7mo ago

World's 1st nuclear-diamond battery of its kind could power devices for 1000s of years

www.livescience.com

The world's first nuclear-powered battery, which uses a radioactive isotope embedded in a diamond, could power small devices for thousands of years, scientists say.
The nuclear battery uses the reaction of a diamond placed close to a radioactive source to spontaneously produce electricity, scientists at the University of Bristol in the U.K. explained in a Dec. 4 statement. No motion — neither linear nor rotational — is required. That means no energy is needed to move a magnet through a coil or to turn an armature within a magnetic field to produce electric current, as is required in conventional power sources.
The diamond battery harvests fast-moving electrons excited by radiation, similar to how solar power uses photovoltaic cells to convert photons into electricity, the scientists said.

Nuclear Energy @feddit.nl

pedroapero @lemmy.ml

7mo ago

Scientists Build a Nuclear-Diamond Battery That Could Power Devices for Thousands of Years

www.livescience.com /technology/engineering/worlds-1st-nuclear-diamond-battery-of-its-kind-could-power-devices-for-1000s-of-years

42 comments

Yo this makes me think of the long lasting nuclear powered gadgets in the Foundation books
- Or how every time you enter some ancient ruins on some game, EVERYTHING is still working despite not having seen a person in a millenia
  
  walk up to abandoned building in STALKER 2
  30+ years after Chernobyl
  the lights are on
  ...
  
  If video games have taught me anything, it's that ghost towns and ancient ruins apparently require less maintenance and upkeep than my own fucking house.
  
  And torches are lit
  
  Well yeah they perfected those nuclear diamond batteries
Meanwhile, Apple and Samsung are probably actively trying to sweep this under the digital rug. They can't have devices out there that last more than 2, maybe 3 years...
- Unfortunately, the tech won't work for a high-power device like a smartphone. Last I read, these produce energy on the milliwatt scale.
  They'll be incredibly useful for things like weather sensors and the like.
- From the article:
  A single nuclear-diamond battery containing 1 gram [0.04 ounce] of carbon-14 could deliver 15 joules of electricity per day. For comparison, a standard alkaline AA battery, which weighs about 20 grams [0.7 ounces], has an energy-storage rating of 700 joules per gram. It delivers more power than the nuclear-diamond battery would in the short term, but it would be exhausted within 24 hours.
  It seems that even a 100 gram nuclear-diamond battery would not be able to sustain a modern smartphone.
  My calculations might be off, but it seems even a highly optimized low powered smartphone (say 10 watthours for 24 hours under regular use) would need x25 lower power consumption to work with a 100 g nuclear-diamond battery. And you would likely still need an additional battery of some sort (which would need to be replaced) to handle peaks (don't think modern smartphones can function under ~420 mwatt peak max).
  
  I'm gonna drop an addendum...
  A wristwatch should be able to at bare minimum last at least 24 hours (you know, like a full day), before it needs recharge.
  Apple Watch is like the absolute worst example of this, it has an expected battery life of around 18 hours. It doesn't even function as a proper watch if it can't even last 24 hours.
  My watch (not my first merry go round with dumb watches), can at least perform their intended timekeeping function for 5 to 10 years, depending on how often you use the backlight button.
  Sometimes dumb tech is nice, I don't wanna talk to my watch anyways, it's just there to tell time..
  
  Gotcha, understood.
  Still, why is it that an Apple watch can't even last 24 hours without needing a recharge, when I'm literally wearing a Casio designed to last 10 fucking years on a single button cell battery (that ain't even rechargeable no less)?
  
  Yet!
Imagine having your vibrator never run out of power, even on the go.
- "RRRRTTTTTRRRRRRTTTTTTTRRRRRRRTTTTTT"
  FUCK IT WON'T STOP THE BUTTON IS BROKEN!
What irks me is that neither the article nor the press information of the university linked within the article mentions how much power one can draw from such a battery. They only mention that it could be used for RFID like devices, which is not exactly a precise information.
- 15 Joules per 1g batteries over 24 hours. So around 0.416 watthours split linearly over 24 hours for a 100 g battery.
  
  The figure in the article was per gram of Carbon-14, which is only one ingredient of the battery, so I'd imagine that the 15J/24h is for a much larger assembly. It might have a better energy density than an RTG, but that's already a low bar.
Is that the tesseract?
Yall are thinking about personal computers.
How about diffused led light markings on every road, vehicle, in every public building. Motion and other sensors build in so they are only active when someone is near.
I hate current street lamps, super bright and on all night.
Give us tron *aesthetic and bring back dark nightsky.
- The dark nightsky is one of the most beautiful things in the world!
- Aesthetic, no?
they don't mention size but it sounds like the kind of thing asimov had in the foundation series books (I have not seen the series).
Jesus no. Its bad enough trying to recycle a lead acid or lithium battery.
Where the fuck am I going to safely recycle nuclear waste embedded in a diamond?!?
- Leave that to future generations, as it will still deliver half its original power in 5000 years.
- It lasts 1000 years. Your great great grand children would never have to worry about this.
  
  Maybe in 1000 years we can just toss it out of the spaceship
  
  How do you know I won't live that long? With thousand year power sources anything is possible.
Subnautica vibes
It would be cool if they could make pacemakers with these.

42 comments