This is some pretty exciting news. It seems that researchers at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), one of the most prestigious
science and engineering schools in the United States, has created a new energy source
-- and it's clean and renewable. The odd thing is that the only way
you can see this energy source is with a very powerful microscope,
because it is created by using nanotechnology.
For a
few years now, we have been hearing about the possibilities offered by
the new field of nanotechnology. Now it looks like the first usable
breakthrough has been accomplished. MIT has devised a process to
generate electricity using nanotechnology. And this new process may
soon revolutionize batteries for all kind of devices.
The
researchers built tiny wires out of carbon nanotubes. Then they
coated these wires with a fuel and discovered it generated electricity
-- a lot of electricity considering its tiny size. They believe they
will be able to use this technology to create batteries at least 10
times smaller than current batteries, but produce the same amount of
electricity.
The nanotechnology batteries will
have a couple of other advantages over current batteries. First, they
will not lose power while sitting and not being used (as you probably
know, current batteries can lose their charge even if they are not being
used). This will result in a huge energy savings.
Second,
these batteries are non-toxic since they are made of carbon. Current
batteries are made from very toxic heavy metals like lead, nickel and
cadmium, and must be disposed of very carefully. The carbon
nanotechnology batteries can simply be burned and produce no toxic fumes
or waste.
Computers, cell phones and other
electronic devices will be the first to benefit from the nanotechnology
batteries. This is a marvelous breakthrough, and I hope it's not too
long before the new nano-batteries hit the market.
(The picture above is an artist's rendition of a carbon nanotube.)
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