Unknown Error In The Submission
by
the_mad_poster
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
Oh goody. Now all the uninformed environmental saviours of humanity can all hear the word "nu-cu-lar" and start jumping up and down and spasming.
I can't wait until this comes out. I'd be afraid to push the technology for fear that some moron would try to regulate it into oblivion or ban it outright just because it uses a nuclear energy source.
Never mind the incredible jump in effeciency to reduce used landfill space. Never mind the chemicals that are in current solutions, what with the fact that they're highly dangerous and all. This is NUCLEAR people! Fear it!
Maybe I'm just being pessimistic... but I fear that legitimate, useful technologies like this will be blown away by wannabe "do gooders" before they get a chance to really prove just how much better a solution they are both environmentally and economically.
-- Alito: A vote for Alito is a punch in the eye to put that bitch back in her place!
Re:Unknown Error In The Submission
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 5, Informative
Yup, you're right. If you even read the article, it says that the thin layer of dead skin on your body is enough shielding.
The emitted particles only travel 25 micrometers (!) once they hit humans.
They just need a good PR department to call it something benign. Maybe PATRIOT batteries?
Re:Unknown Error In The Submission
by
nocomment
·
· Score: 5, Funny
just think you can power your iPod with a nuclear battery, and listen to it with all FOUR of your newly formed ears! Portable 3-d stereo baby!;-)
-- /* oops I accidentally made a comment, sorry */ /* http://allyourbasearebelongto.us */
Is that a nuclear meltdown in your pocket?
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 5, Funny
Yet another thing to lower my dwindling sperm count! Awesome!
Thanks, Energizer, for the Full Cavity Body Search
by
ThatsNotFunny
·
· Score: 5, Funny
You thought you had problems going through airport security before!
-- "Was it a millionaire who said 'Imagine No Posessions?'" -- Elvis Costello
Well I'll be damned
by
AKAImBatman
·
· Score: 5, Informative
I've been harping on the idea of using nuclear batteries in cell phones and laptops for the past year or so. To date I've been called a variety of names for it, the least of which is "crazy". Yet here we are. Researchers are SERIOUSLY talking about using radioisotopes as power sources!
In case anyone is wondering how these work, the idea is that the radiation from a small amount of radioactive material (NOT fissable material!) is captured and converted into electricity or other forms of energy. There is very little radiation emitted by these devices, because the radiation IS the power! Letting it escape would be poor economy.
NASA has used these sorts of devices in spacecraft for 40+ years, starting with the Apollo missions. NASA's earlier designs produced about 75 watts utilizing a few pounds of Plutonium-238. Pu-238 was an excellent choice because it is useless for bombs, and has a short half-life (~80 years). With the public finally calming down about nuclear technology, NASA is now developing a more efficient device called an SRG. These devices get about 55 Watts per 600 grams of PU-238. This is way more efficient than current RTGs, like the ones used on Apollo.
The primary downsides to Nuclear Batteries is that they are expensive and they don't scale. They are expensive because the nuclear materials are very rare and expensive to process. If we started using these materials in massive quantities, it's a certainty that the prices would drop. They are not scalable, because the amount of materials required means that a few hundred watts is the largest device one could construct with a reasonable size, weight, and expense.
As for anyone who's worried about dirty bombs, I suggest you read this and this. The threat has been greatly overstated, and is actually less effective than a regular bomb. The real problem is the issue of keeping the materials out of landfills. Even today, there's a big problem with Lead, Cadium, and other dangerous materials ending up in landfills. Radioisotopes wouldn't be much worse, but there is an upper limit on how much you want to add to the sub-soil.
Re:Well I'll be damned
by
AKAImBatman
·
· Score: 5, Informative
In all seriousness, there are larger RTGs. The Cassini probe started off with a few kilowatts of power at its disposal. Over time that has dropped, but the probe still has a significant amount of power to pull from. According to Wikipedia, the craft will still be producing ~628 watts at the end of its 11 year mission.
I nominate this story for shortest posted news item on/.
Re:but...
by
AKAImBatman
·
· Score: 5, Informative
What happens when they blow up?
They're not explosive. Most nuclear batteries use a radioisotope that's already "burned". i.e. Pu-238 oxide is used in RTGs so that there's no chance of it burning. It still emits plenty of radiation once it's chemically stable, so the only thing you have to worry about are rednecks who think it's funny to melt down the batteries and mix them with paint for glow-in-the-dark wallpaper. Even then, I rather doubt it will have much effect on them.
Authorities in Chicago, Illinois have ordered the evacuation of the north shore after an iPod meltdown.
-- But God demonstrates his love for us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us - (Romans 5:8)
Not radioactively powered but a trickle charge
by
planckscale
·
· Score: 5, Funny
It looks like this mostly a development into boosting the charge of an otherwise ordinary Li battery. If it keeps my cell battery charged for over a month as opposed to every 4 days than I could care less if my ear mutates into a chicken wing.
" Once these challenges are overcome, a promising use for nuclear microbatteries would be in handheld devices like cellphones and PDAs. As mentioned above, the nuclear units could trickle charge into conventional batteries. Our one-cantilever system generated pulses with a peak power of 100 milliwatts; with many more cantilevers, and by using the energy of pulses over periods of hours, a nuclear battery would be able to inject a significant amount of current into the handheld's battery.
How much that current could increase the device's operation time depends on many factors. For a cellphone used for hours every day or for a power-hungry PDA, the nuclear energy boost won't help much. But for a cellphone used two or three times a day for a few minutes, it could mean the difference between recharging the phone every week or so and recharging it once a month."
-- Namaste
Re:"My Child Swallowed WHAT?" (a rant 8-)
by
topynate
·
· Score: 5, Informative
Google for thermeonics. Two entires.
Spell it right - thermionics. You get over 5K. And if you add up the results for googling different sub-fields I bet you get way more.
Throwing Bricks...
by
TiggertheMad
·
· Score: 5, Funny
NEWS CAMERA FOCUSES ON GROUP OF BEARDED MEN WEARING DIRTY CAMOFLAGE JUMPSUITS. THEY ARE STANDING BEYOUND A FENCE AT THE END OF AN AIRPORT RUNWAY.
REPORTER: Thanks, Dan. I am here at the end of runway 4, where we are seeing a shift in Al-Queda's tactics today. They seem to be employing some sort of revolutionary new tactic...
CAMERA SHOWS A TERRORIST HEAVE A BRICK IN THE AIR AS A JET TAKES OFF, ROARING OVERHEAD. THE BRICK FLYS ABOUT 20 FEET UP, BEFORE FALLING TO THE GROUND NEXT TO THE VISIBLY UPSET TERRORIST.
Reporter: Back to you, Dan.
--
HA! I just wasted some of your bandwidth with a frivolous sig!
Doc, all we need is some plutonium...
by
MagicDude
·
· Score: 5, Funny
I'm sure in 1985, plutonium is available at every corner drugstore, but in 1955 it's a little hard to come by!
First observation of electron decay
by
Cardbox
·
· Score: 5, Funny
Hidden away in the article is a discovery that will revolutionize our understanding of particle physics and cosmology:
Nickel-63 is ideal for this application because its emitted beta particles travel a maximum of 21 micrometres in silicon before disintegrating
This must imply that there exists a lighter lepton than the electron. Goodbye, Standard Model!
Slashdot Mirror
Oh goody. Now all the uninformed environmental saviours of humanity can all hear the word "nu-cu-lar" and start jumping up and down and spasming.
I can't wait until this comes out. I'd be afraid to push the technology for fear that some moron would try to regulate it into oblivion or ban it outright just because it uses a nuclear energy source.
Never mind the incredible jump in effeciency to reduce used landfill space. Never mind the chemicals that are in current solutions, what with the fact that they're highly dangerous and all. This is NUCLEAR people! Fear it!
Maybe I'm just being pessimistic... but I fear that legitimate, useful technologies like this will be blown away by wannabe "do gooders" before they get a chance to really prove just how much better a solution they are both environmentally and economically.
Alito: A vote for Alito is a punch in the eye to put that bitch back in her place!
Or are you just happy to see me?
Imagine going to the store to buy some new Plutonium-Cadmium batteries?
Yet another thing to lower my dwindling sperm count! Awesome!
You thought you had problems going through airport security before!
"Was it a millionaire who said 'Imagine No Posessions?'" -- Elvis Costello
I've been harping on the idea of using nuclear batteries in cell phones and laptops for the past year or so. To date I've been called a variety of names for it, the least of which is "crazy". Yet here we are. Researchers are SERIOUSLY talking about using radioisotopes as power sources!
In case anyone is wondering how these work, the idea is that the radiation from a small amount of radioactive material (NOT fissable material!) is captured and converted into electricity or other forms of energy. There is very little radiation emitted by these devices, because the radiation IS the power! Letting it escape would be poor economy.
NASA has used these sorts of devices in spacecraft for 40+ years, starting with the Apollo missions. NASA's earlier designs produced about 75 watts utilizing a few pounds of Plutonium-238. Pu-238 was an excellent choice because it is useless for bombs, and has a short half-life (~80 years). With the public finally calming down about nuclear technology, NASA is now developing a more efficient device called an SRG. These devices get about 55 Watts per 600 grams of PU-238. This is way more efficient than current RTGs, like the ones used on Apollo.
The primary downsides to Nuclear Batteries is that they are expensive and they don't scale. They are expensive because the nuclear materials are very rare and expensive to process. If we started using these materials in massive quantities, it's a certainty that the prices would drop. They are not scalable, because the amount of materials required means that a few hundred watts is the largest device one could construct with a reasonable size, weight, and expense.
As for anyone who's worried about dirty bombs, I suggest you read this and this. The threat has been greatly overstated, and is actually less effective than a regular bomb. The real problem is the issue of keeping the materials out of landfills. Even today, there's a big problem with Lead, Cadium, and other dangerous materials ending up in landfills. Radioisotopes wouldn't be much worse, but there is an upper limit on how much you want to add to the sub-soil.
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
I nominate this story for shortest posted news item on /.
What happens when they blow up?
They're not explosive. Most nuclear batteries use a radioisotope that's already "burned". i.e. Pu-238 oxide is used in RTGs so that there's no chance of it burning. It still emits plenty of radiation once it's chemically stable, so the only thing you have to worry about are rednecks who think it's funny to melt down the batteries and mix them with paint for glow-in-the-dark wallpaper. Even then, I rather doubt it will have much effect on them.
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
For all the good a few millicuries of Ni63 or tirtium would do, Mr. Terrorist would be better off buying bricks and throwing them at his target.
How does the Slashdot Effect happen given that no slashdotters ever RTFA?
Authorities in Chicago, Illinois have ordered the evacuation of the north shore after an iPod meltdown.
But God demonstrates his love for us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us - (Romans 5:8)
" Once these challenges are overcome, a promising use for nuclear microbatteries would be in handheld devices like cellphones and PDAs. As mentioned above, the nuclear units could trickle charge into conventional batteries. Our one-cantilever system generated pulses with a peak power of 100 milliwatts; with many more cantilevers, and by using the energy of pulses over periods of hours, a nuclear battery would be able to inject a significant amount of current into the handheld's battery.
How much that current could increase the device's operation time depends on many factors. For a cellphone used for hours every day or for a power-hungry PDA, the nuclear energy boost won't help much. But for a cellphone used two or three times a day for a few minutes, it could mean the difference between recharging the phone every week or so and recharging it once a month."
Namaste
NEWS CAMERA FOCUSES ON GROUP OF BEARDED MEN WEARING DIRTY CAMOFLAGE JUMPSUITS. THEY ARE STANDING BEYOUND A FENCE AT THE END OF AN AIRPORT RUNWAY.
REPORTER: Thanks, Dan. I am here at the end of runway 4, where we are seeing a shift in Al-Queda's tactics today. They seem to be employing some sort of revolutionary new tactic...
CAMERA SHOWS A TERRORIST HEAVE A BRICK IN THE AIR AS A JET TAKES OFF, ROARING OVERHEAD. THE BRICK FLYS ABOUT 20 FEET UP, BEFORE FALLING TO THE GROUND NEXT TO THE VISIBLY UPSET TERRORIST.
Reporter: Back to you, Dan.
HA! I just wasted some of your bandwidth with a frivolous sig!
I'm sure in 1985, plutonium is available at every corner drugstore, but in 1955 it's a little hard to come by!
Hidden away in the article is a discovery that will revolutionize our understanding of particle physics and cosmology:
This must imply that there exists a lighter lepton than the electron. Goodbye, Standard Model!