On the typology and the worship status of sacred trees with a special reference to the Middle East

This article contains the reasons for the establishment of sacred trees in Israel based on a field study. It includes 97 interviews with Muslim and Druze informants. While Muslims (Arabs and Bedouins) consider sacred trees especially as an abode of righteous figures' (Wellis') souls or as having a connection to their graves, the Druze relate sacred trees especially to the events or deeds in the lives of prophets and religious leaders. A literary review shows the existence of 24 known reasons for the establishment of sacred trees worldwide, 11 of which are known in Israel one of these is reported here for the first time. We found different trends in monotheistic and polytheistic religions concerning their current worship of sacred trees

Mechanism of Lithium Metal Penetration through Inorganic Solid Electrolytes

Li deposition is observed and measured on a solid electrolyte in the vicinity of a metallic current collector. Four types of ion-conducting, inorganic solid electrolytes are tested: Amorphous 70/30 mol% Li2S-P2S5, polycrystalline β-Li3PS4, and polycrystalline and single-crystalline Li6La3ZrTaO12 garnet. The nature of lithium plating depends on the proximity of the current collector to defects such as surface cracks and on the current density. Lithium plating penetrates/infiltrates at defects, but only above a critical current density. Eventually, infiltration results in a short circuit between the current collector and the Li-source (anode). These results do not depend on the electrolytes shear modulus and are thus not consistent with the Monroe–Newman model for “dendrites.” The observations suggest that Li-plating in pre-existing flaws produces crack-tip stresses which drive crack propagation, and an electroch-emomechanical model of plating-induced Li infiltration is proposed. Lithium short-circuits through solid electrolytes occurs through a fundamentally different process than through liquid electrolytes. The onset of Li infiltration depends on solid-state electrolyte surface morphology, in particular the defect size and density

Interpretable Data-Driven Modeling Reveals Complexity of Battery Aging

To reliably deploy lithium-ion batteries, a fundamental understanding of cycling and aging behavior is critical. Battery aging, however, consists of complex and highly coupled phenomena, making it challenging to develop a holistic interpretation. In this work, we generate a diverse battery cycling dataset with a broad range of degradation trajectories, consisting of 363 high energy density commercial Li(Ni,Co,Al)O$_2$/Graphite + SiO$_x$ cylindrical 21700 cells cycled under 218 unique cycling protocols. We consolidate aging via 16 mechanistic state-of-health (SOH) metrics, including cell-level performance metrics, electrode-specific capacities/state-of-charges (SOCs), and aging trajectory descriptors. Through the use of interpretable machine learning and explainable features, we deconvolute the underlying factors that contribute to battery degradation. This generalizable data-driven framework reveals the complex interplay between cycling conditions, degradation modes, and SOH, representing a holistic approach towards understanding battery aging