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Thread: Hamster jackets harness wheel-running power

  1. #1

    Hamster jackets harness wheel-running power

    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29596930/


    Hamsters can seemingly run forever inside their little wheels, and scientists from Georgia Tech are finally helping them get somewhere.

    To harness hamster power, the scientists sewed electricity-generating threads one-fiftieth the width of a human hair into a yellow jacket worn by the hamsters as they ran. A human-sized jacket, capable of powering an iPod, could be ready in as little as three years.

    "This can totally be scaled up," said Zhong Lin 'ZL' Wang, who co-authored a paper describing the research in this month's issue of Nano Letters. "This is just the first step. The idea is that we would harvest energy from any body movement, from walking, breathing, from any kind of vibration."

    The jacket's tiny threads are really nanowires made of zinc oxide, the same white stuff smeared on the noses of lifeguards. When the nanowires are flexed, a small amount of electricity is generated.

    A zinc oxide wire is one micron wide and 50 microns long. One wire sewed into the hamster jacket generates about 0.1 volts of electricity. According to Wang, this is the world's first example of an animal producing power using nanopiezoelectrics -- a field of research that aims to capture tiny amounts of energy from movement and vibration, and transform it into usable power.

    A bundle of 50 nanowires one human hair wide would be able to generate more than enough energy to power sensors that could monitor temperature and other conditions.

    Powering an iPod would require hundreds of nanowires, covering an area equivalent to several human hairs. A thousand hamsters wearing the current jacket could charge a cell phone. Campbell's Dwarf, one of the hamster test runners, was able to generate one-twentieth the power of an AA battery.

    But don't rush out to the pet store for your own personal rodent power plant yet. Wang estimates that it will be at least three years before his team can create enough nanowires to create a piece of fabric capable of powering a personal electric device.

    "It's not something that you can immediately use for specific applications," said Min-Feng Yu, a scientist at the University of Illinois who creates piezoelectric nanowires but was not involved in the Georgia Tech study. "It's the combination of voltage and current."

    Getting large voltages out of the piezoelectric nanowires is only half the battle. Scientists also have to generate large, continuous currents to directly power electrical devices. A battery could store any power generated from the tiny wires when they aren't moving but would complicate the current set up, adding weight and complexity.

    Linking a shirt to an iPod is just one possible application for the new technology, said Wang. A whole range of tiny biological or environmental sensors could be created using the technology as a power source.

    "Current power sources are large or antiquated to be implanted into biological systems and don't take advantage of the low power consumption," said Wang. "But if you can harvest that energy from the environment or body movement, you can have a self-powered nano system, providing not only energy for itself but for other devices as well."
    rewritten history with armies of their crooks - invented memories, did burn all the books... Mark Knopfler



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  3. #2
    Now add this tech to the wireless electricity tech, and our very motion can power our cell phone and other devices.
    The vibrations of our cars and other vehicles can help recharge electrical batteries.

    Windmills could generate additional power, etc.

    Gold is the most useful metal.... and is another reason you should invest in it.
    rewritten history with armies of their crooks - invented memories, did burn all the books... Mark Knopfler

  4. #3
    Yep, the music hasn't even stopped yet and most Ron Paul supporters have already grabbed a chair.
    "He's talkin' to his gut like it's a person!!" -me
    "dumpster diving isn't professional." - angelatc
    "You don't need a medical degree to spot obvious bullshit, that's actually a separate skill." -Scott Adams
    "When you are divided, and angry, and controlled, you target those 'different' from you, not those responsible [controllers]" -Q

    "Each of us must choose which course of action we should take: education, conventional political action, or even peaceful civil disobedience to bring about necessary changes. But let it not be said that we did nothing." - Ron Paul

    "Paul said "the wave of the future" is a coalition of anti-authoritarian progressive Democrats and libertarian Republicans in Congress opposed to domestic surveillance, opposed to starting new wars and in favor of ending the so-called War on Drugs."

  5. #4
    1. Why not get the power from the turning wheel instead of little piezoelectric fibers? ( I know, it's proof of principle. )

    2. If the ZnO wires are a micron wide, they are not nanowires, they are microwires.
    "Any fool can make a rule, and any fool will mind it." - Henry David Thoreau

  6. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by Mesogen View Post
    1. Why not get the power from the turning wheel instead of little piezoelectric fibers? ( I know, it's proof of principle. )

    2. If the ZnO wires are a micron wide, they are not nanowires, they are microwires.
    1. Do you want to create energy by turning a wheel around while walking in place or by walking around the block or to school or work?


    2.
    A nanowire is a nanostructure, with the diameter of the order of a nanometer (10−9 meters). Alternatively, nanowires can be defined as structures that have a lateral size constrained to tens of nanometers or less and an unconstrained longitudinal size. At these scales, quantum mechanical effects are important — hence such wires are also known as "quantum wires".
    -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanowire
    "He's talkin' to his gut like it's a person!!" -me
    "dumpster diving isn't professional." - angelatc
    "You don't need a medical degree to spot obvious bullshit, that's actually a separate skill." -Scott Adams
    "When you are divided, and angry, and controlled, you target those 'different' from you, not those responsible [controllers]" -Q

    "Each of us must choose which course of action we should take: education, conventional political action, or even peaceful civil disobedience to bring about necessary changes. But let it not be said that we did nothing." - Ron Paul

    "Paul said "the wave of the future" is a coalition of anti-authoritarian progressive Democrats and libertarian Republicans in Congress opposed to domestic surveillance, opposed to starting new wars and in favor of ending the so-called War on Drugs."

  7. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by torchbearer View Post
    A battery could store any power generated from the tiny wires when they aren't moving but would complicate the current set up, adding weight and complexity.
    Wait, are they saying it would not only complicate the current set up, but add complexity as well?!

    Last edited by tremendoustie; 03-09-2009 at 06:38 PM.
    “If you're on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive.” -CS Lewis

    The use of force to impose morality is itself immoral, and generosity with others' money is still theft.

    If our society were a forum, congress would be the illiterate troll that somehow got a hold of the only ban hammer.

  8. #7
    Do you think they might make a jacket from hamsters the could power an Ipod? I would wear that.

  9. #8
    How many hamsters would it take...
    rewritten history with armies of their crooks - invented memories, did burn all the books... Mark Knopfler



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  11. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by torchbearer View Post
    How many hamsters would it take...
    This many,
    http://www.webhamster.com/

    Liberty is lost through complacency and a subservient mindset. When we accept or even welcome automobile checkpoints, random searches, mandatory identification cards, and paramilitary police in our streets, we have lost a vital part of our American heritage. America was born of protest, revolution, and mistrust of government. Subservient societies neither maintain nor deserve freedom for long.
    Ron Paul 2004

    Registered Ron Paul supporter # 2202
    It's all about Freedom

  12. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by pcosmar View Post
    That is worse than a rickroll.
    rewritten history with armies of their crooks - invented memories, did burn all the books... Mark Knopfler

  13. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by torchbearer View Post
    That is worse than a rickroll.
    Sorry, you had to ask.
    Liberty is lost through complacency and a subservient mindset. When we accept or even welcome automobile checkpoints, random searches, mandatory identification cards, and paramilitary police in our streets, we have lost a vital part of our American heritage. America was born of protest, revolution, and mistrust of government. Subservient societies neither maintain nor deserve freedom for long.
    Ron Paul 2004

    Registered Ron Paul supporter # 2202
    It's all about Freedom

  14. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by dannno View Post
    1. Do you want to create energy by turning a wheel around while walking in place or by walking around the block or to school or work?
    If I were a hamster, I'd probably not want to wear a jacket and I'd probably like running on a wheel a whole lot more.


    2.

    -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanowire
    So they should not be 1 MICRON in diameter.
    "Any fool can make a rule, and any fool will mind it." - Henry David Thoreau

  15. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by Mesogen View Post
    If I were a hamster, I'd probably not want to wear a jacket and I'd probably like running on a wheel a whole lot more.




    So they should not be 1 MICRON in diameter.
    The technology isn't to make power plants out of hamsters... it will eventually be used in human clothing or other materials for other applications.
    rewritten history with armies of their crooks - invented memories, did burn all the books... Mark Knopfler

  16. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by torchbearer View Post
    The technology isn't to make power plants out of hamsters... it will eventually be used in human clothing or other materials for other applications.
    Power plants out of Humans?

    Liberty is lost through complacency and a subservient mindset. When we accept or even welcome automobile checkpoints, random searches, mandatory identification cards, and paramilitary police in our streets, we have lost a vital part of our American heritage. America was born of protest, revolution, and mistrust of government. Subservient societies neither maintain nor deserve freedom for long.
    Ron Paul 2004

    Registered Ron Paul supporter # 2202
    It's all about Freedom

  17. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by torchbearer View Post
    That is worse than a rickroll.
    That is EXACTLY what I thought.

  18. #16
    Richard Gere found an interesting use for hamsters. It didn't involve harnessing their energy.....well, I guess it sorta did.



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  20. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by pcosmar View Post
    Power plants out of Humans?

    The above picture are involuntary copper tops.
    You choosing to wear clothing that turns your motion into electricity is a bit different.
    Last edited by torchbearer; 03-10-2009 at 06:28 PM.
    rewritten history with armies of their crooks - invented memories, did burn all the books... Mark Knopfler

  21. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by torchbearer View Post
    The above picture are involuntary copper tops.
    You choosing to wear clothing that turns your motion into electricity is a bit different.
    Je comprends
    But I still had the idea pop into my head.
    Liberty is lost through complacency and a subservient mindset. When we accept or even welcome automobile checkpoints, random searches, mandatory identification cards, and paramilitary police in our streets, we have lost a vital part of our American heritage. America was born of protest, revolution, and mistrust of government. Subservient societies neither maintain nor deserve freedom for long.
    Ron Paul 2004

    Registered Ron Paul supporter # 2202
    It's all about Freedom

  22. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by torchbearer View Post
    The technology isn't to make power plants out of hamsters... it will eventually be used in human clothing or other materials for other applications.
    I know. I heard about this about a year ago. I'm very familiar with ZL Wang and his work.
    "Any fool can make a rule, and any fool will mind it." - Henry David Thoreau

  23. #20
    //
    rewritten history with armies of their crooks - invented memories, did burn all the books... Mark Knopfler

  24. #21
    //
    rewritten history with armies of their crooks - invented memories, did burn all the books... Mark Knopfler

  25. #22
    "The journalist is one who separates the wheat from the chaff, and then prints the chaff." - Adlai Stevenson

    “I tell you that virtue does not come from money: but from virtue comes money and all other good things to man, both to the individual and to the state.” - Socrates

  26. #23
    I'm skeptical.

    It takes energy to flex the wires. They don't really quantify how much energy can be generated except in the vague statement "It would take 1000 hamsters to charge a cell phone." Would that be equivalent to about 3 or 4 humans?

    If you have to wear a huge jacket of nanofibers while you walk around to power your cellphone, how much extra strain is being put on your muscles as you walk? In other words, how many calories does one have to burn to generate a watt/hour of electricty while wearing a nanofiber jacket?

  27. #24
    Quote Originally Posted by brandonyates View Post
    I'm skeptical.

    It takes energy to flex the wires. They don't really quantify how much energy can be generated except in the vague statement "It would take 1000 hamsters to charge a cell phone." Would that be equivalent to about 3 or 4 humans?

    If you have to wear a huge jacket of nanofibers while you walk around to power your cellphone, how much extra strain is being put on your muscles as you walk? In other words, how many calories does one have to burn to generate a watt/hour of electricty while wearing a nanofiber jacket?
    One jacket could extend the amount of time a charge will last on a phone, regardless of if it could recharge it completely in an hour or two.
    The idea of taking motion and transfering that energy into usuable electricity is the important part.
    This tech could be added to all kinds of applications.
    There is no perpetual energy, but these kind of things extend our current energy devices.
    rewritten history with armies of their crooks - invented memories, did burn all the books... Mark Knopfler



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