Readers react to rechargeable batteries and more

Safety first

Three scientists won the 2019 Nobel Prize in chemistry for developing lithium-ion batteries, Maria Temming and Jonathan Lambert reported in “The development of the lithium-ion battery has won the chemistry Nobel Prize” (SN: 11/9/19, p. 12). Since the rechargeable batteries were first created in the 1970s, they have become safer and cheaper.

“I love my devices, but it’s not yet a brave new world for tech,” reader Doug Pruner wrote. Victims of lithium-ion battery explosions would probably emphasize that “safer” batteries are not necessarily “safe,” Pruner noted. “Marketing pressures, not tech, drive the push for more power and concurrent smaller size.