and China's lithium mining hub, power rationing in the area will have global implications. The fiercest heat wave in 60 years and ongoing drought have combined with increasing power use for home and office cooling and reduced power production from hydropower plants.