Bacteria Powered Batteries

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?

Comments

Flux Capacitor

[Anonymous Coward]

Is it on the back of a Delorean?

Re:Flux Capacitor

[T-Kir]

And that little top-up of food generates 1.21Gigawatts, phew! I wouldn't like the idea of Mr. Fusion digesting all the leftovers of Sunday lunch from a large family! :)

Finally....

[dirkdidit]

Now I finally have a use for all that old pizza stacked up in the corner of my room......

Don't count on seeing it in your home anytime soon

[Anonymous Coward]

"A clean green technology? Commie hippie anti-capitalist root-eating sons of socialists!" ::CEO starts having a heart attack::

hmm

[\\]

i wonder what the bastard will smell like.. if it isn't pleasant, might take a while to gain acceptance.

then again, if it smells like garbage, maybe it could attract flies, and maybe the flies could feed it.. ah, that would be funny.

I have the superpower

[squarefish]

to turn leftover food into gas!

Prior Art

[AndroidCat]

I've been running my fridge that way for years now!

Leftovers?

[bo-eric]

Can you run your fridge off what's closest to the back in there?

Using myself to fuel the car

[jukal]

Weight Watchers beware!

Scientists say 50 grammes of sugar would keep a 40-watt light bulb lit for eight hours.

Now, what I will do, is to just connect this liposuction device with me and their innovation, turn my fat into hydrogen and fuel my car. I assume my excess kgs of excess fat will take me to whereever I want. Haha! Here we come McDonald's!

Great for UPS!!!!

[dr.Flake]

Imagine,

a stack of left over pizza suspended by a magnet waiting above "the Pit". when the power drops, the pizza drops.... voila, instant power back-up...

Need more power???, just add pizza.

Could the Colis be outcompeted?

[jeorgen]

Leftovers contain bacteria. What happens if the bacteria in the leftovers outcompete the battery bacteria. Would you need to treat the battery with antibiotics?

/jeorgen

Re:Could the Colis be outcompeted?

[Megane]

What happens if the bacteria in the leftovers outcompete the battery bacteria.

It sure would bring a whole new meaning to the words "dead battery".

Thanks, but I'll wait for Mr Fusion

[chegosaurus]

A colony of e-coli bacteria? Like I don't already have enought of that shit floating round my kitchen.

airline food...

[coreman]

will suddenly be in demand on long flights

Re:picky

[satsuke]

Yes, lets keep our fictional facts straite.

Batteries that poop

[timeOday]

Using such low-density fuel,there will be waste...

Be sure your batteries get plenty of fiber to avoid constipation.

My battery died...

[pcraven]

Now when we say our battery died, we'll mean it literally.

Re:My battery died...

[EvilTwinSkippy]

Lysol is now considered a terrorist substance capable of striking out electricity infrastructure!

Scary.

[cybermace5]

Walk away from the conference table for a few seconds, when you come back there are no doughnuts left! Just a laptop and cell phone sitting there innocently. They'll never tell....

The Matrix is Real

[toofanx]

. . . for the bacteria.

Jolt!

[nherc]

So, that case of Jolt will now keep BOTH you and your laptop going for that all-nighter! Very convenient.

I can see the commercials no

[yoshi1013]

"Just a spoonful of sugar makes the cell phone turn on, the cell phone turn on..."

All I know is

[Multiple Sanchez]

When the bacteria take over, there is gonna be MAJOR payback.

Re:All I know is

[jaf]

Can't believe nobody said it yet, but

I for one welcome our new bacteria overlords..

I can hear the radicals now...

[mblase]

Free the battery bacteria!
No slavery for electricity!
How many Rhodoferax died for your Walkman today?
Single-celled life forms are people too!

Et cetera, et cetera....

HEH!

[CheeseEatingBulldog]

Coffee sweetners become the new unleaded.

Someone tell the Wachowski brothers....

[mblase]

We've now got a solution to the whole Matrix enigma. The machines can just unplug all the humans and harness bacteria instead.

I can imagine the new movie already....

"You are the One-Celled, Neo."
"You bacteria are a disease, a plague on this planet... but I guess you already knew that...."
"Somehow he's found a way to copy himself. 'Mitosis,' I think he called it."

Ok, bacteria aren't yeast, but

[e-gold]

I'm still wondering if this variety of battery would have any ethyl alcohol output...

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

Re:Al-Jazeera

[barryfandango]

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.

Bacterial Matrix

[defishguy]

Somewhere, there is a tiny bacteria named NEO being offered a blue pill.....

Mr. Fusion

[ThenAgain]

One step closer.