New 'Nuclear Battery' Runs 10 Years, 10 Times More Powerful

[Bob Russell]

Very interesting news for mobile computing in the future. Imagine leaving your laptop or pda on, at full brightness and with WiFi connected as long as you want! I wouldn't expect it next year, but it might be a breakthrough that frees us from the chains of the recharger cord.

As it's unfamiliar technology to me, let's quote directly from the source...

A battery with a lifespan measured in decades is in development at the University of Rochester, as scientists demonstrate a new fabrication method that in its roughest form is already 10 times more efficient than current nuclear batteries—and has the potential to be nearly 200 times more efficient. The details of the technology, already licensed to BetaBatt Inc., appears in today’s issue of Advanced Materials.

Now if you're like me, the first question is not even "when it appears", but what will it do to me!? It sounds dangerous on the surface. We already need to be careful not to put laptops on our laps if we want to stay fertile. And recently there was someone that went poking into an iPod with a screwdriver causing it to explode and sending him to the hospital. (He was okay.) Now we're talking about radiation for consumer devices?

Well, it can't be too bad. For one thing, they list implanted pacemakers as a potential application. For another thing, one of the Slashdot comments says that it might use alpha radiation which bounces off skin and is only dangerous if inhaled. I don't know of too many people that have broken open batteries and inhaled them. Maybe someone who knows something about the technology can tell us more about the safety aspects.

Read all about it at PhysOrg (via Slashdot).

Alpha radiation has alot of high-energy to it but cannot penetrate through anything thinker than paper or skin. With skin, it would kill the skin cell and would be like a slow tanning process.

Bad news is, once the particles get inside the body - through a cut, inhaling or by ingesting it... it releases all this high-energy to your organs all the time its stuck in your body - doing extensive damage in the mean time.

Infact in the 1930s they made watches painted with alpha radiation (they didnt know it was dangerous!) because it reacted with a chemical to "glow-in-the-dark". Breaking the bezel and inhaling the radioactive gas is very bad for you. Info all over the web, google for it here.

[Bob Russell]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Bad news is, once the particles get inside the body - through a cut, inhaling or by ingesting it... it releases all this high-energy to your organs all the time its stuck in your body - doing extensive damage in the mean time.

Hmm. In that case, I sure hope this technology uses something different than alpha radiation!

lol, yes! I could also see that this kind of technology could be really powerful in saving lives. Smoke detectors have a radioactive source in them anyway so a smoke detector/alarm that lasts 10 years or more would be pretty cool

[gadgetguru]

MSNBC has a more 'layman' friendly take on the technology:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7843868/

[Colin Dunstan]

Now, a small warning label "radiation hazard" on the back of my PDA would be rather flashy, wouldn't it?

[Bob Russell]

But I don't think I'd want it in a smartphone next to my ear. Nor in my pocket if you know what I mean...

[derekweb]

The battery uses Tritium (radioactive form of Hydrogen) as it's main power source provider. Tritium is something that Military grade compasses use, for night vision. It definitely works. And it's definitely easy to protect against.

Having carried them (compasses with Tritium) around a great deal of time, I'm not too worried now with having one of these batteries. On the other hand, I'd not want to stay exposed to the Tritium gas itself for too long. Just prudence.

[CINCNORAD]

I don't mind being exposed... as long as my PSP gets more gameplay time. :P