Human Blood For Electrical Power 369
burner writes "A Japanese research team has developed a fuel cell that runs on blood without using toxic substances, opening the way for use in artificial hearts and other organs. The biological fuel cell uses glucose with a non-toxic substance used to draw electrons from glucose. So where should I have my laptop power port installed?"
So that's how they did it. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:So that's how they did it. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:So that's how they did it. (Score:4, Funny)
"Processors", not "power supply" (Score:4, Informative)
Unfortunatly, they discarded the better writer's explanation and went ahead with their sillyness in the sequels. But you can still read the short story (it's on the first DVD, too).
Re:"Processors", not "power supply" (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:So that's how they did it. (Score:5, Interesting)
Personally, though, I think it would have been cooler if the machines were using us as inexpensive processing units. What if, in the real world, you didn't actually have to sleep, and that 'sleep' is the machines using you to think? o.o
Re:So that's how they did it. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:So that's how they did it. (Score:5, Funny)
Only in soviet Russia.
Re:So that's how they did it. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Free your mind! (Score:3, Funny)
Mod the parent up (Score:3, Funny)
As has been pointed out, cows would have been the better choice.
Re:So that's how they did it. (Score:2)
Re:So that's how they did it. (Score:2, Informative)
You should definitely read the 'Hyperion' books by Dan Simmons. Very good exploration of this concept.
Re:So that's how they did it. (Score:2)
Re:So that's how they did it. (Score:3, Informative)
If you leave a tract of land alone for decades in Ireland, it typically reverts to lush forest interspersed with grassy clearings except in some mountainous areas (where it will become a peat bog) and coastal areas (where it will b
Re:So that's how they did it. (Score:5, Informative)
Re:So that's how they did it. (Score:5, Insightful)
Think of this the next time you read a news story.
Re:So that's how they did it. (Score:3, Funny)
Re:So that's how they did it. (Score:2, Interesting)
He was making a joke. Go read the post again.
Re:So that's how they did it. (Score:3, Funny)
Hey, i dont have a 6 pack.
I do, but it's behind the keg.
And I thought battery prices were high... (Score:5, Insightful)
On the other hand, I suppose you can replace your blood for less, and in less time.
Re:And I thought battery prices were high... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:And I thought battery prices were high... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:And I thought battery prices were high... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:And I thought battery prices were high... (Score:5, Funny)
besides what better story for the hospital -- any guy next to you can glorify his brave rushing into a burning building to safe children, but a level 14 related tetris concussion, now thats something to be proud of!
In the future... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:In the future... (Score:2, Funny)
Kierthos
Re:In the future... (Score:2)
solar of course. Each laptop will have a solar panel hidden underneath it's top clamshell, Just leave the machine in directly sunlight and it recharges the battery.
Why do you think ibook covers are white.
DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS?! (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS?! (Score:2, Funny)
DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS?!-Alimony. (Score:5, Funny)
Met the ex-wife, have you?
Re:DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS?! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS?! (Score:4, Insightful)
Why not? They've been begging for one for years!
Re:DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS?! (Score:2)
While threatening a computer by counting at it will still work, chanting "blood blood blood" at it will now threaten a computer just as much as it does a human!
Re:DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS?! (Score:3, Funny)
Re:DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS?! (Score:3, Informative)
2 fembots powered by blood comes to earth in one episode of the OVA series. one of them is damaged so it cant replenish her blood by herself, so the other fembots rides the city in a heavy batle suit stealing blood for the partner.
Re:DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS?! (Score:3, Funny)
I, for one, welcome our Vampire--OWW! MY NECK! MY NECK!
That's funny... (Score:5, Funny)
The line between technology and the living is thinning.
Re:That's funny... (Score:3, Funny)
Seriously. How is thyis Insightful? Most people tend to run on blood. Are the mods who are modding the posts here on crack or something? This whole story keeps getting insightful mods for Utter nonesense [slashdot.org] (albeit funny nonsense
Re:That's funny... (Score:5, Informative)
Since the electron mediator is based on Vitamin K3, which exists in human bodies, it excels in safety and could in the future generate power from blood as an implant-type fuel cell)
Though a bit distant, it might become possible to *fabricate* parts of bodies(not alone heart), that can be *powered* when implanted.
Re:That's funny... (Score:2)
Wanted: (Score:5, Funny)
Solution (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Solution (Score:2)
Where's Neo? (Score:3, Funny)
Soylent Green (Score:2)
Re:Soylent Green (Score:2)
Re:Where's Neo? (Score:3, Funny)
2000 prisoners
at
Thats almost 400mW!!!
Thanks to the justice system, we will be able to power DOZENS of small flashlights or MP3 players across the United States!
0.2 mW (Score:5, Informative)
Re:0.2 mW (Score:3, Informative)
glucose monitor (Score:5, Interesting)
Note: I'm not saying that the device would lower glucose levels by consuming glucose, but since it is powered by sugar, the current should be proportional to the amount of sugar. If blood sugar is high, the implant's signal is high, and the pump delivers more insulin. No real logic required. That's why it's such a good fit. And they say so in the article:
Re:glucose monitor (Score:5, Interesting)
My first thought was shame hypoglycemics won't be able to use it, but then if it is only generating 0.2mw its hard to say just how much glucose it will use. Probably not much.
Dupe? (Score:5, Informative)
In any case, 0.2 milliwatts isn't exactly that much power: the AbiCor artificial heart documentation mentions that it consumes several watts from its external battery pack, a far cry from what this provides.
Though, I can imagine a beowulf cluster of these.
Re:Dupe? (Score:2)
also, in case anyone didn't notice, most of the times the editors make grammatical errors.
there's also times when the article has nothing to do with "news for nerds."
Re:Dupe? (Score:2)
Seriously why cant the editors check to see if the story has already been posted ?.
Re:Dupe? (Score:3, Informative)
blood type (Score:2, Funny)
Location of power transfer zone (Score:3, Interesting)
-Lasse
Re:Location of power transfer zone (Score:2)
I like the idea of devices that turn on when I touch them!
Naturally... (Score:5, Funny)
Oh... and only females can have the power sockets. Yeah, maybe that'll motivate all of us geeks to go and find some girlfriends. We need the power source!
*SMACK*
Oh sorry, I was having a geek wetdream. Reality is a harsh mistress.
Re:Naturally... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Naturally... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Naturally... (Score:4, Funny)
Not quite; that's the on/off switch.
Chii! ^_^
Weight Loss? (Score:5, Interesting)
Why go to the gym to work out and burn calories from when you can plug a small cord into your mid section that would enable the device to draw energy directly from your system... and when your blood was running low... fat stores would naturally be tapped.
Result? Losing weight while reading
Re:Weight Loss? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Weight Loss? (Score:3, Informative)
Thus, when using this fuel cell to lose weight, all you lose is your muscle tissue, not the fat tissue.
Glucose Levels? (Score:2)
Not for hypoglycemics...
weight loss (Score:3, Funny)
Re:weight loss (Score:3, Funny)
Nothing Better (Score:2, Interesting)
Extra power for my laptop, AND a way to burn of those pesky extra calories from those twinkies !!
Where? (Score:5, Funny)
Catalyst or reactant? (Score:2, Insightful)
If the substance was a reactant, Ghost in the shell -type high level maintenance would be taking it's first steps.
If the voltage was higher, AIs independent, energy resources low and Asimov's laws of robotics not in use, we could even see some Matrix-style battery usage
Beautiful... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Beautiful... (Score:2)
Diabetics applaud. (Score:2, Interesting)
Now you can eat your cake and ice cream and this little gizmo will take that extra glucose in the blood stream and make power (albeit small amounts) for you.
The major benefit of this would be to reduce the blood glucose levels without taking medication, the power generation would just be a cherry on top.
Re:Diabetics applaud. (Score:2)
Diabetes (Score:3, Insightful)
quick! (Score:2, Funny)
There is also a human intelligence use... (Score:2, Interesting)
I know this is scary, but how long until this is our "National ID Card."
Re:There is also a human intelligence use... (Score:2)
As for the tracking device... it would have to use some real power, rfids are only readable from what, a mile. would work in a prison though, lose the signal......man hunt is on.
Damn you Daemon128.... you had to open your mouth and now the gov. has formed a pla
So with a Pentium and Microsoft, (Score:3, Funny)
Next time I'm seated on an airplane.... (Score:5, Funny)
So where should I have my laptop power port instal (Score:2)
Just one question... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Just one question... (Score:3, Funny)
Ever thought of having kids?
New source of income for slaughterhouses (Score:2, Insightful)
Power (Score:2)
estimate (Score:2, Interesting)
- 5liter of blood
- to pump, say 40mm Hg=500mm H2o of overpressure is needed(diff between upper and lower pressure). I recall numbers like 120 over 80 when they measure your blood pressure.
- 50 beats per minute. if the heart is a big fist, say it pumps like 100ml per beat.
so 5liter per minute.
So say the heart pumps 5l blood per minute 50 cm higher up.
0.5m*5kg*(10m/s2)/(50 seconds)=0.5W
Now, when doing a big effort, i think beat v
Anaerobic? (Score:2)
In addition, the power leveraged gets very low compared to a process where oxygen is involved, something on the scale of 5 %. Running a heart in that way
Stroggs (Score:2)
Weight loss? (Score:3, Interesting)
What if this power supply was connected to nothing but a resistor on a heat sink? Could this artificially raise my metabolic rate? Could simply removing glucose from the blood stream lead to weight loss?
Re:Some kind of limit? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Some kind of limit? (Score:5, Interesting)
If they did, the energy released would probably turn us into miniature suns the moment we turned one of these on.
It's more likely that the now unstable glucose molecules will break down into carbon dioxide and urea, consuming some oxygen in the process, much like it does when consumed by a normal cell. One presumes the spent potential from the electrons will result in the electrons returning to the blood stream.
And yeah, pushing this too hard would probably fairly easily kill the user, (read, a laptop at 60-100Watts? i doubt it. maybe a trickle charger for the battery
A well controlled system could easily result in an acceptable increase in energy consumption, which would result in weight loss, without actually exercising (also, not a good thing, since the muscles aren't going to develop, but the fat will be consumed, leaving the user with no way to keep warm). One presumes that anyone using a device like this would be on a strict high-glucose intake diet.
of course, this is conjecture, i've only done basic biology and chemistry
Andrew
Re:One step closer... (Score:5, Funny)
A better man (Score:3, Insightful)
Perhaps
"Which is easier to carry? A spare battery for your apple, or a spare apple for a battery"
Re:the question is (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:the question is (Score:3, Funny)
Re:the question is (Score:2)
Actually, it is the total calorie count that matters. All calories that the body takes in, whether they be from fats, proteins or carbohydrates, have to be converted to glucose before it can be used to power the body's cells.
That's simply not true. If an item takes more calories to digest than it p
Re:Blowout at ground level. (Score:2)
Anyone else remember Ruby, and the Tookah?
Re:Human Blood? (Score:3, Informative)
When one talks about the "ascent of man", it does not apply to males only. This is one of the idiosyncrasies of the English language - apologies to all the feminists reading. I suppose we can try and use "mankind" instead, but that doesn't change the nature of the word...