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DIY Living Computer Battery
An anonymous reader writes "Talk about a living battery/pollution clean up/environmentally friendly battery, this seems to fit all the buzz words. Researchers at UMass reported in the journal Science about their sediment battery. 'Derek R. Lovley, UMass microbiologist and team leader, explained how the team used water and sediment from Boston Harbor, a collection of mason jars, ordinary electrical wiring and sterile graphite electrodes to determine the science behind the mechanics of a simple, sediment battery. Using Desulfuromonas acetoxidans (a Geobacter bacteria) the researchers were able to produce enough electrical current to power a lightbulb or a simple computer.'" The linked article is low on details - post 'em in the comments if you have more information on related projects.
So now I can water cool my overclocked processor *and* power it from the creek near my house? Time to buy some garden hose extensions and some more power cables!
Of course, not all sediment has as many, ahem, "nutrients" as Boston Harbor sediment. . .
Do you still have to get a hepatitis shot if you fall in the harbor?
"The dinosaurs died because they didn't have a space program." - Niven
Sounds like an interesting project, but the problem I always see with stuff like this is how often will people think "ewww.. a living battery" when going into a store and looking at something to power their equipment.
Did I just take the red pill?!
So this is the first step in turning us all in to batteries?
I've hit Karma 50 and gotten a Score:5, Troll... I win!
the Ocean area is under utilized. It is more than just a dumping ground for waste, and more than just a source of fancy foods. Maybe the recently reported new plane-like submarines will help us explore and find better ways of energy.
--------
Free your mind.
I can already imagine activists shouting: Free the Batteries!
Remember, be sure to water your computer battery at least twice a day.
Ah am not a crook! (\(-__-)/)
Great, the Cuyahoga River (Cleveland) catches fire and Boston Harbor sediment can produce power. How does this look good for American water supplies, again?
--
J Boylan
I used to work for Dr. Lovely. He has an enourmous lab (~70 people I think) and they are all researching one tiny bug. I knew the day would come that he got /.'ed.
From the article:
Microbes are in the electron-generation business as well. Rather than generate extra electrons to move down a wire, microbes obtain electrons from organic material (sugars, proteins, fats)
Now we just have to find a way to convert human fat to electricity. A luposuction powered electic car. You get a body that you want, save the environment and stop funding the terrorist!
But now would that pave the road for the future world in Matrix?
I can't wait till they can use methane gas from bathrooms to power computers. It will kill two birds with one stone -
1 - cheap power from reusable sources (humans digestive systems)
2 - intake fans in bathroom will help with gas odors left in bathroom
We barely get the nuclear batteries in the market, and they already have a new type. So.. Now all we have to wory about is an outbreak of bacteria instead of a nuclear meltdown. Oh joy.
(Actually, they said that they were using bacteria that die if they get exposed to oxygen, so I think we're safe)
using only a rubber band, chewing gum, a twist tie and a paper-clip, i turned my bacteria-ridden gym bag into a geo-thermal power generator. top that, fucking scientists.
I've got stuff living in my sock drawer that must be good for a decent size battery in the mega-Ah range I would say.
--My sig is bigger than your sig--
Baz
The ASPCB will be up in arms!!
This is the corresponding article in Science:
Electrode-Reducing Microorganisms That Harvest Energy from Marine Sediments
Daniel R. Bond, Dawn E. Holmes, Leonard M. Tender, and Derek R. Lovley
Science 2002 January 18; 295: 483-485. (in Reports)
where's all that Karma?
hydrogen fuel cells are not 'nuclear' in the sense of nuclear fission.
but maybe this one is for real. :)
Ron Paul
its a Mac, innit?
*joke*
"To cover itself, the movie throws in a quick mention that the human energy source powering the machines is combined with a source of fusion. This is like getting on a 747 and having the captain explain in great detail that the plane is rubber band powered, then add that it also has four jet engines."
It was here. I dunno. Just made me think of that.
the researchers were able to produce enough electrical current to power a lightbulb or a simple computer.
I'd rather run the lightbulb than the iMac.
Doh!
(posting AC for obvious reasons)
http://www.umass.edu/newsoffice/archive/2002/01170 2electrodes.html
http://www.umass.edu/newsoffice/archive/2002/11130 2harbor.htm
I read Neal Stephenson's Zodiac. I wouldn't be suprised if the answer to cold fusion couldn't be found in that muck at the bottom of Boston Harbor!
Read a good book lately?
Modest doubt is called the beacon of the wise. - William Shakespeare
When will we finally harness the eternal spunkiness of the Hamster???
maybe your acidic diarrhea could be used to power stuff
Need a UNIX/Linux/network guru in the Boulde
..all those who use their armpits as a UPS. On second thoughts, keep them down.
Modest doubt is called the beacon of the wise. - William Shakespeare
I wouldn't call sediment from Boston Harbor "environmentally friendly" by any means.
BC
At least someone out here is doing something important!
This seems vaguely reminiscent of the potato clock I had when I was a kid.
You stuck potatoes (or fruit) in plastic cups, hooked up some wires to them and *wallah* you had your own LCD clock running just fine.
Werd.
I propose we rename Karma Whuffie.
No, this is not a troll.
I don't know the meaning of the word 'don't' - J
the electricity needed to make the wires & such ?
'cause if you need more for that manufacture process than you can produce with the microbes, it won't work great....
also don't forget the energy required to get the microbes in the first place....
Tsuyoikoto ha taisetsu da ne, dakedo namida mo hitsuyousa (Strength is an important thing, but tears too are necessary)
A square inch of solar cells will power one, i'm not too impressed.
It's all coming clear to me now.. Bush doesn't want to take Iraq's oil, they want to use all their sand for energy.
Trolling is a art,
The graphs indicate a max of 30 mw/m^2. Their cathodes/anodes were ~60 cm diameter disks. Yet they could power a 'simple computer'?
dont forget to feed the battery.
Feed the bacteria, harvest the heat they generate and generate electricty from that.
You can run a simple computer on a potato if you really want to. The question is For how long can you run it for?
What happens if these bacteria are fed the red pill?
What about hog farms? Wow.
They've actually put two of these things up in field sites, and it works well in both polluted (Tuckerton, NJ) and unpolluted (Newport, OR) areas. The energy it's harvesting is from the difference between the oxidizing environment we live in and the reducing environment in which sediment bacteria turn organic matter into methane (and no, the methane can't be effectively harvested.)
The good news is that the power supply was very steady over 3 months. The bad news is that the power so low as to be useless - it averaged at 28 MILLIwatts per square meter. The area needing to be covered in order to run a lightbulb is left as an exercise for the reader, but the answer's big. They're currently thinking this might be a good way to power long-term monitoring devices deployed in the middle of the ocean and other distant places, but as a practical power source - go get a photovoltaic!
Boss: "What is that horrible stench!"
Employee: "My laptop battery developed a leak."
The race isn't always to the swift... but that's the way to bet!
While I appreciate that science for its own sake isn't entirely a waste of time, money, talent, etc. I can't help but wonder what posessed these people to study such a thing. As an energy source, I'm forced to wonder what the point is. I mean, the effort that went into this could (imho) have been better spent designing robot-serviceable PV panel arrays and/or securing funding to start building. Granted, there's the problem of energy distribution, and room-temp superconductors are still way too expensive, but that shouldn't stop someone from working on the production side.
I suspect the R&D effort would be pretty minimal and the biggest hurdle would be funding. Starting a solar power plant is really expensive, but it should be pretty low-risk and high-profit since ongoing expenses would be virtually nil (repairs, and a few people to monitor things). Can someone more knowledgeable about the industry explain to me why nobody has paved over a few square miles of Nevada desert with solar panels yet?
High-speed Road Trip (18.000KPH)
And this is our 10MegaWatt wetlands model, which supplies fresh water, ducks, hunting, fishing, and ...
I once saw a house that processed sewage/waste with a swimming pool size artificial wetlands.. interesting to power your house too!
meh
Modest doubt is called the beacon of the wise. - William Shakespeare
rachael's been dipping her feet in terestrial electrolyte for years during those grueling photoshoots. photo
if it ain't broke, break it.
Next, autonomous machines.
After that, humans as batteries for the autonomous machines.
Who said The Matrix wasn't real?
Laws affecting technology will always be bad until enough techies become lawyers.
What's really funny is that this previously was modded +5 funny, before being bumped down as 'Overrated'.
My neighbor just told me that kids at the elementary school down the street are powering a digital clock (small computer?) with electricity generated by a potato.
Things will never be the same.
Build stuff. Stuff that walks, stuff that rolls, whatever.
ZZZ has an article on the sediment battery here from a while ago (scroll down a bit). I'm wondering how many jars would be needed to have any sort of effective power source...not to mention inconsistent power depending on sunlight or something :-)
...Let me be the first (or 15th for that matter) to say "hoax". This is about as likely as running a server from a few potatoes.
It looks like this particular incarnation of a bio-battery isn't so useful, but it makes me wonder: a battery discharges essentially by eating away at one of the electrodes. When a battery is recharged, the metal from the electrode is re-deposited on it, however this doesn't happen quickly, efficiently, or completely. Perhaps it would be possible to find a species of bacteria that could help in this process? Perhaps the electrolyte could have some kind of nutrient in it that the bacteria would eat and re-deposit the metal in the process?
Wow! Imagine a beowulf cluster, powered by these.
The REAL jabber has the user id: 13196
What you do today will cost you a day of your life
Like my signals and systems teacher says
"If you know how to build (room temperature superconductors) come see me."
I don't care how expensive they are, I'll buy them.
=>
What a busy poster!
Thanks again slashdot for assuming everyone who reads your page is a geek and a loser.
For us winners who have lives outside of our cubicles, what does DIY means?
The Coppertop Matrix has you..
Appended to the end of comments you post. 120 chars.
to a 'Dead Battery'.
Reminds me of a movie moment. Final Fantasy Ovo packs anyone?
13 year old white supremacists are shitty web designers.
...it dies ?
no you can't
didn't you read the artical
they used sediment and non-tap water to power these things
tap water doesn't have the right nutrients