In place of a rechargeable battery, it may use an ultracapacitor a more expensive component that stores electrical energy in the same way as a battery, but can retain it almost indefinitely and is not worn out by repeated charging and discharging.

ECONOMIST: Clockwork technology

The expert said a degraded capacitor, a circuitry component used in various electrical appliances, was the likely cause of the fire.

BBC: The house damaged by the fire

Much of that growth will take place in booming China, where robust demand is expected to keep up prices of oil and other commodities like copper which is a major component of, for example, electrical wire.

ECONOMIST: The bugs are back | The

Imagine in the future, your phone not only receiving a firmware update for its software, but also its circuits, because an electrical engineer figured out a more efficient way let a component perform its task!

FORBES: Connect