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posted by CoolHand on Tuesday July 21 2015, @10:22PM   Printer-friendly
from the i-could-power-a-spacestation dept.

Staying alive guzzles energy. In order to keep us ticking, our bodies need to burn between 2,000 and 2,500 [kilo]calories per day, which is conveniently enough to power a modestly used smart phone. So if just a fraction of that energy could be siphoned, our bodies could in theory be used to run any number of electronic devices, from medical implants to electronic contact lenses—all without a battery in sight. Recently, researchers have taken important strides toward unlocking this electric potential.
...
For instance, the ears of mammals contain a tiny electric voltage called the endocochlear potential (EP). Found inside the cochlea, a spiral-shaped cavity in the inner ear, the EP aids hearing by converting pressure waves into electrical impulses. It’s vanishingly weak—about a tenth of a volt—but still strong enough, in theory, to power hearing aids and other aural implants.
...
The potential of piezoelectric materials goes even deeper. They’re also being used to harvest energy from internal organs. Last year, US-based researchers successfully generated electricity from the beating hearts, lungs, and diaphragms of (sedated) cows and sheep, all by attaching an ultra-thin piezoelectric material to the organs. Impressively, the implanted fabric generated about a microwatt of power (one millionth of a watt)—roughly the amount needed to run a cardiac pacemaker.
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Probably the single biggest step toward harnessing the power of our bodies has been the development, in the last few decades, of enzymatic biofuel cells (EFCs)—small, battery-like devices which can generate electricity by breaking down the energy-rich chemicals in bodily fluids…. The technology to create EFCs has existed for more than a decade, but in the past five years, researchers have begun to test them on—and in—living creatures.


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  • (Score: 2) by Thexalon on Wednesday July 22 2015, @02:55PM

    by Thexalon (636) on Wednesday July 22 2015, @02:55PM (#212335)

    Since Americans aren't going to change their diet

    I'm actually fairly hopeful that they might. They certainly are in my local area, because of these changes:
    1. A concerted effort to establish farmers' markets and proper groceries with produce departments in areas that previously didn't have any way of purchasing fresh fruits and vegetables.
    2. Making it possible to use food stamps to buy stuff at those farmers' markets.
    3. A municipal program that makes it easy to create community gardens on vacant lots. And these aren't limited to hippie enclaves either - I've seen them popping up in places you might not expect in the inner city.
    4. Some of the school are offering gardening projects which are gaining popularity.

    Another signal that this might be changing for the better is that McDonald's and Burger King sales numbers dropped from 2013 to 2014.

    That suggests that given the opportunity, Americans might actually eat right or at least not quite as wrong.

    --
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