"Editor's note: [lithium-ion batteries chemistry] is a quite rare example of a modern man-made technological system which clearly works, but that no-one as yet understands."
No, not that rare. Things in engineering with unexplained physical mechanism are surprisingly many. And since you can always go one layer deeper than the existing knowledge, arguably nothing is fully explained.Funny examples:
- why does rubbing a balloon against hair charge both with opposite charges?
- why does unrolling scotch tape emit light?