travel on steam

A tiny car powered by bacteria and evaporating water is the latest invention to come out of the lab of Columbia University professor Ozgur Sahin, who is convinced that moisture rising from any body of water can be harnessed as a source of renewable energy.

By: Ofir Marom

A tiny car powered by bacteria and evaporating water is the latest invention to come out of the lab of Columbia University professor Ozgur Sahin, who is convinced that moisture rising from any body of water can be harnessed as a source of renewable energy.

Science is always looking for new ways to utilize natural energy sources - windmills, solar panels and geothermal heat pumps are common examples of this, but only rarely do we witness the invention of a new technology, capable of producing energy from a source that has not been exploited until now. This is the case of a connection between water vapor and spores.

Certain species of bacteria become spores when exposed to harsh environmental conditions. These spores are a kind of capsule, which allows them to maintain basic life until the conditions improve (for example in the presence of water), and the spores can become active bacteria again. This is a known and recognized phenomenon that allows bacteria to survive. In nature, there are similar mechanisms in which organisms respond mechanically to environmental conditions, such as the pine cone that opens in a hot and dry environment, or the sunflower flower that knows how to follow the path of the sun. These "automatic" responses are very attractive to imitate, because they seem seemingly simple. The same is true in the present case.

The research grew out of an earlier project in Prof. Ozgur's laboratory, in which a team of scientists studied the processes of contraction and expansion of the spores and the amount of energy needed for this. In light of the results, the idea arose to harness this energy for practical use. But how can this be done? The problem is that a single spore is very small. One smar can contain about ten thousand spores. The contribution of a single spore is worthless, so a practical solution would have to combine the power of millions of different spores. The solution found is to mix the millions of spores with diluted glue to create a kind of paste, which was applied to a thin plastic film until dry. In this way, the scientists turned the plastic film into a kind of muscle that contracts and relaxes depending on the percentage of moisture to which it is exposed. The next step was to turn this base unit into a moving machine. As you can see in the attached video, a clever use of the plastic films makes it possible to build an array of blinds that opens and closes, as well as a wheel that turns and moves a tiny vehicle only thanks to water vapor.

The spores used are common, harmless and ubiquitous in the soil. Although the first models look like child's play, the researchers believe that in the future the technology will be able to develop into significant applications. At this stage, although the spores themselves are used (Bio-extraction), in the next stage, with the cracking of the functional structure of the spores, an artificial imitation of this mechanism will be possible, and perhaps a day will come when, thanks to such a car, we will be able to find a positive aspect to the heavy humidity that prevails during the summer days in our country.
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