Pee-powered battery smaller than a credit card
18:10 15 August 2005
Shaoni Bhattacharya
The first urine-powered paper battery has been created by physicists in
Singapore. The credit-card sized unit could be a useful power source for
cheap healthcare test kits for diseases like diabetes, and could even be
used in emergency situations to power a cellphone, they say.
Testing urine can reveal the identity of illnesses, and the new paper
battery could allow the sample being tested to also power the diagnostic
device.
"We are striving to develop cheap, disposable credit-card sized biochips for
disease detection," says Ki Bang Lee, at the Institute of Bioengineering and
Nanotechnology in Singapore. "Our battery can be easily integrated into such
devices, supplying electricity on contact with biofluids such as urine or
blood."
Current biochips need an external reader such as a laser scanner or an
external source of power, such as conventional batteries, to perform
diagnostic tests. Lee's technology houses both the sensors and the battery
on one plastic chip.
Full Text at NewScience (Free)
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7850
Comment:
Let me get this straight - the mobile's battery is nearly dead so you say
"excuse me just one moment, I have to pee into the mobile....then you put it
right back next to your ear....what next - wind powered generators???
--
Posted by
Robert Karl Stonjek
.
|
