Eventually, I suppose in our never-ending quest to find renewable fuel sources, it would come to this - a disposable battery powered on, you guessed it, pee. It makes sense, when you think about it. One's urine contains a whole host of ions and minerals excreted from the body. Perfect for creating the chemical reaction which makes a battery work. It also makes sense in the practical medical sense - you have so many tests in which you would use urine, why not make the urine power your test equipment as well. And the supply is endless!
It just caught my attention to see the headline: Scientists create pee powered battery. Just seeing the word pee in a headline makes me giggle a little.
And for all my Singaporean friends... notice where this wonder of technology was developed.
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3 comments:
Sorry to spoil your appreciation of this urine-"powered" battery, but I have to point out that the reporters were being misleading in the article especially if you read the journal paper Lee published.
Urine just provides the electrolyte. One can probably add water and call it water-powered battery instead. The real reaction (oxidation/reduction) takes place between copper chloride and magnesium. Urine only "activates" the battery when a drop is added to it.
I read about it a few days ago on a different website, got really excited and interested and started telling all the people about it. But soon after, my colleagues and I realized that the reporters were just being misleading and it's not as interesting as it sounds...
PS: I came across your blog from Bum's, in case you are wondering.
I'm no fool, in case you were wondering. If you read my post carefully, I did mention that the urine (with its host of ions and minerals) is used to initiate the chemical reaction which makes the battery work. But to the lay person, it may as well be "pee powered," as that's what is added to initiate the reaction.
Remember that not everyone is a scientist and that talking down to someone or correcting them because you believe that you know more (or went to the source paper) is not necessary, especially since this post was more about the fun of the article versus the scientific validity of the use of the word "powered" versus "activate."
In case you were wondering, I am a scientist - a chemical and biomedical engineer, in fact. So if you feel like arguing the scientific validity of any other statements I have made on this blog in the past or in the future, please feel free to email me. Just don't post condecending comments like this ever again - thank you.
Sing it Tina!
By the way though- as a person who does not general trust the government- do you think this could in any way violate any kinds of privacy?
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