New Battery Technology Draws Energy Directly From The Human Body (bleepingcomputer.com)

An anonymous reader quotes BleepingComputer: A team of eleven scientists from UCLA and the University of Connecticut has created a new energy-storing device that can draw electrical power from the human body. What researchers created is a biological supercapacitor, a protein-based battery-like device that extracts energy from the human body and then releases it inside an electrical circuit â" the implantable medical device. According to a research paper published earlier this month, the supercapacitor is made up by a device called a "harvester" that operates by using the body's heat and movements to extract electrical charges from ions found in human body fluids, such as blood, serum, or urine.

As electrodes, the harvester uses a carbon nanomaterial called graphene, layered with modified human proteins. The electrodes collect energy from the human body, relay it to the harvester, which then stores it for later use. Because graphene sheets can be drawn in sheets as thin as a few atoms, this allows for the creation of utra-thin supercapacitors that could be used as alternatives to classic batteries. For example, the bio-friendly supercapacitors researchers created are thinner than a human hair, and are also flexible, moving and twisting with the human body.

Comments

Human = battery

[DontBeAMoran]

There's a movie about that, you know? It doesn't end up well for us.

Re:Human = battery

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, as this technology progresses, we definitely want to avoid a hellish, dystopian future where humanity has to sit through two terrible sequels.

Re:Human = battery

[fahrbot-bot]

There's a movie about that, you know? It doesn't end up well for us.

The division of the company I work for just switched to a matrix management organization style, calling it "The Matrix". They also used a photo from the movie in the power point presentations until someone (okay, several people) pointed out that equating us with interchangeable, disposable batteries really wasn't cool or good for morale. They kept the name though...

Re:Human = battery

[Anonymous Coward]

Sequels? What sequels?

Re:Human = battery

[infolation]

Although The Animatrix was actually pretty good.

This is great!

[Rothron the Wise]

I just charged my phone to 100% and it only drained 0.005 years of my life!

No longer a metaphor.

[ColdWetDog]

Having to 'take some time to recharge my batteries" might have to be taken literally now.

Another Graphene breakthrough, ugh.

[MyFirstNameIsPaul]

Some folks call it a Graphene; I call it a Flubber.

The "harvester".

[fahrbot-bot]

Raise your hand if you're interested in having something called "the harvester" implanted in your body.

On the other hand... It would make a good sci-fi horror film. People are implanted with a device made called, "the harvester", made by John Deere (or similar) and are sub-sequentially enslaved by the support contracts because they have no right to repair the devices and removing them is not a survivable option. Oh wait, sounds like a "dark" version of the movie, Repo Men - never mind.