Today’s Big Story

Slim Solar Advances

Ultra-thin, flexible solar cells could soon coat and power your stuff

It’s been called a “solar breakthough”. Imagine solar panels so thin and pliable that you can power all your devices by slapping them onto everything from your house and car, to smartphones and even your backpack. That tech could be coming soon, thanks to Oxford University’s physics department, which says the panels could be consumer-ready in the near future.

According to Gizmodo, the tech “hinges on a technique that allows multiple layers of light-absorbing material to be packed into a single, ultra-thin solar cell that is just a single micron thick.” For comparison, that’s just 0.00003937 inches—or smaller than some bacteria. Conventional photovoltaics are about 150 times thicker. In a statement, the researchers said this ultra-thin design allows the cells to be applied as a simple coating, which will allow for increased flexibility, without losing any efficiency.

The scientists will formally reveal their methods for creating the cells, which are made of the mineral perovskite, in a paper that will be published in an academic journal later this year. The tech has already garnered a certification from Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, which verified they convert 27% of the sunlight that hits them into electricity. That’s a key number, as it matches—or even surpasses—the average efficiency of traditional solar panel materials.

Christoph Putz, one of the study’s lead authors, told Techxplore, “ultra-thin and lightweight solar cells not only have enormous potential to revolutionize the way energy is generated in the aerospace industry, there are also a wide range of applications that include wearable electronics, and the Internet of Things, that can also benefit from this new technology. Lightweight, adaptable and highly efficient photovoltaics are the key to developing the next generation of self-sufficient energy systems.”

While most people envision huge farms covered in glimmering panels when they think of solar energy, Gizmodo hopes that the perovskite cells can bring renewable energy directly to individuals. Scientists have been hard at work in recent years to make solar power a more feasible option, since it’s so readily available all over. And they’ve been largely successful: the price of solar power has fallen by over 80% since 2010.

Israel, Hezbollah Exchange Heaviest Strikes in Months

The dramatic but contained escalation stopped short of all-out war

Israel and Hezbollah on Sunday exchanged their heaviest strikes since the Gaza war began in October, with Israeli war planes bombing sites across southern Lebanon and Hezbollah firing a barrage of drones and rockets across the border—a dramatic but contained escalation that stopped short of all-out war.

Both Israel and Hezbollah quickly claimed victories of sorts, but the New York Times said that by breakfast on Monday local time, the two sides were employing the language of containment. Hezbollah announced that it had completed the “first stage” of its attack to avenge the assassination of the senior commander, Fuad Shukr, and appeared to be calling it a day—at least for now. Israel’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant, said he had spoken with the U.S. secretary of defense, Lloyd J. Austin III, and they had “discussed the importance of avoiding regional escalation.”

With all sides on edge, U.S. and regional diplomats have scrambled to head off a wider war by resuscitating deadlocked cease-fire talks aimed at ending the fighting in Gaza. Israeli and U.S. negotiators, including CIA Director William J. Burns, convened Sunday in Cairo.

U.S. National Parks Receive Record Gift

The $100 million will be the largest grant in its history

Here’s some good news to kick off the week: The official nonprofit organization of the National Park Service is set to receive the largest grant in its history, a $100 million gift the fundraising group described as transformative for the country’s national parks.

The National Park Foundation, which Congress created in the 1960s to support national parks, will receive the donation from Indianapolis-based foundation Lilly Endowment Inc. The park foundation described the gift on Monday as the largest grant in history benefiting America’s national parks.

According to the Associated Press, the money will be used to address the most pressing needs of the country’s more than 400 national park sites. Exactly how the money will be utilized remains to be seen, but one of the foundation’s priorities is restoring coral reefs at Biscayne National Park in Florida, Shafroth said, while another priority is the restoration of trout species in western national parks.

Crayola Trademarks Its Crayon Smell

It’s definitely a signature scent, right?

Imagine opening a fresh box of Crayola crayons and taking a big whiff. You can already imagine the scent, right? And here’s the thing, it’s an aroma that doesn’t go away. You could find an old crayon in the back of a drawer and it would still emit the same fragrance. But what is it?

Well, now we know a little bit more about the scent, since Crayola recently secured a trademark for the smell of its wax coloring sticks after a near decade-long legal battle. The company says it’s "a scent reminiscent of a slightly earthy soap with pungent, leatherlike clay undertones," according to a “sensory mark” trademark document noting that it dates back to 1905.

It’s a scent that conjures memories of simpler school days and relaxing coloring book sessions (and, maybe, for a few people, one former Batman/Twilight actor). Crayola’s corporate bosses imagine that one day the waxy aroma could be “pumped through the aisles of retailers, triggering nostalgia while shoppers are browsing and hopefully buying more crayons,” Bloomberg reports.

How to End a Conversation

It’s a skill everyone should have

We’ve all been in this situation before, right? At a social event, work function or dinner party, where someone's talking to you, but you've lost all interest in what they're saying. The other person just keeps talking and now you're wondering how you can get away without coming off as rude. Perhaps you just had a really interesting and fruitful discussion with someone, but you've heard enough and would like to move on.

How do you wrap things up without offending the other person? We've talked in the past about how to be a better conversationalist, but what about when you want to end a conversation? That's a valuable skill as well. After all, you don't have unlimited time, so knowing how to gracefully bow out of a conversation is a classy move. A real gentleman understands that the way you end a chat is just as important as how you start it. Consider this your escape plan.

Keeping pushing.