Spinach May Soon Power Mobile Devices

neutron_p writes "For the first time, MIT researchers have incorporated a plant's ability to convert sunlight to energy into a solid-state electronic "spinach sandwich" device that may one day power laptops and cell phones."

Comments

Well Blow Me Down!

[ackthpt]

Spinach?!? I knew it powered Popeye, so it must be good.

I wonder why they don't use Algae, seems that stuff works extremely well and multiplies fast to prove the point

"Dude, your laptop smells like a swamp!"

Re:Well Blow Me Down!

[revscat]

Spoken like someone who hasn't seen or considered the damage done to families and the economy by locking away and destroying the lives of thousands upon thousands upon thousands of people whose crime is nothing more than possessing a socially unacceptable drug. The very real, very destructive consequences of marijuana prohibition far outweigh any harm that would occur from legalization.

And for the record, I have indeed done volunteer work with drug addicts. Many of them were no more "addicts" than Bugs Bunny, but due to overly harsh sentencing requirements were forced to go there, taking the place of those with far more serious problems. My time with those people convinced me more than ever that it should be legalized as soon as possible.

Oh, and should you consider throwing the "please think of the children" meme into the mix, you should know that I am the proud father of three.

Re:Dupe... *sigh*

[underpar]

Except this time we can all make popeye jokes. That was lacking in the original.

Re:While I am sure

[stratjakt]

If they were motivated by a Nobel prize, or lofty humanitarian goals, the article would read how this invention would help solve the energy crisis, save the environment, cure world hunger, etc..

Of course, they're really after investor dollars. So it's about neat-o stuff for your iPod. Ending homelessness simply has a poor ROI.

I don't know...

[SatanicPuppy]

I mean, if this thing is daylight only, as, of course, it must be, since it's converting sunlight to energy, then there will be room for a solid state vegetable sandwich of darkness!

Really, what kind of techie is going to go out into the SUN to use his electronics? Do they know their market at all?

Wonder how it compares in efficiency/durability with a modern solar cell? High efficiency solid state would be damn useful there.

Re:While I am sure

[drwho]

.. that this warrants further investigation, really, can we work on a scientific way to end homelessness or something as opposed to using Spinach to power your cell phone.

What an incredibly lame P.C. response to progress. Homelessness is a socio-economic problem, not a scientific one. This same sort of complaint against sciencse/technology has often been heard before, as arguments against the Internet and space exploration. But I never thought I'd hear it on Slashdot. I guess the invasion of the load and clueless is continuing on schedule.

Yeah, maybe I'll loose some karma points here, but I just can't let this sort of whiney idiocy go by without yelling.

Spin it differently

[AllenChristopher]

It's possible to make *any* achievement sound trivial by choosing the right words. You call this "using Spinach to power your cell phone" because you're just reading the summary.

Consider that conventional solar cells are among the most toxic devices now made and you've got a new way to avoid dumping horrible chemicals into the environment, a sustainable way to have solar power, and spin-offs of the knowledge to more efficiently reclamate CO2 pollutiona t the production site. How does "the survival of humans on earth" stack up to "ending homelessness"?

Of course, the ways to end homelessness in the long run are drug treatment, education, and job creation. New kinds of cell-phones, and hence more jobs, are the main place you'd use engineers and organic chemists to fix homelessness.