The Trainwreck Labs Newsletter
Coming to your inbox every Monday with a brand new fun-fact and all the answers to Trainwreck Labs games from the past week.
This week, we have…
A fun fact inspired by Elemingle
Answers to last week's games
Reader survey
Thorium powered smartphones last forever
Thorium is actually named after the Norse god of thunder, but the ancient texts never mention him using his powers to charge a smartphone.
Imagine if your phone never needed charging. While that might sound like science fiction, one radioactive element could theoretically power electronic devices for decades without ever needing a battery replacement. Thorium (Elemingle answer #149) contains enough energy density that a single gram could theoretically power a smartphone for over 100 years.
This remarkable energy potential comes from thorium's radioactive properties. Unlike uranium, thorium can't sustain a nuclear chain reaction on its own, making it inherently safer for civilian applications. When thorium-232 absorbs a neutron, it eventually transforms into uranium-233, which can then be used as nuclear fuel.
The idea of thorium-powered consumer electronics isn't entirely theoretical. In 2014, a California startup called NDB (short for Nano Diamond Battery) proposed creating diamond batteries using radioactive isotopes, including thorium, that could last for thousands of years. The concept involves capturing energy from radioactive decay and converting it into electricity. While radiation levels would be kept safely low through diamond encasing, regulatory hurdles and public concerns about radioactive devices have prevented such products from reaching market.
Thorium's abundance adds to its appeal as an energy source. It's about three times more abundant than uranium in Earth's crust and can be found in high concentrations in countries like India, Australia, and the United States. Despite its promise, thorium-powered electronics face significant technical challenges. The technology requires complex shielding to contain radiation safely, and regulatory approval for consumer radioactive devices remains a major hurdle. While we're still waiting for that century-long smartphone battery, thorium continues to intrigue researchers as the ultimate power source for everything from satellites to medical implants.
Learn more: World Nuclear Association, NDB
Trivia
Answers to last week's games
Monday, June 16 to Sunday, June 22.
Globle
Jun 16 New Zealand
Jun 17 Saint Lucia
Jun 18 Gabon
Jun 19 Greece
Jun 20 Greece
Jun 21 Venezuela
Jun 22 Vatican City
Jun 23 Play now!
Globle: Capitals
Jun 16 La Paz
Jun 17 Asuncion
Jun 18 Jerusalem
Jun 19 Mexico City
Jun 20 Madrid
Jun 21 Juba
Jun 22 Tokyo
Jun 23 Play now!
Chronogram
#807 Arthur Schopenhauer
#808 Jean-Jacques Rousseau
#809 Louis XIV
#810 Rosa Luxemburg
#811 Virgil
#812 Lorenzo de' Medici
#813 René Descartes
#814 Play now!
Fictogram
#574 Luke Skywalker
#575 Nathan Zuckerman
#576 Henry F. Potter
#577 Winston Smith
#578 Tom Joad
#579 Arwen
#580 Jack Sparrow
#581 Play now!
Metazooa
#686 porcupine
#687 manatee
#688 osprey
#689 egret
#690 sting ray
#691 lamprey
#692 cockatoo
#693 Play now!
Metaflora
#625 senna
#626 giant sequoia
#627 raspberry
#628 pitcher plant
#629 touch-me-not
#630 hop
#631 celery
#632 Play now!
Linxicon
The following are the shortest paths from last week:
#489 monitor → monitoring → judging → morality → moral
#490 piano → talent → talented → superb → great
#491 man → manhood → genitalia → privates → private
#492 constitutional → mandatory → important → significantly
#493 battery → power → opposition → contrary → nonetheless
#494 comparison → contrast → color → green → salad
#495 swim → compete → rank → order
#496 Play now!
Elemingle
#145 Curium
#146 Strontium
#147 Fermium
#148 Dubnium
#149 Thorium
#150 Nihonium
#151 Neodymium
#152 Play now!
That’s all for this week. Thanks for reading!
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