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Tobacco Virus Could Boost Li Batteries
siliconbits alerts us to the possible use of one of the world's most destructive naturally occurring scourges, the tobacco mosaic virus, to boost the capacity of lithium ion batteries by 10 times. It seems the virus can be made to attach itself to the electrodes in a lithium cell perpendicularly, increasing the surface area of the electrode and greatly improving the battery's capacity to store energy. PhysOrg has some more detail on virus-enhanced batteries. Four years ago we discussed the use of the tobacco mosaic virus to enable fast-switching transistors.
Sorry, I don't consider a virus that primarily damages tobacco plants to be a scourge.
It affects all nightshades, including tomatoes, peppers and eggplant.
"I assumed blithely that there were no elves out there in the darkness"
In some parts of the country, cigs go for eight bucks A PACK. Show me an "inspected and cared for" tomato going for 8 bucks...
It's not the cigs that cost that much. It's all the sin-taxes put one them that make them that expensive. Tobacco is relatively cheap.
Actually, it's the health care and lost productivity costs that make them so expensive, both to the user and to society at large. The taxes are just a down payment.
WALSTIB!