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Lithium battery failure wipes out DARPA robot at NASA
It's not just Samsung that has problems with combusting batteries, as NASA's office of Safety and Mission Assurance has just revealed. The body has announced that NASA centers have seen at least four major explosions and a number of close calls over the last decade. The latest crisis was a fire at the Jet Propulsion Lab that wiped out one of DARPA's RoboSimian droids before a test.
USPS goes postal on lithium ion batteries, refuses to ship smartphones overseas
The USPS has announced that it'll refuse to ship any gear containing lithium ion batteries overseas. The postal service believes combusting power packs have caused two fatal cargo plane crashes since 2006 -- hence the ban, which takes effect from May 16th. Anyone wishing to ship the latest tech to those living or serving overseas will have to use another shipping company -- although the ban might be relaxed in 2013, once safety testing has been carried out.
HTC Touch Pro battery goes rogue, lights up an otherwise fine pair of pants
Just a note to everyone who carries around a spare smartphone Li-ion in their rear pocket: buy thicker underwear. The scene you see above was all caused by an obviously volatile HTC Touch Pro battery, one that the pants-wearer claims is an authentic HTC cell and not a cheap-o alternative from eBay. As the story goes, a foul odor led him to a laundry pile, where he uncovered eight moist socks, a torched battery and a ruined pair of pants. Look, we're glad this guy's okay and all, but seriously, can you imagine what this testy little thing would've done when tossed into the dryer? It's a blessing in disguise, kiddo.[Via phoneArena]
Another PowerBook violently explodes
Just when we think these explosive batteries can't get any worse, then you see a PowerBook that looks like it was hit with a high powered explosive charge -- which, in a manner of speaking, it was. This unit was apparently a year old and wasn't even powered at the time it, um, went off -- 6:00AM. Talk about your rude awakenings. So please, people, learn from this rash of Li-ion explosions: you lessen your chances of battery combustion by returning them wherever possible, so return your frickin defective batteries, ok?[Via Cult of Mac]
