In a wristwatch, imagine the battery is in the strap and there's a medical sensor in there connected to the internet. If someone is monitoring that, they could phone up if the user has forgotten to take some medication. This could save hundreds of dollars in medical fees later. What's missing? It's a stable battery.

The students who work with me believe in science in service of society, not science in service of career building.

How do we attack important problems? Pose the right question.

Want to know the best thing about being a professor? Colored chalk.

If we're going to get this country out of its current energy situation, we can't just conserve our way out. We can't just drill our way out. We can't bomb our way out. We're going to do it the old-fashioned, American way. We're going to invent our way out, working together.

With a giant battery, we'd be able to address the problem of intermittency that prevents wind and solar from contributing to the grid in the same way that coal and gas and nuclear do today.

The liquid metal battery story is more than an account of inventing technology. It's a blueprint for inventing inventors.