Bacteria Powered Batteries 306
Agent Provocateur writes "SpaceDaily reports on
a battery that is powered by chemical reactions caused by bacteria.
A Pentagon-backed project, University of Massachusetts researchers Swades Chaudhuri, an Indian, and Derek Lovley, an American, say the battery's source is an underground bacterium that gobbles up sugar and converts its energy into electricity.
Their prototype device ran flawlessly without refuelling for up to 25 days and is cheap and stable." The chemistry behind this thing isn't really that complex - keeping the bacteria alive and kicking during that time is prolly the tougher part - you can read more on Al Jazeera, and USA Today. Now, what about replacing this battery?
My battery died... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:My battery died... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:My battery died... (Score:2, Funny)
'Cheap and stable' (Score:5, Insightful)
Hidden cost of health care (Score:3, Insightful)
I'm telling you, it's SARS from cars.
Bacteria power! (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Bacteria power! (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Bacteria power! (Score:3, Funny)
Wouldn't any of our Computer Desks make for a better enviroment? I guess if you look at it that way, the battery would almost never die...
One more piece to the puzzle (Score:4, Interesting)
And some get entered just to remove sugar from the bloodstreams of diabetics. Where do I sign up for that? (I'm a type II diabetic already, this could stave off more drastic treatment for years.)
Re:One more piece to the puzzle (Score:3, Insightful)
But the idea of sugar-powered nanobots is pretty nifty, so give yourself a triple word score & I can avoid the "M" word. Seems that those nanobots would need some pretty sophisticated membrane technology, though...
Re:One more piece to the puzzle (Score:5, Insightful)
There would be nothing particularlly strange about designing a bacteria that could eat sugar and churn out insulin, with the levels of insulin dependant on the level of sugar. Of course, you'd need to design it to be extremely resistant to mutations, because I can thing of several mutations that would benefit the bacteria, but not the colonized individual. (And you'd probably also need to design it to be suseptible to some particular unusual anti-biotic. Preferably one that isn't used for any purpose besides removing mutated colonies.)
Re:One more piece to the puzzle (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:One more piece to the puzzle (Score:2, Informative)
My brother had part of his pancreas burned out, thus causing diabetis. This was much better than periodic temporary paralysis.
So, before you spout off on "diet and exercise", you might check into the facts.
Oh, and my mother was a type I diabetic, from age 10 onwards. Her diabetis was
Re:One more piece to the puzzle (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:One more piece to the puzzle (Score:2, Interesting)
In addition to type II diabetes, would also be great for obesity and those who just want to eat more. Super-size me!
Mr. Fusion (Score:3, Funny)
That's not actually theoretical (Score:3, Informative)
I suspect Dracucells will do wonders for the diabetic population.
--Dan
Scary. (Score:5, Funny)
The Matrix is Real (Score:5, Funny)
Jolt! (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Jolt! (Score:2)
Until the Code Red virus strikes...
Obligatory Beowulf reference (Score:4, Insightful)
Obviously stacking a large cluster of these in a battery [reference.com] type configuration would solve the voltage/current supply issue.
I can see the commercials no (Score:3, Funny)
All I know is (Score:3, Funny)
Re:All I know is (Score:4, Funny)
I for one welcome our new bacteria overlords..
Re:All I know is (Score:2)
Someone sees it on TV or something and starts making radio broadcasts that he welcomes our new insect overloards in the hope that they will spare his life.
-
It was the Simpsons, and it was ants (Score:4, Informative)
(A page on the episode, with the quote [snpp.com])
So Kent Brockman says:
"Ladies and gentlemen, er, we've just lost the picture, but, uh, what we've seen speaks for itself. The Corvair spacecraft has been taken over -- "conquered", if you will -- by a master race of giant space ants. It's difficult to tell from this vantage point whether they will consume the captive earth men or merely enslave them. One thing is for certain, there is no stopping them; the ants will soon be here. And I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords. I'd like to remind them that as a trusted TV personality, I can be helpful in rounding up others to toil in their underground sugar caves."
Great episode. A very good one to watch, if you get a chance.
*honks*
Are nationalities that important? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Are nationalities that important? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Are nationalities that important? (Score:3, Interesting)
I wonder whether Swades Chaudhuri is an American born in India (or of Indian descent), or an Indian citizen? It isn't relevant to the research, but it could reveal Al Jazeera's spin.
Also notice how Al Jazeera said that was a "Pentagon-backed" project at the top of the article, while USA Today said it was DOD funded way down at the bottom.
Re:Are nationalities that important? (Score:2, Interesting)
Also, outside North America the Pentagon is the symbol of American military and people use "Pentagon" and "American army" interchangeably, most of them haven't even heard of "D
Re:Are nationalities that important? (Score:2)
I'll save a fortune! (Score:3, Funny)
If this comes through my fridge could be self powering by using that really old yoghurt that's in it! ;-)
Home brew power (Score:2, Funny)
My underwear could generate a few megawatts.
83%? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:83%? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:83%? (Score:2, Informative)
The 83% does not include the loss in any electric motor, nor in any of the other circuitry/mechanics..
I suppose where you live as to the % you get out of a car engine - manufacturers figures are usually very optmistic. In some citys you spend a lot of time in jams, with the engine idling over. Someone commputed the average speed in London of traffic to be about 11 mph. I would guess 32% is rarly achieved by a normal petrol car user in London.
THen we get
Re:83%? (Score:2)
Sam
Re:83%? (Score:3, Funny)
Damn... and then putting sugar in someone's gas tank won't be a way to disable their car...
Bio-cybernetics? (Score:5, Interesting)
be used to power an artificial heart, getting the sugar from the body? Perhaps
power artificial limbs?
SealBeater
Re:Bio-cybernetics? (Score:2)
human body is roughly 98F. They'd die.
Not necessairly. Just because they stop growing doesn't mean they start dying. The bacteria colony could remain the same size until the temperature is lowered.
Deja Fuel? (Score:5, Informative)
Batteries for Christmas! (Score:2, Funny)
Now your Mighty Morphin' Power Ranger really does have power, and it really morphs too, albeit into a green blob of goo that will probably stain the carpet and be toxic to eat.
Chemistry question (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Chemistry question (Score:2, Informative)
83% of that is ~2 Calories.
1 kilowatt is equivalent to 14.34 kilocalories per minute, which is about 7 grams per minute.
So, about 420 grams of sugar (a bit under a pound) is needed to produce 1 kilowatt.
However, as the article states, it takes a long time to produce the energy (how long i don't recall, nor feel like looking), so essentially to charge up a chemical battery for the
Re:Chemistry question (Score:2)
83% of that is ~2 Calories.
1 kilowatt is equivalent to 14.34 kilocalories per minute, which is about 7 grams per minute.
So, about 420 grams of sugar (a bit under a pound) is needed to produce 1 kilowatt.
Interesting. And my googling shows global raw sugar prices are around 5-8 cents per pound, meaning about 5-8 cents per kilowatt-hour. That is far cheaper then my local electrity prices.
My googling on sugar prices turned up a signifigant anomoly thought. For some reas
Sugar prices (Score:2)
Tarrifs.
IIRC, the US has some pretty high tarrifs on cane sugar. Not that there's a domestic sugar industry to protect, but there is a huge corn syrup (and other corn products) industry. Think Archer Daniels Midland. Think lobbying groups.
And yeah, it's the reason that drinks like Coca-Cola use corn syrup instead of real sugar as the sweetener.
Re:Chemistry question (Score:3, Interesting)
It got so bad that American companies were importing iced tea mix to extract the sugar and get around the tariff. That soon got caught. Some American companies actually would have a Canadian branch/company convert sugar to molasses, import the exempt molasses, and convert it back to sugar. That got caught, too.
The price difference got bad enough that the Lif
Re:Chemistry question (Score:2)
I can hear the radicals now... (Score:5, Funny)
No slavery for electricity!
How many Rhodoferax died for your Walkman today?
Single-celled life forms are people too!
Et cetera, et cetera....
Re:I can hear the radicals now... (Score:3, Insightful)
So then the question of 'slavery' all comes down to perspective: is it slavery when there is in fact no limitation on your lifestyle? Or is the 'sense' of slavery enough (i.e. to feel enslaved i
HEH! (Score:3, Funny)
Unreleased picture of prototype... (Score:3, Funny)
And if you give it JOLT Cola? (Score:2, Funny)
Interesting bacteria.
Don't hold your breath (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Don't hold your breath (Score:2, Insightful)
This won't fly, literally (Score:2, Funny)
a) your batteries will all die or
b) they'll mutate into a super hero or villan and take over the city.
Regradless, this is just another typical slashdot "Technology of the FUTURE!" article about something that we'll never hear about again. 99% of all "new technology" articles on slashdot just sort of fade away.
applicable on humans? (Score:3, Insightful)
How long will it take for researchers to come up with a method to tap the extra energy in human beings(that usually gets converted to fat)? And then, when your cell goes dead - you'll have to eat more sugar
Further imagine what would happen if some major energy company decided to couple this knowledge with genetic cloning? Welcome to the real world!
Re:applicable on humans? (Score:2)
it all depends on the dose... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:it all depends on the dose... (Score:5, Insightful)
I've got a scary fact for you. All of the surfaces around you are covered in bacteria. Even that chair, even your bottle of soap, even the water faucets. You cant get away from them. They're everywhere. If you aren't in a full fledged panic yet, you might remember that humans have lived with bactera for as long as their have been humans. The vast majority of them are harmless to humans.
It's also unlikly that a company would release a battery that killed everyone who bought it, and traditional batteries aren't exactly nice to the environment, so the bar is not set very high for these things to be more eco-friendly.
Re:it all depends on the dose... (Score:3, Insightful)
yoghurt for starters (Score:5, Insightful)
Most soft cheeses like Camenbert and Brie depend on bacteria for their production.
Bacteria is used in most sewerage treatment plants.
You're hatching them in your gut and every day you shit them. Multiply that by everyone in your city, the world etc and be very afraid. Ie you are mass producing them.
Did you know living in an environment artificially depleted of bacteria (eg too much bleach), can increase your chances of things like Asthma?
Bacteria are used every day by farmers to control other pests like mould and fungus and caterpillers (dipel). (Ironically penicillin is a fungus to control bacteria). Bacteria are also important to good quality soil and natural recycling of vegetation and animal manure.
It probably wouldn't be a good idea to eat your phone battery, but that's no reason to be afraid of it.
Bacteria only multiply out of control in very favourable conditions. That's why they say you should keep your food refrigerated or boiling ie keep your food at temperatures not conducive to growing toxic bacteria like some salmonella.
I suppose you still eat chicken or eggs? The salmonella is not completely eliminated, only minimised...
And bacteria doesn't generally "spread" really fast without help.
Re:yoghurt for starters (Score:2)
This is also the case for computer viruses. And thanks to Microsoft, the Internet is one vast petri dish...
Re:it all depends on the dose... (Score:2)
Yeast.
Re:it all depends on the dose... (Score:2)
In either case, nature is going to do what it's done with every human creation. Grind it under her foot if it deighns to get out.
Re:it all depends on the dose... (Score:2)
You have about three or four POUNDS of bacteria in and on your body. It is essentially "cultivated in large masses" by your body. Those bacteria already "spread like wildfire" and they constantly "mutate".
-
Re:it all depends on the dose... (Score:2)
These organic batteries, on the other hand, could be easily sterilized when
Battery Abuse (Score:3, Funny)
Strange definition of "tiny amount of current" (Score:2, Insightful)
A calculator uses really tiny amounts of current compared to Christmas tree lights. My calculator hasn't had a battery charge in years, and my watch has a calculator in it too. Christmas lights got to use hunderds of times more power in comparison.
Someone tell the Wachowski brothers.... (Score:5, Funny)
I can imagine the new movie already....
Ok, bacteria aren't yeast, but (Score:5, Funny)
I could use a laptop battery that puts out a nice little shot of vodka for the end of the day. This feature could also motivate users to take very-good care of their bacteria.
JMR
well... (Score:2, Funny)
I wonder if this means energy plants in the future will be pretty rotten places.
Effects of heat? (Score:2, Interesting)
Interesting story. Given that the power is generated by bacteria, my first question would have to be: Is an optimal temperature required for bacterial function / electrical generation?
Maintaining a warm environment for the sake of the bacteria would certainly rule out plenty of uses from cars to flashlights, and most importantly: that little light that goes on when you open your freezer.
Great! Now my battery can get a virus too. (Score:5, Insightful)
Sugar may be cheap, but sterilized sugar solution in a handy refill cartridge will cost a pretty penny. And, yes, it only means more sweet spam.
you would have offsite backups (Score:2)
if the batteries get widespread, they should come with instructions on how to replace the bacterial colony inside them, and detailed safety data sheets. After all, alexander graham bell spilled a lead acid on himself when making the
PROLLY!!!???!!! (Score:2)
Stamp it out before it's
Re:PROLLY!!!???!!! (Score:3, Funny)
wats ur prob? lngwg alwys evolvs. lemme ax u somfin, do u use cntractns? prolly do, sinc u sed "I'll". dis is no diffrnt, u only sav 2 lttrs.
Ow. That sprained my language center.
Dear god, kill me now (Score:3, Funny)
Just as I was getting set up to rant, I discover that "prolly" is now a recognised acronym for "probably" [acronymfinder.com].
To newspeak is good. I did plus ungood thoughtcrime.
Re:Dear god, kill me now (Score:2)
Arthur C Clarke beat them to it - again (Score:3, Informative)
Bacterial Matrix (Score:3, Funny)
Why link to Al Jazeera?? (Score:2)
Wow. Is that a first? Is Al Jazeera to be considered a reputable media outlet? Does it deserve linking from a Slashdot site?
I don't know how well their technology coverage is, but I do know that their "World news" is highly skewed and biased.
Yeah, USA Today is certainly not #1, but compared to Al Jazeera, it's superbly honest.
When was the last time Slashdot linked to the Inquirer?
Al Jazeera is one source among many (Score:4, Insightful)
In a Pentagon-backed project, University of Massachusetts researchers Swades Chaudhuri, an Indian, and Derek Lovley, an American, say the battery's source is an underground bacterium that gobbles up sugar and converts its energy into electricity.
They didn't go on to show any especial suspicion about that, they just noted it. Later on, at the end of the article, they described the Military applications -- "the US Department of Defence was interested in it for powering underwater microphones and sonar to spot passing ships and submarines." They were quite positive, all told, describing the batteries as remarkable for a proof-of-concept. They mentioned applications in impoverished areas, using batteries working from sewage for example.
On the other hand, USA Today didn't mention the Pentagon connection, describing the scientists only as being "at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst." The USA Today story was considerably shorter, lacked Al Jazeera's detailed description of how the thing worked ("...each side containing a graphite electrode and separated by a membrane. On one side was R ferriducens swimming in a glucose solution, which it broke down into carbon dioxide (CO2) and electrons. The electrons were transported to the nearby electrode...") and just generally read much more superficially.
I wouldn't describe the Al Jazeera story as amazingly well-written -- it included some grammatical slips that read as if they'd been made in translation -- but it was a more complete bit of reporting by far, and showed no determined bias other than noting the military connection in a neutral way, IMHO.
I'd bet the story's submitter included that Al Jazeera link because it's just plain better. Take a look yourself.
(And as far as the world news thing goes, you should try to understand why it is that the Arab world watches this channel rather than the Western World's channels, which they see as bought and paid for by US corporate interests. It is a point of view, and you might want to understand it even if you don't agree.)
Nothing new about this (Score:3, Informative)
It worked... dump in sugar, get out current.
I think what is new here is the high level of efficiency.
existing robot runs from bacteria fuel-cell (Score:3, Informative)
Lysol should have a field day with this one. (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Spirits Within (Score:2, Funny)
i think it was called The Matrix
Re:Strange.. (Score:2)
Oh, and here I thought it was another of them thar ``alternative'' power sources. Thanks for cl
Re:Nice technology - wrong forum to highlight it o (Score:3, Insightful)
It is important to see the other man's point of view. One of the problems in Iraq at the moment is incomprehsnsion between the US forces and the locals. I agree that Al Jazeera does reflect an anti-US viewpoint. However, it does not create such a viewpoint - it reflects that of the world in which it lives. AJ is not killing US soldiers - is just speaks the same language as people who are. If you disreg
Re:Nice technology - wrong forum to highlight it o (Score:4, Insightful)
Al Jazeera comes freom Qatar, where women are allowed to drive - as they are in Iraq and most of the rest of the Arab world.
You prove my point - you are treating the Arab world as if it was a monolithic whole, then apply the worst of the worst to the whole. Of cvourse Al Quaida and Saddams thugs are murderous thugs. Bu they are no more typical of the whole Arab world than the Klu Klux Klan are typical of the USA.
Re:Nice technology - wrong forum to highlight it o (Score:2)
If we had 150 million white supremacists to deal with it might be worth trying to understand them.
During the cold war, we made an effort to get along with the Communist block. We didn't agree with them, we didn't approve of them, and we didn't even like them, but we had to share a planet with them, and we can now look back at that time and congratulate ourselves on avoiding a catastrophe. If the catastrophe had happened, it would no doubt have soon become accepted wisdom that it was inevitable.
And you d
Re:Name it. (Score:2)
It doesn't matter how you got in to this mess, you won't get out of it without understanding what the Arab in the street wants. He certainly doesn't want Saddam back - but he equally certainly doesn't want a govenment imposed by the occupying power - no matter how benevolent that occupying power.
Re:Nice technology - wrong forum to highlight it o (Score:3, Interesting)
Uhm... it's unfortunate yes. But ONLY because Al-Jazeera is such an unreliable source of accurate news.
Re:Al-Jazeera (Score:2)
I read it! (Score:2)
Go ahead and mark me flame-bait... but it's supposed to be a joke...
Re:I read it! (Score:2)
Re:Al-Jazeera (Score:2)
Re:Al-Jazeera (Score:5, Funny)
Have you read USA Today before?
From Al Jazeera:
"The bug in question is Rhodoferax ferriducens, which was found in airless sediment deep below ground at a terrestrial site at Oyster Bay, Virginia, and identified as a promising candidate for oxidising simple sugars."
USA Today:
"Bacteria are tiny living things. So tiny you can't even see them with your eyes! You need a microscope to see them. Microscopes help scientists see very small things."
note: usa today quote made up for fun's sake.
Re:Maybe I'm missing something but... (Score:2)
Because even 15 minutes is quite a long time to be putting out 27 megawatts. Besides, $30mm is pretty damn cheap for a project of that scale, IMO.