Bottled lightning

"Did you know that the tools that have become absolutely integral to your life--our laptop, iPod, and cell phone--re all powered by lithium batteries? Chances are you've got some lithium on your person right now. The third element on the periodic table may also hold the key to an environmentally sustainable, oil independent future. From electric cars to a "smart" power grid that can actually store electricity, letting us harness the powers of the sun and wind and use them when we need them, lithium--metal found only in some of the most uninhabitable places on Earth--setting us on a path…