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Story: Engineers discover key to quick-charging batteries

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Safety of fast-charging batteries

I've got some 15 miniute NiMH batteries, which come with a very beefy charger that has a fan capable of floating an elephant in a tutu. They work fine: I understand (but have never checked!) that they've got current limiters and fuses built-in.

Of course, there is more danger: if you've got something capable of sucking up ten amps, it'll be capable of dumping tons of energy into some hapless short circuit through the same low impedance. However, that's been true of secondary cells for a while now. I think a bigger danger is higher energy density, because the real risk comes from creating an intense heat source over time - the more energy you can sustainably release, the higher the chances of catastrophe.

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