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Piezoelectric Generators

Teahouse writes: "The U.S. Navy has developed this polymer "eel" that they dump in the water and get a trickle charge back. The biggest application for this would be for deep sea bouys that track weather across the pacific. This could extend accuracy, and lifespans...and save a few lives along the way. Here is the story." NOAA uses buoys that are solar powered and are left out for a year or more at a time, but I imagine that if this worked they'd be interested, too.

6 of 24 comments (clear)

  1. Great reading here! by Natalie's+Hot+Grits · · Score: 5
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    Two infinite things: your stupidity and mine. But I'm not sure about the latter. If my sig offends you, I'm sorry.
  2. SOSUS by John+Jorsett · · Score: 3

    I suspect that the Navy really developed this as a way to expand the SOSUS (SOund SUrveillance System) sonar network, which presently uses long undersea cables to connect the sensors to the monitoring point. Being able to drop buoys wherever and immediately start collecting data would be a great boon. There have been earlier unattached buoys used by the Navy, but they were typically deployed against a specific threat and died quickly. A perpetually self-powered one that didn't have to poke a large solar array above the water and betray its presense would be far better. It would certainly be much less vulnerable to having the enemy (and the occasional accident) cut the sensor cables.

  3. Football scarves by Chuck+Flynn · · Score: 3

    A football scarf is a long (5-9ft) knitted scarf displaying the names of footballers (soccer-club players). They look like this. They're popular among football (soccer) fans in cold European climates: they let you root for the home club without having to take off your warm coat.

  4. Rule of thumb regarding the ocean... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3

    ...if you stick something in the ocean, one of
    three things will happen:

    1 - something will grow on it
    2 - something will try to eat it
    3 - it will corrode

    There are *no* exceptions to this rule.

  5. i'm an eel by vsync64 · · Score: 3
    twitch twitch! really! can't you see?

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    TO BUY A NEW CAR WOULD MAKE YOU SEXUALLY ATTRACTIVE.
  6. Artificial lure? by silicon_synapse · · Score: 3

    I wonder what sharks and other predators will think of this thing waving around in the water. It looks like a big artificial worm or something. Will these things have any predator repellant of any sort?