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Bacteria Can Build Nanowires
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.'"
bacteria powered accu cells.. I'm not a scientist, But i always heared that bacteria multiply faster in warm en high humidity environments. So how much influance would this have an the power or lifetime? That this might be handy for pacemakers and other 'internal' devices in the human body which need some degree of power. The human body has in theory a stable temperature.
Bob the bacteria.
Can we build it?
Yes we can!
Sorry, not enough caffeine
liqbase
I imagine with machines built by bacteria it would be possible to create a situation where the ideal harware design is evolved - similar to how genetic programming techniques today evolve software solutions. Maybe we'd even learn something new and exciting about hardware design.
Considering how rapidly bacteria tend to evolve, entrusting the production of wires to them may have unforseen and possibly devastating consequences.
Don't Worry!! We can Genetically Engineer(TM) that evolution out of the little critters! Plus We can make them construct the wires, Better, Stronger, Faster!!! No I didn't see Jurassic Park, What's your Point!?!!?
Gene Therapy(TM) is the Future of the Human Race!!!!! Of All Life on Earth!!!11111oneoneeleven
May the Maths Be with you!
I don't see how it's different from using any natural product as a material used to make anything else. Wood, Rubber, Oil - these are all natural products with varying quality from item to item. You need to check each one - quality control. Surely this is exactly the same. Natural Nanowires would have to be tested to make sure they were suitable
I'm no microbiologist, but I suspect that statement is a bit simplistic. Some bacteria are very well known for their ability to resist and repair damage to their DNA, even under very harsh conditions. I guess choosing the right bacteria would be kind of important.
Oh no... it's the future.
If you used any kind of germicide or the like on your wires / kit, you'd be screwed!
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.
Just don't run a virus scan on your laptop power supply.
If you aren't far left by the age of 18 you have no heart. If you aren't far right by 30 you have no brain.
"Earth appears to be hard-wired." The Earth is a giant super computer and the answer to the Universe is 42!
Ms. Coli: Today's lesson is brought to you by the letter "W"
Engineer student: Oh I thought this was Hardware Design 101, not politics.
Surfer: Dude, y'er thinking Dubya. The prof wants to talk about Wire again this semester.
Ms. Coli: Actually, we will be talking about Wire for the next 3.5 million semesters. Today we begin trying to understand why it hurts when the wire comes out.
I wonder if we will ever see companies like Intel and AMD hiring people trained in a biological field. :)
:D
;P
Pentium, Bacterium.. what's in a name?
Or: the new PetriDish(tm) cpu: bringing multimedia and culture to your desktop!
Let's be careful when talking about this tech, as it is a wire-building tech, not a power generation tech. This technology will be able to create the conductive structures needed in those next-gen fuel cells and batteries, but this is not microbial fuel cell technology.
Read a preview of my novel CYBERCHILD at www.smartalix.com/cyberchild