Bounce an AA battery to find out if it’s spent

I don’t exactly know that I needed the whole of this 5’32” video to grasp the concept: if you drop an battery it will bounce if it’s empty, it won’t if it’s full.

Empty. Full. Really I suppose I mean empty as in used up, full as in still has a charge. The folks behind this video call them good batteries vs bad batteries, though that just seems harsh.

Watch the start for proof and a demonstration of how you don’t have to throw the batteries on the ground to test this. Then carry on for an examination of why it may all be true.

That inspirational Jim Carrey speech in full

Previously on The Blank Screen…

Reportedly actor and comic Jim Carrey just gave an inspirational graduation speech. He did it at the Maharishi University of Management and I’m sure the full thing will be online soon but already we get this [key excerpt].

This is one minute and two seconds from it in which he genuinely is inspirational. I think the top half of the minute is a bit cloying but it becomes sensible and good and strong:

A Short Slice of Jim Carrey – William Gallagher, The Blank Screen (11 June 2014)

It took longer than I expected but you can now watch his whole half-hour commencement: