Hoping to bring a final end to the era of the exploding notebook, researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Silicate Research ISC in Germany are developing batteries without flammable materials.

The liquid electrolytes at the heart of traditional lithium-ion batteries can catch fire, but the Fraunhofer scientists say they've figured out a way to make them with a new, solid polymer that's inflammable, and, since it's solid, won't leak.

Intel rolled out its new low-cost laptop model yesterday, and the machines will boast bigger, 9-inch screens, 30 GB of storage and integrated Web cameras. These new Classmate PCs, which will go on sale in April for somewhere between $300 and $500, are the second iteration of Intel's answer to the One Laptop Per Child organization's cheap laptop, the XO.