For several years now, the lifespan of small batteries used in electronic products has become a focus of the industry. The latest technology, already dubbed the "eternal battery," could replace traditional lithium-ion batteries.
According to a statement, the device, developed by scientists at the University of Bristol and the UK Atomic Energy Authority, has a lifespan of 5,700 years and uses carbon-14 encapsulated in a diamond casing to supply energy.
Carbon-14 is a radioactive and therefore unstable isotope of carbon, produced in the atmosphere as a result of the interaction between cosmic rays and atmospheric nitrogen. What differentiates it from "normal" carbon is that carbon-14 has two additional neutrons in its nucleus. The presence of these two neutrons makes it unstable and causes its decay to be very slow. In fact, its half-life is precisely 5,700 years.
While the carbon-14 atoms do not adopt a stable configuration, they continue to emit radiation in the form of particles. What the British scientists did was harness these particles to convert their energy into electricity.
The concept of carbon-14 encapsulated in diamonds is related to a technique where carbon-14 is embedded in a diamond structure, a crystalline form of carbon that is extremely stable and resistant to chemical or physical changes.
When carbon-14 is encapsulated in this way, it is protected from degradation and interaction with the external environment, increasing its durability.
Although the power output is limited, in the range of microwatts, this device could, in theory, be used to power medical implants such as pacemakers or hearing aids. Furthermore, it could help treat radioactive waste from nuclear plants, be used in space applications, such as small satellites, and even in radio-frequency identification tags.
The strange case of Hannah Kobayashi is making headlines worldwide. On one hand, there is the good news that the young woman is alive; on the other, her father had committed suicide during the search. Hannah Kobayashi disappeared on November 11 in Los Angeles (LA), USA. But the story actually begins on November 8, three days earlier, when the young woman from Hawaii missed a connecting flight to New York in LA. As the Associated Press (AP) reports, at that time, the young photographer told her family...
(By ZAP)
