Will loggers solve the global energy crisis? Probably not, but they can at least point in the right direction. In recent days, one hamster proved that he is able to provide electricity using nanogenerators attached to his body. The next step - producing energy from human movements
Will loggers solve the global energy crisis? Probably not, but they can at least point in the right direction. In recent days, one hamster proved that he is able to provide electricity using nanogenerators attached to his body.
Using the same technology, researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology were able to generate electricity from finger movements. Will the day come when cell phones and laptops will be recharged with ultra-fast typing?
"By using nanotechnology, we have shown ways to convert even irregular biomechanical energy into electricity," said Zhong Lin Wang, a professor in the School of Engineering and Materials Science at the Georgia Institute of Technology. "This technology can convert any mechanical disturbance into electrical energy."
The full study, published on February 11 in the online version of the scientific journal 'Nano Letters', demonstrates for the first time the production of electricity from a living creature using nanogenerators.
Since 2005, Wang's group has been dealing with the problem of developing nanogenerators driven by irregular mechanical movement. Such a movement can be the vibration of the vocal cords, the flapping of a flag in the wind, the snapping of fingers or the running of hamsters on an exercise wheel. The ability to extract energy from irregular oscillations is particularly important because such movements exist everywhere. A whole world of energy awaits all around us, and the invention of Wang and his colleagues may for the first time allow its exploitation in a controlled manner.
The power of the nanogenerator is produced from tiny metal wires, which have a unique property of piezoelectricity. When these wires undergo contraction and relaxation, they produce electrical charges. The threads come in a diameter of between one hundred and 800 nanometers - less than one hundredth of the diameter of a human hair, and their entire length does not exceed half a millimeter.
The individual wires, made of zinc oxide, were coated with a flexible polymer sheath and anchored at each end for electrical contact. The researchers attached one of the nanogenerators to the knuckle of the forearm, or combined four of the devices on top of a 'jacket' worn on the hamster.
When the hamster ran and scratched, the sheath of the fibers contracted and caused them to release a tiny electrical current.
All four nanogenerators on the hamster's back managed to produce a combined 0.5 nanoamps. The current produced by the single generator on the finger was even smaller. Wang estimates that powering a hand-held device, such as a Bluetooth headset, would require at least several thousand of the nanogenerators. Although this sounds like a lot, the minimal size of the devices should allow them to be installed in large quantities.
Beyond hamsters and fingers, Wang believes that it will be possible to implant the devices inside the body, with the aim of producing energy from sources such as muscle movement or the pulsation of blood vessels. The energy produced from those devices could be used to drive other nanodevices, which would perform various actions inside the body: for example, measuring blood pressure or heart rate.
Since the facilities produced alternating current, it was important to coordinate the operation of all four generators on the back of the hamster to maximize current production. Without the coordination, the current from one generator could cancel out the current from another generator.
The researchers solved the problem by using a material that can only fold in one direction, thus forcing the generators to fold together. Despite this, there was still a significant difference in the current output from each generator, probably due to the difference in the pressing force felt by each generator.
"The generators must be coordinated so that the output of each of them is synchronized in order to add to the current," commented Wang. "Through engineering, we can expect to solve this soon, through improved design and more reliable manufacturing."
Paradoxically, one of the group members' problems was related to the four-legged generator carriers. The researchers initially tried to put the electricity-generating jacket on a rat, but found that the creature was not interested in running.
The problem was solved thanks to Wang's daughter, Melissa, who suggested that the researchers switch to hamsters, which are more active animals - but mostly late at night. The next problem was to sew a jacket that would fit the hamster exactly. A jacket that was too tight would make the hamster feel uncomfortable, but if the jacket wasn't tight enough, the nanofibers wouldn't be able to fold effectively with the body's movements. And of course, the hamster would have managed to remove the jacket and fail the experiment.
"We believe this is the first demonstration of using a living animal to generate current using nanogenerators," Wang added. "This research shows that we can actually harness human or animal movement to generate current."
38 תגובות
son:
There is indeed an error in the link, but the idea sounds brilliant to me!
You have an error in the link. He is talking about Indian pop music.
The integration of nanogenerators in airless tires (see link) could lead to the end of dependence on fossil fuels
The future Genesis supply should come first of all from saving energy and then we will be able to develop more improved capabilities for extracting energy from additional sources; So it is recommended to start now.
To Roy Cezana:
You wrote: "But what will happen if there are several thousand fibers, or several millions of fibers in the areas of the joints in the body? It is likely that then we will already start to feel resistance. The difference is like that between tearing one hair, tearing several thousand hairs." ...what resistance are you talking about?
If it is a movement resistance for example that will require any movement effort.
I would recommend that NASA take the idea and apply it to the astronauts and their suits. It would not only generate electricity but also
A healthy solution to muscle wasting caused by space.
interesting
Ami:
Let's not try to bet on what Yogev said but let him explain himself. Your description is very general and it also fits the description of the proposal I gave for extracting energy from the vibrations of engines.
The problem with your words is that they are so general that no one would come up with the idea of engine vibrations from reading them.
I assume that Guev meant that the energy harvesting would be more efficient. There is logic in his words if indeed this is his intention. Sometimes less is more and vice versa. Coupling processes is the key to life and probably the key to optimizing energy processes, therefore cost versus benefit calculations are necessary in this type of engineering. The addition of energy may cost some money but may generally make the whole process cheaper.
Yogev:
From the smile you added, I assume you meant to be joking, but the wording of the rest of your words is not joking, so I'm not sure if maybe you meant it seriously after all.
In any case, the possibility that the energy produced will be greater than that which will be invested contradicts the law of conservation of energy.
And if we take something that will continue movement with a small investment of energy?
So we will invest a little energy and the energy that will be produced will be greater and that's how we will come out with a plus 🙂
No energy comes for free.
Not even the one we will try to pump from pavers.
In order to allow the cobblestones to generate energy, they must be allowed to move somewhat and this affects the walking efficiency of those who walk on them.
A more correct direction, in my opinion, is to use the energy created by movement that we do not need - if these are the vibrations of vehicles and other machines and if these are the vibrations (not to attack) of Parkinson's patients.
Loehari:
If you mount a dynamo on a revolving door - it will make it difficult to rotate.
Besides - one such door will provide very little energy.
Consider that a vigorous cyclist produces about 200 watts. That's all you can expect from a door like this if it's rotated non-stop.
Why go as far as nanotechnology?
Can't you just build in every office building, shopping mall, airport or central station, a revolving door or two that will turn a dynamo?
No more simple?
Ami,
I don't think that 'meat-eaters' in dosage are less 'moral' than fish-eating vegetarians or vegans who are as if associated with 'spirituals' and therefore as if more moral or more 'developed'.
From my limited experience, I find that it sometimes turns out in real time, even on a daily basis, that this 'instinct' for energy consumption is more dangerous precisely in those who are 'as if developed' - the beautiful of the soul, and as soon as they need 'food', they will unwittingly destroy everything that is present next to them
The German people were apparently a civilized people, but their origin?? also barbaric. In a moment of economic crisis, bloodthirsty or perhaps more correctly: 'cold-blooded and calculated' they flocked to the idea that the 'Jew' was usurping their origins and of course the theoretical reason was found/ Japheth - the soul, so to speak in the name: 'purity of the race'.
So, it's better: not to skimp on lettuce and because of it show like a radish or garlic-onion, and a 'mood' on the face :) and eat and consume in moderation, even if you enjoy it, animal meat, which transfers its powers/character to us. in the food chain', and acknowledge it: but certainly not to burn for secondary needs that are not used for living/real vitality. Producing energy for any other need that is not 'life' itself but on the limit of priorities at the limit of the balance/or luxury, are considered secondary needs.
And I'm sure you're more moral than many 'spiritual' or garlic/only fish eaters I've ever known.
But let's hope that none of us will have to examine 'real-time' or a real lack, although I personally believe that within the very elements of the atoms found in our bodies, the same life energy and even kinetic intelligence is 'stored' for real time and, nature is - it is ultimately A 'savior' is created in any situation and not precisely according to the principle of 'the strong survives' but something rooted and deeper within us which is not a pseudo but valuable and truly ancient and even good. // Reserves: Shaar-Rukh
Generating electricity from the body sounds like a great way to diet.
And what you produce during sports can be used later to charge your cell phone.
The future is brighter than ever.
The development is interesting, and since there is a lot of movement out there, it may also be applicable, helping to achieve higher efficiency of mechanical movements.
Specifically about the part of transplanting into the body and all kinds of things like that, which may end up creating an additional burden on our heart, and considering the number one cause of death, it's hard for me to see it happening.
Although if we connect it to babies from birth, maybe it will make the heart develop more and be stronger... but I probably wouldn't do it to my child.
Higgs: Well..?So?
Hugin,
I agree with your shock about the fire. It permeates and sickens and definitely reminds of the holocaust. I included many caveats in my letter on the matter and I do not recommend it, yet. There are serious moral problems with this matter as well as with other matters that make use of animals for human needs. I love schnitzels and I still haven't reached such a moral and spiritual level that allows me to become a vegetarian. Eating animals, by the way, seems to me much more grotesque and tragic than simply burning them for energy. By eating you are literally physically participating in the process. When it comes to the fire, it is done in a distant and invisible place (not that it cures the bleeding - but still...) and there is no "feast on the blood" as is customary in multi-course meals in culinary manifestos with many participants salivating and lusting for meat.
Ami Bachar
Q
You have a slight lag between writing and thinking
Mr. Higgs: It is interesting that you are the first to jump to comment, also a matter that evokes deep and sublime thoughts.
Have a beer. Please :)
This is not a specific filtering policy of the website, but a filtering system that is common to many websites and knows from experience what is spam and what is not.
That's why you need to upload the comment, and write an email to ask for it to be released. When I'm at the computer the response will be fast, if I'm in work meetings, it will take a little longer.
Q
Too bad you write faster than you think or read
The sages will forgive me, but some of the last comments evoked grotesque associations in me as well,,: and what about the law of conservation of energy?? We have there (remember?) from the incinerators some other output of 6000,000,, for times of need,,
Don't be angry with me, the act of burning the mice that you brought up evokes in me deep, preserved thoughts.
Avi Blizovsky
The game is definitely ahead of its time in the use of green energy and is also very educational for youth and children.
The last 2 links include a reference to download from RAPIDSHARE the three versions
It works under XP in a DOS window I think version three is optimized for WINDOWS
I usually avoid using links, but I'm not clear about the filtering policy, is there a way
It is simple to upload links as long as it is for the benefit of the site's residents.
As a matter of fact, nanotechnology is also used here, which I believe was not used 20-30 years ago.
Your comment automatically went to spam comments, because of the many links. You're lucky that I didn't delete the junk comments as I do when they accumulate to hundreds (even 300, many times more than the legitimate comments and most of them are really junk comments - Viagra and other vegetables).
Roy Cezana
The really not original idea was already implemented almost 20 years ago by the Sierra company in the famous game
The Incredible Machine
In 1992 it had three versions. Already in the first version there is the use of hamsters and laboratory mice to create a driving force.
In addition to other natural sources.
Below are links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Incredible_Machine
http://www.old-games.org/games/tim
http://www.fxp.co.il/showthread.php?t=2106575
http://www.capslock.ws/2008/02/24/the-incredible-machine-3-return-of-the.html
Avi Blizovsky
Why don't you present my response, although it includes links, but I assume that they are acceptable to you for the benefit of the readers of the site and the aforementioned article, it's a shame they will lose
Roy Cezana
The really not original idea was already implemented almost 20 years ago by the Sierra company in the famous game
The Incredible Machine
In 1992 it had three versions. Already in the first version there is the use of hamsters and laboratory mice to create a driving force. In addition to other natural sources.
Below are links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Incredible_Machine
http://www.old-games.org/games/tim
http://www.fxp.co.il/showthread.php?t=2106575
To download the 3 versions below
http://rs182.rapidshare.com/files/146060055/Incredible_
Machine_By_Ron_Sham_FXP.rar
http://rs16.rapidshare.com/files/302970/IM3.rar
Combine the above ideas with the fact that in nature the animals and the humans within them store energy in a molecule called ATP adenosine triphosphate. And the entire process takes place inside the mitochondria, an organelle found inside the cell. A process that nature created and perfected over millions of years - the "wheel" has already been invented, you don't need to invent it him again.
commenter 8,
I agree with the idea of eating the hamster. It is very simple and revolutionary in this context that after all - we don't really do it. The world is full of animals that have entered ecological niches that do not belong to them due to their introduction into new areas by humans. For example, there are severe rat infestations in certain areas of the world. The cynical and cold-hearted exploitation of the incredible reproductive capacity of these rodents for fire can certainly provide energy in a small, but effective amount - after all, theoretically the same "pest" (a field mouse, for that matter) produces an average of 200 offspring every year that take care of themselves for food and use natural resources available such as insects for food - there is a certain sense in such use. Of course it's a little terrible to think that animals are raised for burning and energy use but - hey! We've been doing it for thousands of years anyway and the meat industry thrives at the expense of animals in exactly this way. But with a single difference: in the meat industry we feed the animals and raise them and invest energy in them. When it comes to collecting rodents effectively from the wild - here the rodents take care of their own food.
There is a problem (aside from the moral problems) with feeding: in a tropical transition of carbon from level to level in the food chain there is a loss of 90% on average. ZA When we feed a tender calf hay or what it doesn't eat there, we actually lose most of the material. Economically, it may be worth it because the farmer receives the compensation for this in the form of the plate with the steak and potatoes on the side. What will happen in breeding rodents for fire? Here the calculation is the same, but at the end of the day carbon is carbon is carbon. If we could collect an amount of food and with it bring the rodent to grow - then if we burned the same amount of food we would get much more carbon at the source. So what's the advantage? The advantage can be in finding smart traps that will catch mice with a very high efficiency than nature.
A large carbon deposit in the form of mouse carcasses will also be obtained, the ecological imbalance due to the outbreak of mouse plagues (or various rodents) will also be regulated, the farmers whose crops are significantly damaged by rodents will also benefit, and human control will be given over the growth of populations and thus control (perhaps) over the spread of diseases.
It should be remembered that this article does not deal with rodents but with energy production. The article does use a rodent for production purposes, but here it is only a model animal to show the whole thing. The idea is interesting and I believe that it will be used in principle in the future. Wind is definitely an underutilized resource and the trees swaying in the wind can generate electricity for us along with shade and delicious fruit to eat. As for the carbon in the body of the rodents - everything is of course a question of cost versus benefit. How much it will cost to plan and place effective traps for mice, how effective will be the conversion of the mouse's body into energy and how much good versus bad will be obtained from the entire process.
I have to admit that the idea is shocking. I think about what I wrote [breeding animals or setting up a body that uses animals for burning and using them for energy] and it sounds really sick and holocaust. But in fact we already do all this. Here it is admittedly blatant: to take in oil and burn it to use its energy. There is no difference between this and growing for food or growing for enslavement for field work (or even for harvesting energy by nano-generators).
Shocked by the idea but still mulling it over,
Ami Bachar
Eating the hamster would contribute much more energy than the nano generators. This is a decent amount of proteins and fats that could run a person for about one day.
Wait, and what do mountains eat? And why are they active? And what do they produce? And why do they roar? And what is their core?
If we are not able to think like atoms and nanoparticles, maybe we should think like the mountains,, those materials are found in them and they may be real/terrifying geniuses :) nice,,.
and the snake? from the water,, and the man? from the earth. and the metal? from the earth. and the computer?,, and the nanoparticle?
Remains: the hamster.,,and the energy bank,,,infinity. :)
Or?? For the kinetic paddles: and how? From the sequence of stimulation pulses: internal/external, to a whirling acceleration found within nature and its sub-elements (as minerals)/like atoms, which are rhythmic by nature and very very 'intelligent' and,, which are frequently found, and are found as such" The internal (intelligent) builders within nature itself, like my life..
As bizarre as it sounds, think about it wisely, for example: what is the movement of a bee, what is the movement of an insect, what is the spontaneous reflex movement of a rodent,, and what does a runner do in ecstatic states,, (without external stimulant drugs, of course).
Of course also, that one must think again and again and again, and check whether the premise that 'nature is blind' is true at all and whether evolution is 'random' or in fact 'very intelligent'.
And I don't understand what is so clever about that? After all, this energy does not come from nowhere and the animals are supposed to eat extra to create the extra energy produced, so this energy is not cheap at all!
And in addition the difficulties in collecting the energy?, in short as a curiosity it is nice.
It is possible to optimize this and attach to every laptop a small cat that will charge our battery, but we have to be very careful that it does not eat our mouse!
Good Day
Sabdarmish Yehuda
It is worth noting that things may not be as simple or efficient as the researchers try to present them.
One nanogenerator is made of one fiber. Bending the fiber requires force on the part of the user, but since it is a zero amount of force per fiber, the user doesn't even notice that the fiber is there.
But what will happen if there are several thousand fibers, or several million fibers in the joint areas of the body? It is likely that then we will already start to feel resistance. The difference is like that between tearing one hair, tearing several thousand hairs.
In short, the idea is basically good, but you should remain skeptical. I tend to believe that the real use will come from massively paving tall buildings with these types of nanofibers, to generate electricity from the wind. But the prophecy was given to fools...
Come on, how much electricity is a nanogenerator able to utilize.
Look at our country for a moment, we are considered a world power in water desalination, has anyone seen us, doing something in the field for ourselves???
We had the "Days" project, does anyone in the country remember it?
Create nano-generators to create electricity to charge the cell phone battery.... What a stupid idea to utilize a great idea ……someone maybe thought of developing floating gantry on the surface of the sea to utilize this wasted resource ???? We have great sun and a vast desert. Has anyone seen anyone thinking of the idea of using this to create clean and cheap electricity????
Tom, listen to your idea there is one good side.... maybe we will build a few more soccer fields in the world and.... give out free tickets.... for some reason I have a feeling that there will be less wars in the world.... interesting maybe with the money we save from the wars we can really build water desalination plants and facilities for utilizing the sun to produce electricity ……
A proposal for the first application in humans: to connect the lighting in soccer fields to the players, and then maybe they will finally start running...
Important principles for the distant future of humanity, in times when sun, fuels and geothermal energy will not be available.