Skip to content

Unexplainable.net

Watching The World Change

  • Interesting Facts About Saints I Religion Articles
  • 7 Facts About Dreamers and Dreaming Information and Theories
  • Archeological News of March 2008: Queens and Lizards Other Exciting News
  • Women Can Invent, Too! 3 Information and Theories
  • Norse Mythology: Thor and Others Ancient Civilizations
  • Thank-You Notes: An Integral Part of Self Improvement
  • Headlines in the News : 4/9-4/16 Other Exciting News
  • 1987 – Abductee Photographs Captor UFOs and Aliens

Scientists Generate Electricity from a Virus!

Posted on May 17, 2012 By jim No Comments on Scientists Generate Electricity from a Virus!
Mooker

Scientists at the US Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkely Lab have demonstrated that not only algae and bacteria can be genetically engineered to generate electricity, but so can viruses.  The demonstration opens new doors for incredibly small and cheap electric power generators.  If the idea is further developed, it could mean a whole new generation of electric generators from man-modified viruses.  Is this a form of “common cold fusion?”

The paper, which was published in Nature Nanotechnology, demonstrated that a specially designed virus could be made to give off electricity by infusing it with a modified M13 virus.  The virus, while sounding dubious to a public used to the word being compared to illness, is really a bacteriophage meaning it “eats” bacteria to allow it to reproduce.  Additionally, this particular virus is not harmful to humans.  It works on a simple principle that requires stress and impact in order to generate its electricity.  The compression of the virus produces a weak electric charge that then can be passed on to the device being powered.

In the case of the latest study, the device being powered was a simple LCD display, chosen because of its low electrical output requirement.  The LCD display successfully ran on the energy provided by the virus.

So how does it work?  Scientists have used microbial fuel cells in bacteria and algae to produce electricity in the past.  Additionally, the navy has pursued algae based combustible fuels to power boats in a way very similar to corn ethanol.  But the combustible algae-based fuel draws power from a much different method than the subtler virus based electricity from this simple bacteriophage.  The secret is a process known as piezoelectricity.  After that they merge the virus with modified amino acids, allowing them to designate different parts of it as positively and negatively aligned – like a battery.

So what could this mean for the future?  While the risk of the virus mutating and turning a whole generation of appliance users into electric superheroes is fairly low, it may provide the power of mobility for a number of small devices and materials that would ordinarily require limited charge batteries in locations where solar panels are impractical and other methods are too expensive.  Because the virus reproduces very readily, the cost of producing it is very low.

And it’s difficult to determine just how far reaching the potential applications will eventually be for engineers.  Shoes, clothes, stairs, light switches, even the keys of your keyboard might one day use piezoelectric virus based electricity to ensure every bit of pressure is eventually converted into useful electrical energy.  There may even be applications for medical devices and research materials that require only a little energy.

Science as a whole is on the lookout for new sources of energy to supplement declining oil reserves and an increased sensitivity for a clean Earth.  And while this viral energy won’t likely be powering vehicles any time soon,  in the frontier of microscopic electronics, it could make a big difference for scientists.

Technology Articles

Post navigation

Previous Post: Road Ready Robot Gets Nevada License to Drive
Next Post: Secret Societies: The Cathars I

Related Posts

  • Undead Satellite Goes Rogue Technology Articles
  • The Web of Tomorrow Technology Articles
  • LHC Atom Smashes Energy Record Technology Articles
  • New Quantum Object Can be Seen with Naked Eye Technology Articles
  • Why Mars Would Win an Earth/Mars Colony Conflict Technology Articles
  • Electronic Cleansing of Tissue Technology Articles

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Posts

  • Mahavatar Babaji: The Yogi alive for 2000 years
  • Spirituality and science conflict
  • Conspiracies and myths about spirituality
  • Know your Ki: Reiki
  • 10 amazing plants to promote spirituality and positivity

Recent Comments

No comments to show.

Archives

  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • May 2020
  • June 2018
  • February 2018
  • July 2016
  • May 2016
  • February 2016
  • September 2015
  • July 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • July 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • July 2008
  • June 2008
  • May 2008
  • April 2008
  • March 2008
  • February 2008
  • January 2008
  • December 2007
  • November 2007
  • October 2007
  • September 2007
  • August 2007
  • July 2007
  • June 2007
  • May 2007
  • April 2007
  • March 2007
  • February 2007
  • January 2007
  • December 2006
  • November 2006
  • October 2006
  • September 2006
  • August 2006
  • July 2006
  • June 2006
  • May 2006
  • April 2006
  • March 2006
  • February 2006
  • January 2006
  • December 2005
  • November 2005
  • October 2005
  • September 2005
  • August 2005
  • July 2005
  • June 2005
  • May 2005
  • April 2005
  • March 2005
  • February 2005
  • January 2005
  • December 2004
  • November 2004
  • October 2004
  • September 2004
  • August 2004
  • July 2004
  • June 2004
  • May 2004
  • April 2004
  • March 2004
  • February 2004
  • January 2004
  • December 2003
  • November 2003
  • October 2003

Categories

  • Ancient Civilizations
  • Benjamin Fulford Story
  • Cryptology and Monsters
  • Eating Healthy
  • Ghost And Demons
  • Information and Theories
  • Mars Coverage
  • Meditation And Spirituality
  • Mysteries
  • NASA Articles
  • Other Exciting News
  • Personal Accounts
  • Pictures And Multimedia
  • Political Conspiracies
  • Recent Submissions
  • Religion Articles
  • Self Improvement
  • Simply Unexplainable
  • Space and Astrology
  • Technology Articles
  • True Stories
  • UFOs and Aliens
  • Unexplainable Video Library
  • Unexplainable Weather
  • Bad Luck and Superstitions 4 Information and Theories
  • Self-Injury Simply Unexplainable
  • Vlad the Impaler 5: Death and Torture Information and Theories
  • UFO Pictures From Canada 1975 UFOs and Aliens
  • DC Prepares for Return of the Bunnyman Ghost And Demons
  • Wesley’s Photgraph Taken In The Woods Personal Accounts
  • Who is Diogenes? Ancient Civilizations
  • The UFO Control Group UFOs and Aliens

Copyright © 2023 Unexplainable.net.

Powered by PressBook News Dark theme