Morning Read: Snail power!
Who needs hydro dams and nuclear power plants! Pah on those hydrofracking projects! I say snails are the power source of the future.
Okay – actually this is serious stuff, an effort by Clarkson University to research tiny “biofuel cells” that could eventually power things like implanted medical devices. This from the Watertown Daily Times.
A team of scientists at Clarkson University has developed technology to turn an ordinary snail into a living, moving battery.
The research was published earlier this month in the Journal of the American Chemical Society with Evgeny Katz, Milton Kerker chaired professor of colloid science at Clarkson, as the lead author.
The technology involves tiny implants, called biofuel cells, charged by chemical reactions in the snail’s blood. Though a snail generates only a tiny amount of electrical charge, the electricity is accumulated in a device called a condenser, which can then power another small device if needed.
Tags: education, energy, science, stlawrencevalley
I know spring seems a little early but I just checked my calendar and it isn’t April Fools Day yet.
Actually, capacitor, rather than “condenser” might be the proper term.
Ask Radio Bob.
I have quite a few old capacitors from my old Heathkit building days. Perhaps I’ll go out into the garden today and start wiring up the snails!
Maybe I’ll be able to power my laptop from these li’l guys. But I’l proably have to promise them some swiss chard or something, if this unusual early spring weather holds up!
Is this how The Matrix got started? Dale, NCPR
PETA calling…
I thought of this, but it was slugs, not snails…
http://youtu.be/ZlJaIREGnaM