India, June 23 -- A battery that doesn't give up when the cold sets in - now that's something worth talking about. According to anInteresting Engineering report, Wiltson Energy has managed to build a lithium-ion battery that powered equipment on Mount Everest for 12 days straight, all while the mercury hovered at minus 40. Not a typo. Minus 40, where Celsius and Fahrenheit finally agree. Most of us can't even imagine standing outside for five minutes in that kind of cold, let alone expecting our gadgets to work.

Wiltson didn't just send their battery to a fancy lab and call it a day. They took it straight to Everest, where excuses don't count for much. The team reworked the chemistry inside, using low-temperature lithium iron phosphate, ...