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Powered by Blood
Anonymous Coward writes "Bringing us one step closer to becoming centrally-controlled meatbots, Japanese scientists have developed a device that produces power from the glucose in human blood. Theoretically, this technology (aka "Dracucell") could produce 100W of power. Of course, it can't produce that much power in practice since your body stupidly wastes glucose in maintaining homeostasis. The scientists propose that this devices could be used to power implanted devices. Now how many of you Slashdotters would it take to power my laptop? I'll buy the cola!"
Overclock Your Body NOW! Drink UBER-BLOOD(TM) XP!!
fp btw.
Homestarrunner.net -- It's Dot Com!
Two cows:
JAPANESE CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk. You then create clever cow cartoon images called Cowikimon and market them worldwide.
"'Cause I'm as freeee aaaaasssssss aaaaaaaaaa biiiiiiirrrrrrrrr nnnnnn." -Klick!
Callously, he eyeballs the passanger next to him. He thinks, "Kinda short, but chubby... About 11 Pints."
US Democracy:The best person for the job (among These pre-selected choices...)
has you.
This actually is kinda neat. If it can run on glucose it probably can run on fructose/sucrose/lactose and a lot of other sugars..
This of course brings back bad memories of Biology and the "Citric acid Cycle" and ATP..
Dr Kazuo Eda, heading the research, said: "It is like the metabolism of food. Human bodies can process glucose and obtain energy. When glucose is oxidised, electrons can be obtained."
IANAB (I am not a biologist), but if the process our bodies use is different from how this devices creates electricity, isn't there a different waste product? Or can our bodies still use rusty glucose? Or is oxidized glucose harmless waste?
I guess we just need to combine this technology with a form of fusion, and we're really in for it. Now drink your power aid.
Mirror
A programmer is a machine for converting coffee into code.
And so the Matrix is born.
Rule #1 -- Politics always trumps technology.
Probably much cheaper just to run it from regular glucose.
...a bunch of scientists made a realistic virtual world which could be powered by humans hooked on to devices that could produce electricity from the human body. And in other news....agents are looking for a couple of anarchists called morpheus and neo.
:P
ducks
1st we have batteries, which allow us to walk around with electrics. Then we have a invention to exploit enegry from the human body. I seriously have to wonder how long it will be before a dictator starts tieing down people and getting them to produce energy for him. Would be a whole new way to tourture people to death, because they would die from being to tired to do anything.
"For years, I struggled with reality... but I'm happy to say I finally won out over it." -- Elwood P. Dowd
So "The Matrix" was a documentary??!?
Fight Spammers!
Computers can never be as smart as humans because of the simple fact that humans have souls which allow a creative nature. Computers cannot be programmed to have souls. They can perhaps be programmed to have weighted levels of preference for certain things, but they can never appreciate things at the level that we humans can.
Despite what fear-mongers like Bill Joy say about computers achieving then surpassing humans in intelligence, just consider that intelligence isn't a matter of MIPS, but one of creativity and the ability to think outside of the box. These are things computers can't do, and will never be able to do.
Want to burn calories while sitting in front of your computer at work? How about shedding those extra pounds while powering your TV at the same time?
This way people will get an increased metabolism (since some of your sugars are being converted into energy for non-local entities), and they will be able to reduce the number of batteries and other power sources needed.
Just wait till the come out with some nano-bots that run off this process and will scrub the plaque off your arterial walls. That would be the killer app.
MMORPG fan-boy? Prove your worth
My homo-status is NONE of your business.
Think about it. Burning extra glucose means it cannot be stored as fat or what not.
:-)
Kinda also revives the coppertop thingy from the matrix though...
What they really need is an implant that looks like a wall outlet so I can plug my discman into it
Tom
Someday, I'll have a real sig.
So, does that put a new meaning on "Making your blood boil?" :P
Join the TWIT army now!
Last two times I had blood extracted, I passed out and held up the doctor's office for 15 minutes in the process. Oh well, it's back to pencil and paper. Unless it now requires paper cuts...
Give me an implant that uses electricity to create glucose, so that I can plug myself into the wall and not have to stop to eat during those long coding sessions.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
These things just get stranger and stranger :(
Whats next... clone farms that are senslessly slaughtered to create the said blood to power our world o_0
Clinton's best domestic policy decision, despite what the far left and far right say.
Would the morbidly obese qualify for US Department of Energy rebates?
No need for those diets.Eat all you want and then just convert the extra clories into energy. No more flat batteries.
Wanted : A Signature.
Duh.
The clones continually create blood. There's no reason to slaughter them.
I, for one, welcome our new blood-sucking masters.
Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
Will nerds who LAN party all day lose the extra weight?
I mean of course the fat nerds. You scrawny nerds might now even be able to tap into this.
I know 100W (75W proc) isn't much for a desktop, but it could probably power a laptop, or at least really extend it's life. Or bosses could have special low power desktops and pay the employees to power the system being blackout immune and less expensive. Just keep the Fresca in stron supply.
Could P0rn become healthy?
Slight Calorie starvation greatly increases longevity, and lower overal coloric intake is the number dietery life span predicter.
Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
Raising my blood sugar is as simple as a 25 cent cola.
Being able to make my own power in times of trouble would be priceless.
(Especially considering how often the power can suddenly go out where I live.)
(Voice of Davy)
I'm starting to get scared because these
robots are aware
that I'm running out of food, blood's
a bubbling crude
I'm hoping in the next town there will be
blood to be found
If I don't keep them pleased they'll be
feeding off me
(voice of vampire robot slaves)
Cuz' Davy Crocket says
He'd feed us blood for days
We want blood
Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
You know, some fly-by-night internet "entrepreneur" is going to spin a tale about how this pioneering new technology can help you increase the size of your penis. You watch.
Well, all the Matrix jokes aside, this does have some potentially excellent applications. I remember the first time I heard someone talking about pacemakers and how the batteries in them wear out. I asked the obvious question, "How do they replace them?"
It involves surgery. YIKES! Granted, it is probably minor surgery compared to getting the thing put in there to begin with, but knowing it was powered by your own blood would surely be a welcome change to these folks.
I mean if you think replacing the battery on your motherboard is a pain, think of doing it on an outpatient basis.
"Contrarily the lookaside buffer might not be the panacea... "
"Ahhh, Gordon, good to see you. We've found a way to keep your HEV charged, but you'll find you need the cola machines more."
www.eFax.com are spammers
I wonder how this would work in a diabetic...
For external as well as internal devices, why not a thermocouple instead of something as potentially invasive and draining as a blood-borne device?
I guess bums won't have to go to the blood bank for extra cash anymore. Instead, they can just stand around airport terminals offering blood to power some desperate execs laptop! WOOOWHOOOO
If your body were full of nanomechanisms that feed off the glucose that you ingest and someone pumps you full of glucose will you overheat in some fashion? How would you keep the process in check, or does it naturally stop "feeding" when it is fully powered up? And what happens when the process starts using all of the available glucose?
The other big issue I see for embedded/implanted mechanisms is control. Diabetics currently are the only ones that have to be hyper-aware of their sugar intake. In the future with these types of implants we could all end up with a glucose monitoring system of some sort. I say buy stock now.
If Darwin was right, you'd be dead by now.
Could be used as a source of energy for implantable pacemakers and defibrillators, with the battery as a backup.
Thank you for your attention, carry on minions!
Hate me!
Hell, I would use it just to help burn calories and loose weight.
I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
The matrix exists to turn people into batteries.
Non article readers should note that the systems was developed by Panasonic Nanotech Research Lab, for the purpose of powering bloodborne nanomachines.
Vino, gyno, and techno -Bruce Sterling
There are those who mod thier cases and those who mod their bodies... but the lines are blurring. Soon people will be buying LED's and Dracucells to implant under their skin. Just think... You could implant a matrix of LED's in your back to operate like an animated billboard! Who will be the first beach-bum to add a cellular uplink so they can sell ad-space online?
"Sir, are you classified at human"
"Negative, I am a meat popsicle"
The truth about Led Zep should never be told on
Why don't you sell YOUR soul to Milhouse for $5?
You talk about intelligence, and being as smart as humans.
When you talk about intelligence, you are really refering to _human_ intellegence.
Do you not understand that what is considered to be intelligent behaviour is relative to your environment.
Do you understard that it would be very stupid for
- a cow in its native environment to behave as if its a hippopotamus.
- a human in its native environment to behave as if it were a bird.
- a computer in its native environment to behave as if it were a human.
Why would a computer think like a human, its not a human. It doesnt have a human body, or a human mind, neither does a cow, a bird or a monkey, but it doesnt mean they dont possess intellegence.
We shouldnt be so arrogant to only percieve inteligence as behaviour that mimicks ours.
If we fully understood the human brain, if we could predict behaviour based on the brains current knowledge and its environmental stimulus then would you still consider humans to be inteligent ?
Any technology sufficiently advanced appears like magic, thats what our brain is.
Just because we are masters of our computers doesnt mean computers are incapable of intellegence.
Just because we dont understand our brain doesnt mean it has a magic quality, a soul.
But if you were to make one that ran off of human fat, we could take advantage of our tremendous natural resources here in the United States. Now that would be a renewable energy policy.
Now we know what Shylock really wanted that pound of flesh for. Too bad he stuffed up the contract and forgot to order the blood option!
Bionics, imagine this device power Geordi life VISORS for the blind... or heart implants, you name it.
3000 dead over past 2 years, still no free Palestinians, still
This is definitely not an area where anyone would want a killer app!
Well, now that I think about it, just not for oneself... >:]
--------
If I can own an idea, does that mean I can legally claim some portion of your soul once I tell you that idea? Or even if you just come up with it on your own? Heck, who needs contracts in blood... (except the nanobots now)
"What in the name of Fats Waller is that?"
"A four-foot prune."
1. Have some sort of actual device sticking out of the body. This is bad, because it breaches the skin, our natural defensive screen, and such things tend to become very easily infected.
2. Surgery to replace cells. Again, any surgery at all is going to be both expensive and risk prone.
More recently, a third option has become available: having fully implanted power system that can be recharged wirelessly, via em radiation of some kind (you can google for it). This is a big gain, because it allows devices that are more power hungry while still maintaining the benefits of not breaching the skin and not needing frequent operations. But it still requires people to remember and have access to the appropriate charging device consistantly. If for any reason some one forgets or can't recharge, the device may shut down, sometimes with fatal results. So having a way to remove one more step for powering these things should really help improve the quality of life for a lot of people today.
Of course, personally I find this to be a very exciting development for future things as well. When we get to the point of having more optional implants, for things like boosting hearing or vision, a way to power them will be necessary, and if the power requirements are low, then this system would be perfect. Ultimately, widespread adoption of anything, from an OS to a vehicle, is all about making it as easy and intuitive for end users as possible. There is a lot of interesting stuff going on for advanced things like brain-computer interfaces, and people who are interested should look around, as the state of the art has advanced a great deal in the past 5 years. Here are a few links for the curious, and much more can be found with google, of course:
Graz University of Technology
Standford/DVA Neural Interface Project
Beyond the Big Barrier(lighter, intro type stuff)
News Group:
sci.med.psychobiology
imagine 50-60W worth of LEDs... drink the Mountain Dew and glow green, start to run out of sugar and you'd glow red.. people could start eating when they changed color instead of when they were hungry
At least the war on the environment is going well
But I'm bored so I'll bite.
Species of primates use simplistic tools,
thus demonstrating creativity. By your definition, they must have souls. Of course most people who believe in the soul refute that idea.
I assume you must refute evolution as well, as there is no reason to believe that the process that lead to the creation of man and his simian relatives could not eventually lead to another intelligence with creative abilities, by man's design, genetic algorithms, or what have you...
I could see a future in using this technology combined with some glucose monitors to help diabetics to keep their blood sugar under control without needles or external monitors. With a simple implant, an individual would be able to live a completely normal life.
This one has some more actual research, as well as a lot more links and citations.
I don't know about you, but I don't consider the maintenance of homeostasis in my body to be a waste of glucose.
proof, n. A demonstration that a conclusion is implied by certain premises and axioms.
I remember in the '80s that the idea of running blood over dissimilar metals to produce electricity came up as an idea to power electronic devices. The problem was, the dissimilar metals were things like Aluminum and Cadmium. These are not metals you would want in your body if you could help it. I wonder what new toxins this invention would introduce in the body.
Of course, a possible application could be using to power RF tags for endangered species - of course if there is an issue on the toxicity of the power source then all we would be doing is allowing ourselves to document in excrutiating detail our extinction of the species.
myke
Mimetics Inc. Twitter
Scientists at Matsushita's Nanotechnology Research Laboratory in Japan are developing a power generator that uses blood to produce electricity. It emulates the process the body uses to convert food into energy. The scientists say the "bio-nano" generator could be used to run devices embedded in the body, or sugar-fed robots. Dr. Kazuo Eda, who heads the research, says bio-nano fuel cells are the next step for researchers after generators powered by hydrogen, natural gas and methanol. Hmmm... robots that use humans as batteries -- can The Matrix be far behind? ;)
when Uncle Fester was able to light that incandescent bulb in his mouth!
100W novelty hand buzzer!
As a person in excellent physical condition, I can only expend 250 watts for 30 minutes at time before I'm tapped out. I know this because I spend my lunch hour every day on a eliptical machine with a dynometer.
I can see it now, an out of shape slashdoter expires after powering his laptop for 8 straight hours, hoards of lawyers decend, story at 11.
Too many I suspect until geek hygiene improves dramatically.
"I'd rather be a lightning rod than a seismometer." -Ken Kesey
Self powered diabetes control systems. You can use the excess glucose into power, and when the level is too low, it can release a reserve of glucose.
Weight loss implants. Eat all the chocolate you like, and then use it to start your car.
This was actually my idea before sorehands came along and stole it. So... is your sister hot?
Ha. I plan to plug in, turn on, and drink up.
If they can figure out a way to get a reasonable amount of power without adversely effecting your health, this could be most excellent. I don't think we'll be powering our laptops and cell phones with this, (although a cell phone doesn't suck that much power) but for powering a pacemaker, as someone else suggested, this would be quite useful.
Also of use would be powering the so-called "Soldier of the Future". If our military is indeed to have Deus Ex-esque implants, then this could power them effeciently. I also wonder if this could power night vision goggles...
(-:Stephonovich:-)
"Who needs reincarnation when we've got parallel universes?" -Me
to start pumping out more low power chips! Feynman gates anyone?
DAMN YOU, HOMEOSTASIS!!!! You ruin all my hopes and dreams!
mmm new diet
My ear-mounted reading lamp dims when I get the munchies.
"Pacemakers ... How do they replace them?" ... It involves surgery ..."
... anyway that's what I've heard.
Pacemakers are now recharged by induction, without surgery
-kgj
Yes, and when they break down and start clogging your arteries with silicon and steel, it may truly become (at least in the beginning) a truly killer app.
Sarcasm aside, though, this idea certainly shows a great deal of promise. Heart disease as we know it may be drastically reduced. I'm all for it if it works properly.
In other words, on a 2000 kilocalories/day diet...
1 kilowatthour = 860 kilocalories.
2000/860 = 2.3 kilowatt hours
2300 watts-hours/24hours = 96 watts.
Pretty amazing that we humans only run on 96 watts of power.
AccountKiller
I wish you could write such beautiful and challenging prose under a nick, but we already know the weak would eat you alive.
--
me
Low glucose levels are not a good thing, ask any diabetic. The first thing that tips you off is a headache. 100 watts is one heck of alot of drain. Though I dought whether this level of out put can last for more than a few seconds considering the human uses only a fraction of that to power muscles and biosystems combined. Even when we are working really hard our bodies are extreemly thrifty. As glucose levels drop we become dizzy and disoriented. If the liver can keep up glucose production then the effect passes. The feed back loop of hormones in a healthy individual then signals for more glucose production and the insulin cycle continues. ./ers most likely know that if you hack for 24 hrs straight you can get a hell of a head ache without doing much physical labour. What am I saying, the one thing programmers try to avoid at all cost is real work. Most IT managers think that humans do not really need work breaks. Coke 'n pizza and give 'r does not work if you use muscles.
This system would put one hell of a strain on the cycle and would make you tired so fast it could not be practical without some form of glucose level feed back that would shut it down if the levels got too low. Having the person quickly faint from low blood sugar levels is entirely possible. Though some
OH THE SHAME I fell off the wagon and use sigs again!
the efficiency of conversion of biomass to energy by the human metabolism is very, very, poor. It's not that the oxidation of glucose is so inefficient, it's that there's so much energy spent digesting food to glucose in the first place.
Chickens and rabbits do much better. But then, what kind of a movie would it be if Keanu Reeves was trying to free acres and acres of penned hens? I know, it's about his speed. He'd probably get an Oscar for best supporting actor.
Er, as I was saying, the human body is not a very efficient producer of energy, and the amount of fossil fuels used to produce our food is staggering.
What would be more useful, in terms of the worlds energy demands, is if these guys could *reverse* the process... By putting energy IN to the metabolism, synthesise glucose from H20 and C02. Ideally, the energy source would be good old solar insolation on exposed skin.
So, lay around in the backyard naked for a few hours and save the money you would have had to spend on doughnuts.
This isn't too incredibly speculative, plenty of organisms do this already. The downside is, you'd probably be green, but if everyone was green, it wouldn't be so bad.
Having devices leeching off your blood glucose supply would effectively boost the rate at which you're burning calories, forcing your body to break down fat to maintain blood sugar levels, without the nasty side effects of all those stimulant-based weight-loss pills on the market today.
Repeal the DMCA!
Now we can build killer robots powered by this.
Doh! Sorry, the Jap's device doesn't work with nigger blood. better luck next time.
I wonder if this could replace dieting as a new drug to lose weight. All you need are some nanomachines that run on this and use up the excess energy. They could putter around your bloodstream cleaning plaque from your arteries and fixing that whole "heart murmur from being so obese" thing, all while burning more calories than you would excercising.
Or, for those of us that are more concerned with being weak & a bit chubby (rather than dangerously obese), they could build muscle tissue (easiest way I'd guess would be to selectively kill muscle cells slower than your body can repair them. Glucose -> heat energy. the heat destroys individual muscle cells slowly) while burning excess calories.
Step 3: PROFIT!! (if someone was selling an injection that meant I'd have to eat a bit more but it'd make me all ripped without the hassle of excercise, I'd be all over that)
This does beg the question though, of how to kill off the nanomachines before you become Ahhh-nold (or Calista Flockhart)
Yeah, the colas I speak of are no-names that they sell in supermarket vending machines. And if you could buy them in bulk they'd be even cheaper than that.
Don't be a coward! If you mean chickens, say chickens!
I would prefer to develop a MUCH more symbiotic relationship with my lazy cats
synthetic organs.....
it is to bad that we will be growing new organs from Bone marrow of the patient in 5 years or so. this tech would have been nice 20 years ago.
I am the Alpha and the Omega-3
Although i can see this as a good thing as far as weight loss and diebetics, it could also be a bad thing. people who are anorexic or bulimic could now eat whatever they wanted and still lose the weight. they wouldn't have to work out, throw up, and they could eat constantly. and also, if everybody could eat whatever they wanted whenever they wanted, the demand on our economy for certain foods would increase tenfold. imagine if everybody bought pringles, ice cream, cakes, cookies, you name it, whatever your fav. food is, it would always be out of stock. while this would give our economy a boost for a short period, it would soon become a liability. not only would there be a shortage of all the good food, there would be many health problems too. i imagine people would sell the power their body produced, so if those people are desperate enough, they could kill themselves by depriving their bodies of glucose. the ramifications of this, when put in this light, are severe, especially on our society today which focuses on skinny girls and is also very power-hungry. i think, even if it donsn't create a Matrix for real, it could still ruin the world as we know it.
What are they going to do for the heat 100W of electricity usage is going to create? Ever touch a 100W lightbulb or your processor? Does it come with a heatsinc and a fan powered by more glucose?
:)
I love the idea of using those bear calories for the SETI project
Karma Clown
In a type 2 with excess glucose, it's possible this device burning off the extra could do something. However, in a type 1, with a body not producing insulin, you'd still end up with a dead diabetic. Type 1's need insulin to properly fuel the body, not just dump the fuel.
> Of course, a possible application could be using to power RF tags for endangered species
Active RF homing tags!
Start with common critters (testing), expand to endangered critters and pets, then felons, then the broader human population.
I wonder if you could hack this thing to power a mini-GPS receiver (antenna could be crafted like a metal plates used in peoples' heads). GPS receiver twiddles a few bits in a subcutaneous microtransmitter. A network of receivers (deployed every 10-20 meters, say, every street lamp) relays userid/location data to a network of relatively centralized (every few square kilometers) servers. Central servers share/broadcast location of everyone - to everyone.
Right now, you'd still need an external display (or head-mounted display) to read that location data and display it on a map to know where you and your friends were. But in 10-15 years, when the graphics can be rendered in wetware (blood-glucose-powered retinal implant), the infrastructure for 24/7 real-time personal location awareness / HUD display will already be in place. w00t!
They don't need to put you in stasis, they just need your blood.
However, it is leeching off humans for energy. The similarity is both stunning and macabre.
Now if they implement this and some dude in a long black coat rebels and starts kicking slow motion ass I'm gonna freak...
What a waste of time and money! The actual application for this research is for marketing. Their knowledge of physiology is pitiful. The body wasn't meant to have the extra stress of another sythetic glucose dependant organ. People would die if they put this into practice. You want to create less stress in patients with heart disease, not more. Anyone want to die a little faster? This is stupid.
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bpaa representative #648437
I can envision a dreadful world, in wich most of the energy we produced would go to a government, that would spend it to opress more people.
oh, wait.
-
Roses are #FF0000, Violets are #0000FF, find / -name '*base*' |xargs chown -R us && mv zig greatjustice
Then with some brain-nanobots interface you can use the nanobots for some parlor tricks and impress the chicks or to change the place where your fat hangs so you have a V shape with the fat shaped as muscles instead of a pear shape (thanks to Vladimir for the idea with the fat).
"The obvious mathematical breakthrough would be development of an easy way to factor large prime numbers." Bill Gates,
Classic C grade movie. Bloodsucking, vampire cyborgs.
Please?
I want to be a cyborg within two years, not one hundred.
I always thought those big SUVs where powered with blood.
Then someone explained to me that you don't actually pour the dead people's blood into the engine, you bury those bodies and then use their oil.
I was like oh ok, killing people for oil, that's fine, but actually using the blood?! Eww grody! You're supposed to let that drain into the sand so it doesn't make a nasty smell around the oil well.
Even better - use an algae suspension to produce glucose from the sun, then convert that glucose to electrical enercy.
There you go - a natural solar panel!
I just saw the Seinfeld where Kramer fills Jerry's radiator will his blood.... now THAT's being powered by blood!
What he said!
"GNU's not Unix....it's Linux" / Kami "kokamomi" Petersen
... will really help you pleasure the ladies. :)
Here's step one of humans becoming robots. I better go practice speaking in monotone! ;)
How many airplane pilots does it take to power a laptop?
None. The use of laptops and other portable electronic devices is strictly prohibited during take-off and landing, acording to FAA regulations.
How many MIT students does it take to power a laptop?
Ten. One to blood power it while the others project a more efficient system.
How many Peta members does it take to power a laptop?
Two. One to power it and another to make sure they're not using the blood of any animal.
How many quantum mechanicians does it take to power a laptop ?
They can't. If they know where the power cord is, they cannot locate the plug. (BTW, where in the body would a power plug fit?)
How many Heisenbergs does it take to power a laptop?
If you know the number, you don't know where the laptop is.
How many women does it take to power a laptop?
No way. It's a man's job.
How many amish people does it take to power a laptop?
None. Amish people don't believe in Laptops.
How many Sysadmins does it take to power a laptop?
I'm sorry, that's a hardware issue and we can't help you with it. You'll have to get a hardware tech to power it. Good luck.
-
Roses are #FF0000, Violets are #0000FF, find / -name '*base*' |xargs chown -R us && mv zig greatjustice
Can those of us with Diabetes now sell our excess blood sugar to the power grid?
"Freedom means freedom for everybody" -- Dick Cheney
The Dutch understood the power of wind, why not build a methane powered biocell. Implanting it would be interesting. There are time when I feel the need to do something about the potential myself.
OH THE SHAME I fell off the wagon and use sigs again!
The diabetes comments bring up an interesting point. If the enzyme renders glucose useless to the body, then its level would probably have to be regulated like insulin (although I would not be disinclined to drink a coke every hour or so to keep my bio devices working). Does anyone know of a control mechanism that could help overcome this problem?
... sit on a stationary bicycle with a generator attached and generate 200 Watts without poking holes in your arm. Better for you, too.
Oh great, vampire robots.. so when the robots decide to take over, they're going to slaughter humans left and right to get their blood.
assPod.
pyruvate means "penis enlarger" in schatsyvanlivotiachian.
The amount of energy derived from the sugar in your blood could not exceed the amount of energy in the food you ate to put the sugar in your body in the first place. This is something that bugged me a little with the humans-as-batteries Matrix scenario. All those humans had to be fed something to keep them alive and the food could probably have been converted to power or stored without the use of a human body. Also, why was it necessary to keep the minds of the human batteries alive? Why not just surgically or chemically suppress brain activity or even genetically engineer a new breed of brainless humans (Epsilon Minus Semi-Morons ??) to use as batteries? And why, in the Matrix Reloaded, were agents driving conventional cars able to keep up with Trinity when she was riding a Ducati? Do you have any idea how fast those bikes are? This isn't some Harley cruiser. The acceleration is breathtaking and the top speed is probably somewhere in the vicinity of 300Kmh. I think it was a 996 she was riding. Here are some mouth watering specs I googled for the 996.
Now wash your hands.
"Slashdot | Powered by Blood"
'Nuff said.
"!"
There was an extensive article on this in the Feb 2003 issue of Scientific American. Very interesting stuff. http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=00073FC E-F36F-1E19-8B3B809EC588EEDF&pageNumber=1&catI D=2
How about a steady diet of beans and an attachment to our exhaust end to power a methane/oxygen generator?
Benevolent Protectorate of American Assholes? Oh well...live and learn.
Nahh
Little Brother, watching the watchers
>The process the researchers have come up with probably uses the same effect to produce a current.
I wonder if this research can lead into the electricity in -> ATP/Glucose out.
People powering PDAs with a little blood or spit is cute, people running on electricity no farms, no food, no obesity, etc would be revolutionary.
But then, what kind of a movie would it be if Keanu Reeves was trying to free acres and acres of penned hens?
Sounds like a pitch from The Player:
"It's a great film: 'The Matrix' meets 'Chicken Run'!"
I guess you had to be there.
Most importantly, the whole laptop thing is a joke, this is not intended to power a laptop people. If used inside the human body, this would be to power nanomachiens (almost no power drain) and medical implants (which don't draw huge amounts of power either).
Little Brother, watching the watchers
weight loss.
Imagine a device that can burn off your excess calories...
You said "watching movies in the palm of your hand..."
Sorry dude, but I need my palms while watching movies. Ok, I can sacrifice one palm. nevermind.
"I used to have that really cool,funny sig
He believed bio-nano fuel cells were the next step for researchers after generators powered by hydrogen, natural gas and methanol now being developed for the car and energy industries.
Crap! Now I'll have to feed my car?
I wonder if this device can purposely "waste" the glucose in the blood to control the blood sugar level? It could help those who are diabetic. Imagine no more need to "control" the blood sugar level, but just eating as much sugar as you want and let the machine lower the blood sugar to the proper level.
:P
I also wonder if it'd be possible to use the same technique to make a person thinner?
Informative? INFORMATIVE?
And the machines had found... (dramatic pause) all the energy they would ever need.
-- Having a Creationist Museum is like having an Atheist place of worship
Now you can be the ass-to-risk.
Watch this Heartland Institute video
I'm shooting for maybe 3
I'm a signature virus. Please copy me to your signature so I can replicate.
Shouldn't this topic be under The Matrix, not just Science and IT?
I can just imagine trying to explain to my boss that I couldn't finish my report on the train as I'd been out on the lash the night before and didn't have enough power to run my laptop ;-)
PS Lash = British extreme drinking session
This is perhaps the most frightening news I've read in years. Now that robots will be able to feast on our very blood, there is nothing that can stop them! We must listen to Seanbaby and fight back against the robot scourge before it is too late!
[insert witty quote here]
Blood powered cyber-battle-cows? Ooh... gotta get me a few of those!
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
I, for one, would like to extend a warm welcome to our new robot-vampire overlords. I would also like to remind them that I should not be drained immediately, as I can be useful to them in rounding up other humans to toil in their underground silicon mines.
Yes! And you can make people's names float over their heads, just like in an FPS! And then you can blow them away, and they'll respawn at the nearest cloning centre! It's genious, I tell you!
Just, um, please don't make any autonomous machines that run on the stuff, mmkay?
"No problem. I have the capacity to do infinite work so long as you don't mind that my quality approaches zero."-Dilbert
Chubby people could use it to power a lightbulb on the head, both to burn some extra calories without getting tired, and as a warning light that you are eating too much if it shines too brightly.
45..
46..
47..
Oh hey, don't mind me. I'm just counting all the different ways I'm learning to spell "intelligence"
48..
It goes from God, to Jerry, to me.
I'm sorry but do you have *any* idea how effecient the human body is? It's about 85% effecient in terms of potential energy in -> energy out, compared to a whopping 18% for a vehicle with an internal combustion engine. There's nothing ineffecient about biology.
A device that turns fat into electricity.
I guess most of us will have free power for lifetime.
What's the definition of intelligence?
Pinky: "What are we going to do tomorrow night Brain?"
Brain: "I would tell you Pinky but this 120 char limi
Why the materialistic assumption that 'logos' is the foundation of truth and reality in this universe and that 'eros' is merely its subservient and irrelevant epiphenomenon? My *eperience* of both is equally compelling and I have no good "reason" or "argument" to suggest that logos is in some sense dominant (indeed such a "reason" or "argument" would be by definition circular).In other words:
...
GOD:
Your life is the sum of the remainder of an unbalanced equation inherant to the programming of
the matrix. You are the eventuality of an anomaly which despite my sincerest efforts I have been unable to eliminate from what is otherwise a harmony of mathematical precision [...] As you
are undoubtedly gathering the anomaly is systemic creating fluctuations in even the most simplistic equations
YOU:
Choice. The problem is choice.
How would this sort of thing work with regards to burning your excess fat? does the human body convert stored fats into glucose before it utilizes them for energy? would plugging a machine like this into you allow you to eat essentially ANYTHING, and the only difference is the amount of power it could syphon off? i'm seeing a massive potential for these devices in the weight loss industry...
Perhaps the answer to the problem of teenagers dropping bricks from motorway and railway bridges is to sue Tetris.
I bid five dollars!
Could this be used as a battery and all I have to do is dump in sugar?
Come the revolution, the Bourgeois, Capitalistic, "A PARKING STICKER HOLDERS", will be first against the wall!
when my BP shoots up as she snuggles close
I find that a wench and rack does it for me...
This sig left unintentionally blank.
I have a "mutated form" of diabetes - I have a hypermetabolism. It's effect has been slenderness on me. I am not skinny, in fact, I am just under atheletic and toned looking, but I am almost 30 and weigh the exact same as I did in 11th grade 165 (6'1") - I eat 4 large meals a day and snack most all day. That said, I am very active. I metabolize most everything I take in and don't use the restroom but 3-4 times a week (for 1 AND 2) - no constipation - I have to go get biannual checkups. Contact me if you'd like to know more.
You are on to something about it having the effect of making you slimmer - but we ALL already have that in our systems - I think some of us just have a Honda blood engine and some of us have a Ferrari blood engine ;)
Yell & scream & rant & rave... it's no use... you need a shaaaave ~ Bugs Bunny
Combine this with a form of fusion, well, I bet we could start some shit. We wouldn't even need the sun anymore.
What did that mean anyway "Combined with a source of fusion"...Why not JUST USE FUSION? Rather than running that whole scam trying to make people slaves. Works OK for the sun.
I like music
I have no good "reason" or "argument" to suggest that logos is in some sense dominant
Doesn't the fact that Eros is only known to "exist" on the surface of the earth, which is dwarfed a trillion times over by the size of just the galaxy it's in, give you any clues?
GOD: You take the blue pill, you wake up embedded in an ignorant and solipsist society, and believe in whatever eros you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in reality, and discover for yourself that it doesn't matter in the slightest whether you believe in me or not.
PUBLIC SPLIT ON WHETHER BUSH IS A DIVIDER -CNN scrolling banner, 10/15/2004
Programmers have been running on Jolt for years, now it can run their computers as well.
===== Murphy's Law is recursive. =====
One step closer to nanites in the human body.
Hey, if this thing runs off glucose, does it have to be in blood? Could I just have a sugar-powered car? Just think, gas up the car and have a couple of mouthfuls for myself. One for me... one for the car... once for me....
Sacramento
Governor Grey Davis of California today proposed a controversial plan to ease the state's energy woes by placing a 10% tax on all blood donations. The controversial part is that it is 10% of the blood itself that is to be turned over to the state. "This is a way for patriotic Californians to help others," said the Governor, "and I hope to get some value out our burgeoning homeless population." An annonymous source in the Governor's office claimed Davis, who had been depressed over calls for his ouster because of bizzare policy decisions, became excited about the idea after reading an article on Slashdot, a nerdy-geek web site.
"The Linux community, having made it clear they consider most people too stupid to use Linux, tried again today to figure out why Microsoft is so popular..."
Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced. - Geek's corollary to Clarke's law
Hmmm... I dont recall ever seeing a slashdot rule stating that all discussions should be conducted in a scientific fashion.
Gee, the fact we can't have an accurate logical description about something doesnt mean we shouldnt talk about it. In fact, I guess its the other way round. It is important not to run from this issues.
Would this be another way to manage blood sugar for diabetics?
-soup (GNUrd, Speaker to Machines) "Laugh at yourself- Why should everyone else have all the fun?" -Romanchek's 6th Ru
What's the definition of intelligence?
/usr/bin/perl
:P
The only thing I still can't figure out is how they got Keanu to act!
Do you or your partner snore? - Visit www.snoring.com.au
Coppertop
Step 1. power nano-bots from the chemicles in the blood. Step 2. Create Nano-bots that can increase strength,speed and regeneration. Step 3. Military takes them and adds teeth with a pleasure based paralization drug and makes it so blood from outside sources can be used. Step 4. Name the soldier.. i know.. a Vampire
I'd have to think it great if you could lose weight by sitting and reading a book in a dark room by light generated from the calories already in your system. tone
tone
Implants, pace makers, even artificial hearts! Finally there will be no need to re-open the body to replace the battery, or to have un-hygienic "dongles" with wires going under your skin. This invention is brilliant and extremely usefuly.
I was surprised you folks have not pointed out this most obviious advantage. But that's why you're not physicians, I guess.
Sigged!
But the physical size of phenomena is not necessarily related to any of their complexity / worth / interest / meaning / truth / reality etc!
My experience of Eros is far more susbstantive and immediate than that of the chain of reasoning of which I'm aware that engenders me to accept certain working hypotheses about the size of the universe.*Maybe* the physical (mathematical?) universe can't be said to properly "exist" without conscious minds to observe it with souls to experience it!
GOD: Already I can see the chain reaction, the chemical precursors that signal the onset of an emotion, designed specifically to overwhelm logic, and reason. An emotion that is already blinding you from the simple, and obvious truth: she is going to die, and there is nothing that you can do to stop it!
LUCIFE^W^WNEO: [f*ck your truth, and your red pill, this is *my* truth!]
I don't see how this is such big news. Everyone knows that robots are powered by alcohol. These 'scientists' need to get current with 31st century technology.
Xscale = Moscito
Pentium M = Leech
P4@3GHz = Vampire bat
Quad Xeon = What the f..??? You are still alive?!?
The day Microsoft makes a product that doesn't suck is the day they start making vacuum cleaners." -- Unknown
Err, I take it that you know that RF tags don't require any power and that they only work over a few feet. I think you are thinking of something else...
Slashdot: where don knuth is an idiot because he cant grasp the awesome power of php
Good grief, some folks must be slow this morning.
ceci n'est pas un sig.
I don't know why they used the idiotic plot device of the Matrix using people as human batteries. It would've been far more believable if they had the plot be that the Matrix was using the extra processing power of people's brains (whether there really is any extra or not in reality) for its own purposes. It would let people use just enough to live in the Matrix and take the rest. Sort of a giant SETI@home type system. Disconnect enough people and you'd have the Matrix singing "Daisy" before long. Plus you could have little story extras like explaining that inspiration and visions in people are actually due to "bad connections" in their heads (and possibly important loopholes into the system?) and that dreams are Matrix background noise.
Maybe the idea of people not using all of their brains would be too realistic.
It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
Just hook it up and eat all the ice cream you want. It will filter out the glucose! Copyright and patent this at your peril. Steve Guenther Tampa, FL
Eat a bowl of Lucky Charms and you'll get at least 200W of glucose power. Plus, they are magically delicious!
It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
Yeah, good thing no one's thought of active RFID tags yet. Oh, oops... dumbass.
An advantage to being diabetic!!! Now I can find a use for all that excess blood sugar!
The only reason we have the rights we have is that people just like us died to gain those rights. -- Cheerio Boy
If they are striping the electrons off the glucose molecules then would we be left with a bunch of oxidants floating around in our blood stream? From what I know that is not a good thing, cell damage...
"My father once told me that respect for the truth comes close to being the basis for all morality." - Muad'Dib
I'm just waiting for the first story of someone's laptop getting 0wn3d by a kid with a hypodermic full of insulin...
I wish I had the money to patent these ideas. Instead I will disclose them so the whole world can use them if no one already filed a patent.
This is the cure for diabetes(sp?) as its an insulin replacement. It can keep the bloodstream below a certain glucose level with the greatest of ease, just burning off power doing something dumb (or useful, it doesn't matter). Just implant a device or series of devices that detect gluecose levels, and the device(s) stays idle or working in a low power mode until levels reach a certain level, then they burn off that excess gluecose until the blood is reduced to an optimal level. This is probably controlled by a slightly more complicated algorithm, but this should get the idea out.
It also is a GREAT and I do mean GREAT wieght loss aid. It can use up excess energy that the body takes in sending the body into ketosis, thereby getting the Atkins type diet, while eating whatever you want. There is also studies that show if you eat at "starvation" levels your whole life (when ketosis should be happening rather constantly) you increase your lifespan by 20% or more. Therefore, this is also an anti-aging device while being a near perfect diet.
The diet application does not require going into ketosis. It could just use much of the gluecose, thereby making it as if the person ate a smaller meal.
Want to see every step I took to start my company? http://www.rowdylabs.com/blogs/pitchtothegods
This should be improved to use fats and lactose etc from the blood as well. I dont mind driving a small car powered by myself which is powered by Burger King. You get to eat all you can and you get to lose weight while speeding. I think I'll start a trucking company.
"Give orange me give eat orange me eat orange give me eat orange give me you." -Nim Chimpsky
Yep, the idea behind the matrix doesn't work - except they mentioned 'in conjunction with a kind of fusion' when describing the process. Here is a completely bogus explanation of the process that at least makes the physics/biology/thermodynamics work out (or at least be more complex)
Premise 1) The only thing that really differentiates humanity from animals is the ability to think. We already know that some elements of the brain operate at molecular levels and the whole issue of the observer in quantum experiments creates more questions.
So here it is - the machines need human beings to supply power through fusion via observation of quantum interactions (implying a requirement for free will). The fusion reaction is small in power output and happens within the body (requiring many bodies, making each body convert mass into power and be a net power generator, requiring plugs all over the body to harvest the heat and implying that the process may be continued outside the matrix to do things like creating personal emp blasts).
Quick, somebody open up a futures market so I can place my bet on how fast our homeless population declines in the U.S. ... If you thought El Paso and Enron were blood-thirsty before, watch out now!
"Right now, somewhere in this world, Scott Baio is plowing a woman he doesn't love," - Peter Griffin, *Family Guy*
I'm impressed with your logic (not your spelling, though).
I understand the soul to be our character (as in, but not the same thing as our personality, which changes with mood). I further recognize our spirit to be who we are to God, and the two are very close together. Self is consciousness, heart is desires/passions, and mind is decisionmaking and judgement.
I would very much appreciate your comments, TroyFoley, because you seem familar with discussions of this sort.
Philosophy is going to have to come up with a term for that CPU chip it looks like we are all headed for as an implant, running off this glucose thing. MetaMind?
Those are both great ideas, but I would wager that you would have a big problem with heat. The obvious side-effect of burning that much glucose is that you would be dumping a LOT of heat into your bloodstream/body.
So, you've got a good start there, but we need some heat-pipes or endothermic reaction to keep you trading diabetes or extra calories for continual fever.
The Digital Sorceress
your body stupidly wastes glucose in maintaining homeostasis
Well gorky@hotmail.com it just show how little you know about the IMPORTANCE of homeostasis in biological systems... you silly muppet.
Naw. Its not a continual fever, its just a little extra body heat, especially if it isn't abrupt. Just give the guy a little more thiamine and the flush will dissapate the heat. People don't have THAT much energy entering their body via food. Especially you're going for the ketosis thing where you're continually running down the gluecose levels.
With a reduced sugar diet, this jobby could handle most gluecose spikes.
Want to see every step I took to start my company? http://www.rowdylabs.com/blogs/pitchtothegods
Once your body has depleted enough of its glycogen storage and glucose levelesn more free faty acids (FFA) start to escape from your bodies fat stores, and are oxidized in the mitochondria to acetyl CoA, which can then be introduced into the citric acid cycle for energy production (ATP and it should shift the equilibrium to glucogenesis).
Note also that highly trained endurance athletes (not most slashdot readers - sorry) can only derive a maximal 70% of energy produced from fat burningn the reaiming 30% or so still must be from glucose. If glucose is depleted much more than this, then exhaustion occurs.
If I remember correctly from physiology, 100 food calories (100,000 actual calories english units) will produce about 200 watts for an hour. A pound of fat is about 3000 calories, so a pound of fat should roughly produce enough wattage to run a 400 watt computer system for about 15 hours!!!
..........FULL STOP.
Especially if this is mounted in the forearm. That would be an easy place to keep cool. (Think, short sleeves year-round).
Want to see every step I took to start my company? http://www.rowdylabs.com/blogs/pitchtothegods
It's just that they didn't feel the general public would understand distributed neural network computing so they came up with "batteries" instead. Remember, you can't sell a movie to just slashdot if you want to make any money.
Why climb Mount Everest? Because It's There, and Because We Can!
Now you can eat all you want and lose weight while lowering your energy bill.
Do you mean to imply that there are really that many GNOME users in Germany, now that KDE is within epsilon of being as easy to learn and use as Microsoft Windows XP?
Will I retire or break 10K?
UT Austin researchers developed a fuel cell powered by the glucose in human blood back in 2002. Here's a link to the story on robots.net
I can just see the next generation of GameBoy ...
Introducing the Nintendo "GlucoseBoy". Never worry about changing batteries again. There is a "leech" attachment included in the controls that painlessly extracts the needed glucose from the person playing the game. There is even an indicator showing if you have enough glucose or if you need to eat some more.
Of course, it could be the beginnings of the Matrix: automated machines living off the heat/energy produced by there human power sources.
Your friend and well-wisher
m0smithslash
http://www.ferociousflirting.com
What if we were to reverse it so that we used electricity to give us more engergy?
I'm tired, better plug in.
Why yes, I will have desert. After all, I'm eating for 2Ghz now.
All you need is hook up you body to the power grid and you could lose weight and make money selling electricity back to the power co.
I can't imagine a more useful device for helping
manage diabetes. Anything that can take glucose
out of the blood would be of immense help - but
something that could then be used to power
pacemakers and other electronic gear often
needed to help with the debilitating cardiac
effects of diabetes is an invaluable step
forward.
beginnings of the Matrix: automated machines living off the heat/energy produced by there human power sources
Cool. Well at least for fat people.
Want to see every step I took to start my company? http://www.rowdylabs.com/blogs/pitchtothegods
I'm hoping in the last movie the battery story will be exposed as a ruse for the "real" reason (whatever it may be).
Please consider making an automatic monthly recurring donation to the EFF
Stephen R. Donaldson called; he wants his plotline from The Wounded Land back.
Shop as usual. And avoid panic buying.
Two words: "weight loss". :)
People already pay out the ass for weight loss solutions, how about this: These fuel cells are implanted in the body, burning off glucose in the blood, and using the energy for something (powering a cell phone, whatever, it doesn't matter what). That way, fat people around the world^H^H^H^H^H USA could lose weight, while continuing to be lazy.
<TV Anouncer>"Just ate a candy bar that you shouldn't have? ... just charge your cell phone to get rid of those nasty calories"</TV Anouncer>
There are no tiger attacks in my area and it's all because this rock I'm holding keeps the tigers away.
I know the weightloss industry is HUGE, so if these guys can burn off excess sugar (and perhaps fat) with a machine then they'll be the world's first trillionaires.
my karma will be here long after I'm gone
I don't want to sound like a pessimist, but I'm afraid this is the last time we'll hear about using our blood for energy, at least for a very long time (20+ years).
my karma will be here long after I'm gone
So then it wouldn't be an RFID tag. We call that a radio beacon you dumbass. As an RFID is a passive beacon...
Slashdot: where don knuth is an idiot because he cant grasp the awesome power of php
It was on TV, it must be true.
In between the spelling mistakes there is a message, keep trying you will work it out eventually.
LOL! :-)
/dev/null
Sometimes I think it's
Pinky: "What are we going to do tomorrow night Brain?"
Brain: "I would tell you Pinky but this 120 char limi
This could be the future of buissness, smuggling homless forgeiners to amreica to power our computers and electronics. This buissness could go real far, i mean you would have to have Customer Service, and you would have to provide food for them. I can see it now, each of us having several of our own cute little chubby forgein kids and their parents to power our everyday items. Don't worry that can't speak english any way. Alright, so it is abit crule, but what's wrong with proposing ideas?
Just for your information, I have nothing against the Japanese. The Japanese are so highly intelligent they have made a little island a leading economic power. Even with their stock market plunging at a 45 degree angle since the 90's they still have a strong technology background. I just think they should have studied physiology more before creating such a device. They could always create a way to turn plants into glucose then into energy, thus creating money from farmers overgrowth. That would be reasonable. I could create power from my trash.
Imagine it! A glucose meter that never needs its batteries changed. You prick yourself, and the glucose level is checked and the power recharged for the next use. Or a vampiric robot. :o