Enviro-luddites won't let this come to be.
Posted on 10/12/2009 12:37:11 PM PDT by anymouse
(snip>
Now comes word that nuclear batteries may actually become an honest-to-God reality, no foolin'.
Researchers at the University of Missouri say they've achieved the unthinkable, and that a pint-sized power cell based on radioactive decay can last a ridiculously long time: a million times as long as a conventional battery, enough to keep putting out a charge for hundreds of years.
Nuclear batteries already exist, but historically they have been quite large (and used only on things like spacecraft). The new design involves the use of a liquid semiconductor, which is less susceptible to damage from nuclear radiation than solid semiconductors and thus don't break down like the old models do. This also allows for the batteries to shrink in size. One prototype (seen above) is about the size of a coin.
(snip)
(Excerpt) Read more at tech.yahoo.com ...
Enviro-luddites won't let this come to be.
One word: Foundation
Foundation? They had Hari Seldon, we’ve got the Obamaloon.
We’re doomed.
Yeah, but Obama is too busy spending money on figuring out the wind powered auto.
/mark
Beta Decay light elements are as harmless as an electrical socket. (Beta Decay is basically a neutron in the nucleus of an atom turning into a electron and a Proton, the proton stays in the core of the atom, the electron gets ejected and can be absorbed by metal or a semi-conductor material to “Make” electricity. ) Beta Decay cannot be used to breed other radioactive elements.
As long as they decay into a stable or long stability isotope they should be classifies as safe as gasoline.
The tin foil that Alex Jones fans wear on their heads is all of the protection that you need against them.
Sulfur-35 is practically inert compared to the stuff in your smoke detectors (Am231).
I say we use all of the radioactive waste heavy elements to breed Massive amounts of Sulfur-35 to use it in place of diesel electric generators for the millitary.
We shouldn’t let any isotopes go to waste. Waste not want not, right?
I don’t get the smarmy narrative...
>> Foundation? They had Hari Seldon, we’ve got the Obamaloon.
We’re doomed. <<
I am trying to decide weather or not the Mule was Michael Jackson or if it was a Metaphor for the Democrat Party.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mule_%28Foundation%29
>>
The Mule is a fictional character from Isaac Asimov’s Foundation Series. One of the greatest conquerors the galaxy has ever seen, he is a mentalic who has the ability to manipulate human emotions which he uses to forcibly convert people to his cause.
<<
Sounds a lot like someone we know and everyone else “loves”
>>
Physically, the Mule is a freak, with a long nose (at least three inches) tightly stretched facial skin, and a spindly body. He weighs between 100 and 120 pounds (45 to 54 kg), and is 5’8” (1.73m) tall[citation needed]. His joints jut out from his diminutive musculature. The Mule’s meagerness is glandular and untreatable. Furthermore, his limbs meet at awkward angles, giving the general impression of a scarecrow assembled poorly. His eyes are described as deep brown and perpetually sad.
<<
Sounds Like Michael Jackson.
If you don’t get it you should probably try and figure it out before deciding it was “smarmy” because well-read people do get it, and it wasn’t smarmy.
Fascinating. This is really exciting stuff!
How much power can these things produce? And is the limiting factor the size of the isotopic mass, or the interior surface area of the anode?
No problem. Run a vacuum cleaner hose from his ass in the drivers seat to the intake manifold. Done. Now can we have have our nuke batteries, please?
Interesting. What do you use for the other end of the circuit, to sink the electrons?
The electron emission creates the negative charge and the atom retains the positive charge. You are essentially harvesting the kinetic energy of the electron being ejected from the nucleus of the atom.
I was thinking Shipstones.
Battery Ping!!............
Obama is The Mule.................
Obama is The Mule..............
Is that glow in your pocke a flashlight, or are you just glad to see me?
The absolute coolest car in all of human history.
So where do you sink the electrons on the other side of the load?
>> So where do you sink the electrons on the other side of the load? <<
That... Ummm. is above my paygrade.
No mention in the articles or any of the comments about how much power the battery puts out. Did I miss something?
Heck, I been sayin’ that for years.
From the time Obama was voted president, I’ve told people that he is the Mule.
>> From the time Obama was voted president, I’ve told people that he is the Mule. <<
A mule is a cross between a Horse and a Donkey.
What about a cross between Horse-shit and a Donkey?
Whoa! I think you and I may be talking about differnt things.
I was talking about character of The Mule in the Foundation Series.
>>
Whoa! I think you and I may be talking about differnt things.
I was talking about character of The Mule in the Foundation Series.
<<
Me too, I was just suppositioning that the current “Mule” in power is cross between a pile of Horse Crap and the Donkey Party.
Horse (feces) + Donkey (Democrap Party) = Mule (BHO)
Mule being the psycho in the foundation series.
Trying several levels at once.... Maybe I Fail!
The real question is: will Galt produce this battery, or hide it in a Gulch somewhere?
BFL
If this battery breaks or leaks, is it potentially harmful?
Not at all. See GraceG’s post.
However, the inherent safety of this device will do naught to permit the crybabies in the usual regulatory agencies from preventing this device’s marketization. After all, it is a misnomer to believe that their goal is safety or prosperity; their goal is consolidation and exercising of their own power, coupled with a self-hating philosophy that will effectively lead them to forbid this thing specifically *because* of its impressive utility.
Obonkey?
Best thread of the day.
I do get it. The author of the piece inserted a certain level of unnecessary cynicism which constitutes smarm in my book.
Sell them as Beta-Batteries.
I want a Bat Mobile, cool.
My reference was a hat tip to Assimov's Foundation Series.
(a lot of it)
You might want to read this article from Car & Driver magazine:
They also test Starsky & Hutch's Gran Torino, the DeLorean from Back to the Future, the General Lee from The Dukes of Hazard, and Mad Max's Ford Falcon Interceptor.
The Batmobile wins! Bear in mind that it's not a road test as such, but a contest to see which is the coolest.
I’ve always said that if I ever get rich, one of the first things I’m going to buy is a replica of the original Batmobile.
I saw one of the originals a few years back while it was on tour - it was gorgeous. When I was a kid, Batman was one of my favorite shows and I lusted after the Batmobile even then. Even had one of the toy cars.
*sigh*
I’d never slam a fellow FReeper.
According to the article, a “basic” Batmobile runs about $90,000. Presumably more if you add such details as flaming exhaust...
Well, Obama is self centered, so you just have to explain it in such a way that he can relate it to himself. Watch:
Barack, the wind blows, just like you, OK?
And the sail sucks, also like you. Get it now?
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