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Kidney Cells Make Implantable Power Source
Galactic_grub writes "New Scientist has an interesting round-up of patents related to green power technology. The ideas mentioned include an implantable power source made from stacks of kidney cells that could drive implanted devices like pacemakers, a chemical way to purifying hydrogen, a buckyball-based filter for methane fuel cells and an organism that turns grass cuttings (and other bio-waste) into ethanol."
1. An apparatus comprising: at least one cell culture chamber wherein live neurons are maintained and grown; and a means for harnessing the thoughts and ideas generated by the live neurons, said means being connected with said neuron culture chamber.
Recalling a time when a working example of the device to be patented had to be presented.
CC.
TaijiQuan (Huang, 5 loosenings)
Green kidneys and stuffed to the eyeballs with grass mulch? No wonder this guy is sick and needs implants. He's lucky he's not dead yet.
Engineering is the art of compromise.
1. An apparatus comprising: at least one cell culture chamber wherein live neurons are maintained and grown; and a means for harnessing the thoughts and ideas generated by the live neurons, said means being connected with said neuron culture chamber, where said thoughts and ideas are used over the internet or in any electronical manner.
The faster we switch ethanol production over to cellulose, the better. It would mean that we're not cannibalizing our food supply to make it, and the cost wouldn't be tied to the rising price of corn.
Making our ethanol out of the leftover waste materials is probably the only way ethanol will ever take off in this country.
Alchemist: Be Thou For the People
NewslilySocial News. No lolcats allowed.
Do they run Linux?
Speedy thing goes in; speedy thing comes out.
will the technologies be developed in time? Or will the fuel crisis win out and send humanity to the brink of doom?
Tune in next week for the thrilling conclusion!
One more reason for them to steal my kidneys if I ever go to Mexico.
Self proclaimed typo king, and inventor of the bear destroying coffee table (patent not pending).
And the phrase "Anonymous Coward" takes on a whole new level of meaning.
Alchemist: Be Thou For the People
Interesting, but this is worth far more badass points at the retirement community.
Lets see what we can deduce about the poster above:
1. not fat, otherwise it would be a very hypocritical post
2. doesn't smoke, so same as #1
3. his parents didn't love him, otherwise he might be less of a dick
4. barely graduated from high school, otherwise he might have a larger vocabulary
5. must I list any more, its this kind of person who's the real "fucktarded" one... jeez i sound dumb just making fun of the use of that non-word
the vast raw power of irrationally ultranegative trolls
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
- We are getting closer and closer to functional AI.
- Humans are a source of energy.
- I will enjoy watching you die, Mr. Anderson
Wait... that's not how it was supposed to happen!Starring Keanu Reeves as the elite-hacker Kidneyo.
Hey, it's a real word if Fake Steve Jobs says so!!!
There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
Just a note about the fullerene filters mentioned in the article, they do not filter methane they filter Methanol specifically they prevent Methanol from diffusing across the memebrane of the fuel cell thus decreasing the amount of Methanol that is wasted.
Sigs are too short to say anything truly profound so read the above post instead.
I immediately perked up at the thought of powering my ICE vehicles with alcohol made from grass clippings... only I live in the Southeast, and we didn't get squat for rainfall this year, so there weren't that many grass clippings. Global warming might mean less rainfall in this region for years, so I'm thinking this isn't going to work out.
Duracell Green is people!
"Batteries is peeeeople!" Sush, Mr. Heston. That's old news. Time for soylent green snack cakes!
So just let the fucktards with the fucking weak genes eat god-damned fucking shit and fucking die...
Another plus of that is there will be no fucking shitdot sheeple to fucking post anymore.
GO AHEAD FUCKING FLAME AWAY OR WASTE YOUR GODDAMNED MODPOINTS FUCKTARDED SHITDOT SHEEPLE!
Translation: "People with medical problems are genetically inferior to members of the master race, like myself, so they should die out. But unfortunately this important fact will never be known, because the other slashdot users all have medical problems and don't want the Truth to be known!"
This troll seems to be new, so your trollfu has been rated on the following categories:
Batshit insanity: +10 trollfu points
Maximum moderation level: 0 (+0 trollfu)
Number of replies: 3 (+3 trollfu)
Number of non-anonymous replies: 1 (+5 trollfu)
Current moderation level: -1 (-1 trollfu)
Chance of post being mistaken for being "informative" or "insightful": none (-100 trollfu)
Final rating: -93
Comments: YUO TROLLING = AWFUL!
To improve your trollfu for next time, why not try disguising your post as a serious point about the healthcare industry? You can basically say the same things, but if you present your claims in the right way, you might trick someone into modding you up. The best trolls don't look like trolls. Try rereading some classics like ATTN: SWITCHEURS and see how they masquerade as real posts.
Summary: Fucktard
someone tell me that these will NOT be manufactured by Sony!
.. well, odd. I don't know how the script will read for the terrorist who goes to the bathroom in first class and triggers his kidney?
Exploding cellphones are only funny on "Will it blend" and MythBusters.
I have no way to describe what exploding implants would be like... but I can see a whole new level of airport security coming. The stunt with the shoes was
oh, and the really really bad sequel to 'Snakes on a Plane' is obviously on the way...
Support NYCountryLawyer RIAA vs People
wonder if they could power an aritifical liver? then you'd have a reason for going for another six-pack.
Prior art.
I had this image of thousands of fat people on tread mills and exercise bikes with generators attached. Then I had an image of liposuction machines sucking fat out of people and sending it to machines to turn it into fuel. Then my imagination started getting weird.
I prefer Flambe as apposed flamebait.
These are all interesting and valuable technologies for extracting and using energy. But of course they all consume some of the energy they help produce and deliver. Making that delivery system less efficient in order to use it at all.
But existing fuels have the same problem. Is there anywhere that shows how much energy is consumed by extracting petroleum from the ground, getting it to a ship or pipeline, refined into products, then across to where it's burned for power? How much gasoline is burned driving to a gas station to fill up? How about the energy required to build and maintain the infrastructure, or even explore for new fields? Some of these losses are small, but they all add up. How about for coal and natural gas?
Once we know the "energy budget" of each kind of energy system, we can actually make sensible choices. Gasoline has some of the highest energy density of any fuel, but its pollution has extremely high energy costs to recover from. Maybe some of these other systems are better net propositions. Or maybe they just look good on TV, until you see all the costs that actually goes into using them.
--
make install -not war
I dunno what thought came to mind first... Mr. Fusion Or Soylent Green for cars.
"Mr. Fusion is PEOPLE!!! you damn DIRTY APES!!"
Hey Fucktard, you also forgot +500 for getting a coveted flamebait moderation by pissing the fucktarded shitdot sheeple off. It just proves how fucking right I am and how fucking stupid you fucktarded shitdot sheeple like you are. All you fucktarded shitdot sheeple need to find a fucking razor, run a fucking hot bath, and slit your fucking wrists fucktards.
GO AHEAD FUCKING FLAME AWAY!
Those 4 pick-of-the-crop patents are no dawn of a new era stuff.
1. The kidney idea seems to be theoretical. As foobsr commented, not a working model.
2. The hydrogen pump is an absorber, so it gets clogged unlike thin platinum tubes.
3. Digesting in a bug soup is standard. One bug instead of many is no miracle.
4. Buckyballs seem to do no more than plug holes. Would any small rigid molecule work.
This seems to be university rubbish ideas. The patentees do not have to survive off their ideas, and probably are doing no more that having a patent on their CV to help with self promotion. The downside is that anyone who can make a related idea work now has them providing fuel to patent trolls.
In computing terms, the computer is to be run electricity from a bank of frog legs. The CPU degrades and the clock speed winds down. The software only runs one language, which is unproven but greatly hyped by the one person who has used it. Debugging is to be done by 1960's code, but the variables are to be given cool new millenium names.
I hope my old age doesn't depend on this level of practical technology .
Especially one as dubiously useful as this.
He suggests that such biobatteries might be ideal for powering devices inserted in the body, such as insulin pumps or pacemakers.
So you're going to give up part of your kidney for a pacemaker or insulin pump? When they've already solved the rejection problems in far less invasive ways?
Wake me up when these devices are on the shelf. I'll be dead, but by then they should still be able to revive me.
Recalling a time when legislatore weren't for sale. When they start writing respectable laws, I'll respect the law.
-mcgrew
mcgrew's razor: Never attribute to stupidity that which can be explained by greedy self-interest
There are numerous jokes about soylent green here. Unfortunately, most people do not realize how true these comments are. The article is short on details, but the kidney cells in question are probably Human Embryonic Kidney Cells, which were extracted from an aborted human fetus in the 70s, and then modified so that they would reproduce forever (immortalized). These cells are common in research. What many do not realize is that the arguments amount embryonic cell lines have actually been going on for a long time, even though now most arguments are about stem cells, rather than kidney cells.
Fart in a jar, save Gas
You gotta be kidneying me...
Real, live Human Beans... Self-stocking power, self-stalking fart generators...
Previously: "Linux... Toward the Sunrise..." Now: "Linux... Toward the-- No, now, part of Every Sunrise"
Must... resist... must not... bite... this trolll... OH FUCK IT!
By the time you die of a heart attack, you've either reproduced or you're not going to. Evolution is about fucking, you stupidly rediculous troll.
-mcgrew
mcgrew's razor: Never attribute to stupidity that which can be explained by greedy self-interest
A working example such as, for example, a person?
Two of the guys running SunEthanol (the Biofuel bug company mentioned in the article) are the owners of my company.
Boss hits slashdot, fun.
If we combine this story with the load-balancing with your car story, we get...
I'm waiting for a "-1 somepeoplejustshouldn'tgetmodprivileges" meta-moderation.
Is there anywhere that shows how much energy is consumed by extracting petroleum from the ground, getting it to a ship or pipeline, refined into products, then across to where it's burned for power?
Damned good questions. Sorry I don't have answers -- other than the obvious generalization, "We used up the cheap and easy oil, now we're going after the expensive oil".
I do, however, recall reading somewhere on the web (sorry, can't find the link) that an estimated 70% of U.S. oil consumption goes to the military. If anyone can cite a source (for or against), I'd be very interested to read the figures.
-kgj
-kgj
Moonshine is made of corn ...
Commonly, but not necessarily.
I've read (in the Foxfire Books) about prohibition-era moonshiners using store-bought granulated sugar.
Any substance with a sweet percentage of sugar is subject to fermentation. I ain't never tried turnip whiskey, but hell, I don't see why it couldn't get a guy roaring drunk.
As for grass clippings, they're no damn good at all, far as I know -- practically no sugar content whatever. Might as well feed horses on the clippings, milk the mares, ferment the milk and distill the results (that's a Mongol thing, supposed to make a pretty good liquor).
-kgj
-kgj
So you're going to give up part of your kidney for a pacemaker or insulin pump? When they've already solved the rejection problems in far less invasive ways?
I'm not sure what a host's body rejecting an implantable device has to do with biobatteries. As you've said, rejection of the device can be deterred in other ways. It's more likely that biobatteries are being developed so that an otherwise-functional implantable device won't have to be replaced several times over a host's lifetime just because its batteries have been depleted.
That type of surgery is hard on a host. For example, for the last twenty years, my father has needed a pacemaker to regulate his bradycardia (extremely slow heartrate). In that time, he has undergone three pacemaker replacements, all due to depleted batteries. As he gets older, these procedures have taken an increasing toll on his health. One of these days, he will be deemed physically unable to recover from one of these procedures and, in essence, he'll only survive as long as his most recently-implanted pacemaker's batteries hold out.
So, I wouldn't say that biobatteries/biogenerators are "dubiously useful". As mentioned in the article, these batteries are self-sustaining and should endure for the host's lifetime. Personally, if Dr. Levinson can produce such a thing, then more power to him.
I didn't see anything in the article to suggest that these would be permanent, either. And it seems that a technology that could convert the kinetic energy of the host's movement to electricity would be a better solution.
I hope my eye implant (see sig) doesn't break before I die!
mcgrew's razor: Never attribute to stupidity that which can be explained by greedy self-interest
I refer you to the line in the article that states:
"... if the monolayers are made from immortalised cell lines, the biobattery should live as long as the host."
If the biobattery will live as long as the host does, then that sounds fairly permanent.
Good point, thx
mcgrew's razor: Never attribute to stupidity that which can be explained by greedy self-interest