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Bacteria Can Build Nanowires

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the everyone's-favorite-buzzword dept.

Roland Piquepaille writes "Researchers at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) have discovered that under certain conditions, some very common bacteria can form nanowires. These bacteria were able to produce nanowires as small as 10 nanometers in diameter, but which can reach hundreds of microns in length. What is interesting here is that these nanowires are electrically conductive ones. This means that bacteria could be used to build microbial fuel cells or bacteria-powered batteries. As one researcher said, 'Earth appears to be hard-wired.'"

5 of 94 comments (clear)

  1. Bob the bacteria by LiquidCoooled · · Score: 4, Funny

    Bob the bacteria.
    Can we build it?
    Yes we can!

    Sorry, not enough caffeine

    --
    liqbase :: faster than paper
  2. What would you clean the wires with? by celardore · · Score: 3, Funny

    If you used any kind of germicide or the like on your wires / kit, you'd be screwed!

  3. Hooray and W00t in order. by rtyall · · Score: 3, Funny

    This could mean we'll all get to have mobile phones that we can barely even see the screen on, because they're so small. Fuck sidekicks, nanobutton phones where it's at.

  4. I knew Douglas Adams was right. by Jsleeman · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Earth appears to be hard-wired." The Earth is a giant super computer and the answer to the Universe is 42!

  5. I wonder by StarfishOne · · Score: 3, Funny

    I wonder if we will ever see companies like Intel and AMD hiring people trained in a biological field. :)

    Pentium, Bacterium.. what's in a name? :D

    Or: the new PetriDish(tm) cpu: bringing multimedia and culture to your desktop! ;P