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.

Comments

An example of how

[Gortbusters.org]

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.

Modern "Potato Clock"

[Suydam]

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.

Why?

[ottffssent]

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?

Re:Why?

[Anonymous Coward]

Nikola Tesla (the discoverer of electricity as we use it!) theorized that, using the earth as a natural power source, everyone with an antenna in their backyard would have all the free electricity they could use. Some say this is precisely the reason his lab was torched and he was 'accidentally' run over. He was a genius ahead of his time, and it's precisely the parent post's kind of incredulity of the potential of the earth as a power source that has prevented us from following in his footsteps. I, for one, feel that this is far more than science for its own sake. It just needs to be taken seriously.

Shit happens

[Chocolate Teapot]

If you read this paper, it becomes clear that the practice of using human excrement as a natural fertilizer is far from perfect.

Cysticercosis of the central nervous system (neurocysticercosis) is caused by the larval stage (cysticerci) of the pork tapeworm Taenia solium. The two-host life cycle of this tapeworm comprises human beings as definitive hosts and swine as intermediate hosts. Pigs become infected when they ingest human faeces containing T. solium eggs, which develop in the muscle and brain into cysticerci. When people eat undercooked pork containing viable cysticerci, they develop an intestinal tapeworm infection, but not cysticercosis of the central nervous system. Human beings can also become intermediate hosts, however, by directly ingesting T. solium eggs shed in the faeces of human carriers of the parasite. These eggs then develop into cysticerci which migrate mostly into muscle (causing cysticercosis) and into the central nervous system where the cysticerci can cause seizures and many other neurological symptoms (cysticercosis of the central nervous system).

This is particularly prevalent in China, where as you quite rightly observed, human faeces is used as fertiliser.

A different way of doing it?

[kurtkilgor]

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?

Re:New gardening tip...

[nns6561]

You joke, but many modern, lead-acid batteries require watering. For example, the large batteries used on forklifts currently require watering about once a week.