As the Earth warms, we will need to curb our dependence on fossil fuels and switch to renewable energy. But the availability of renewable energy fluctutates through the day. So, batteries are needed to make it reliable.   A recent NPR investigation found that a new type of battery technology -- vanadium redox flow battery -- that was developed in the US a decade ago, fell into China's hands due to US negligence. Now China has become the world leader in the manufacture of vanadium redox flow batteries.  More in this episode

Shimla city became electrified in July 1913 thanks to a tiny powerhouse at a place called Chaba on the left bank of the Satluj. Find out more about it in this episode...

In the mid-1990s, airbags had become infamous for causing injuries to car occupants. The problem was: they were engineered to protect adult males who were not wearing seat belts. As a result, they deployed with too much force for children and elderly women. Find out more in this episode

Prime Minister Modi's claim that Hyderabad was originally called Bhagyanagar has stirred a new controversy. Politics aside, what is the truth? I browsed through some old books, and have good reason to believe that the common people of this city used to call it 'Bhagnagar', not Hyderabad, in its early years.  

#Hyderabad #History #Golconda #Bhagnagar #Bhagmati #Bhagyanagar   

Read more on my blogs 

https://delhiprevious.blogspot.com/2022/07/heres-proof-hyderabad-was-called.html 

https://storiesfrombooks.wordpress.com/2022/07/06/heres-proof-that-hyderabad-was-once-called-bhagnagar/

Prime Minister Modi's claim that Hyderabad was originally called Bhagyanagar has stirred a new controversy. Politics aside, what is the truth? I browsed through some old books, and have good reason to believe that the common people of this city used to call it 'Bhagnagar', not Hyderabad, in its early years.  

#Hyderabad #History #Golconda #Bhagnagar #Bhagmati #Bhagyanagar   

Read more on my blogs https://delhiprevious.blogspot.com/2022/07/heres-proof-hyderabad-was-called.html 

https://storiesfrombooks.wordpress.com/2022/07/06/heres-proof-that-hyderabad-was-once-called-bhagnagar/

Increasing demand for lithium to make rechargeable batteries has pushed up its price sky-high. Sodium-ion batteries could be a substitute, but will they completely replace lithium batteries, or will the two battery types coexist? Find out...

In the 1960s, when the world saw India as a land of snake charmers, it set up a committee to consider the pros and cons of legalising abortion. Abortion had become a serious crime in India in 1862 when the British imposed their penal code. The committee took a progressive view, and India got its Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act in 1971. Listen to this audio-only episode for a brief history.

Fake news is not new. Just as Indian TV anchors sold the seemingly hi-tech story of GPS chips in Rs 2000 notes, 140 years ago the press in Europe spread a story about a shirt invented by Thomas Alva Edison that never needed washing!