A few years ago I noticed something curious. My dog Marley slobbered on my tablet...and the capacitive screen kept reacting to it for minutes after he was no longer touching it. Just like a smart pen with a rechargeable battery does.
So I had a thought...could you use bacteria, or whatever was in that slobber to create a battery or capacitor? Or maybe negate the need to store so much power to run our devices?
(his paws were yeasty at the time, it could have been fungal not bacterial)
I feel like there would be limitations to storage and use. If we implemented perpetual motion, biology, and tiny tech innovation could we do more work with less initial power input? Curb and harness power loss to create more efficient machines?
Energy is neither created nor destroyed...and much of our electricity is wasted in the process of using it. Take the old style lamp-the incandescent light bulb. It requires more power to create the desired lumen levels than the leds we more commonly use now. The switch to LED decreases the monetary and environmental cost of using a lamp to light a space. Power loss aka heat loss is what makes the incandescent light bulb so inefficient.
The old school steam engine employs a flywheel to help power it. It uses a type of perpetual motion that harnesses mechanics to keep itself going. An object in motion stays in motion....until something stops it. Air resistance and other friction causing sources detract from it's ability to stay in perpetual motion. This is overcome by applying more energy.
Friction causes power loss in the form of heat. Air resistance and heat loss can be harnessed to generate electricity.
That which stops the flywheel could help generate the energy needed to keep it going. Theoretically that energy transformation could make it truly perpetual, staying in motion unless purposefully stopped.
I'm talking about creating technology that is more self sufficient.
What if we used all these ideas to help negate the need for traditional batteries? Employed the same principals in tiny tech?
Think about using biology to store the amount of power needed. The major problems we have with traditional batteries are their size, the materials they use, and how long they can be used before needing to be replaced. The monetary cost and environmental impact of battery replacement is what is really holding back the electrical vehicle industry.
Surely with how advanced technology has become we can learn to incorporate biological batteries.
We could theoretically minimise the amount of power needed to run a car. What if biology could make all of our tech more efficient.
From doggie slobber to efficient tiny tech. Think of the possibilities.
The human body (or dog) only uses a tiny amount of electricity to keep itself going...the technology we use in our daily lives is clumsy in comparison. The human body is a marvel. I think we could use it's working prinicipals in technology.
There are some electrical parallels to consider- your blood pressure is like electrical voltage, both are a measurement of the rate of flow. Current is like blood, measured in volume or amps. Neurons help carry current like conductors...but the body also works on a smaller, more complex scale. Bacteria, vitamins, minerals, fluids...they all play a part. Biology is more advanced and efficient than current technology is. I think we should be learning from that.
Why did Marley's doggie slobber act like a battery powered smart pen? What else could we learn from observing how biology works electrically on a tiny scale?
Food for thought.
I would love to hear your thoughts on the matter. Feel free to email or message me on them!
Sheila M Pike
Aka Shy
