Nuclear battery...lasts 50 years..allegedly

[Aladdin]

Nuclear battery could give us smartphones that never need to charge

Betavolt says its battery could power mobile phones that never need to be charged and drones that can fly forever

www.independent.co.uk

Pretty amazing.
Also quite terrifyjng.

 

[Orang Utan]

What’s terrifying about it?

 

[magneze]

Multiple nuclear reactors in your pocket.

Cool idea.

 

[8ball]

Nuclear battery could give us smartphones that never need to charge

Betavolt says its battery could power mobile phones that never need to be charged and drones that can fly forever

www.independent.co.uk

Pretty amazing.
Also quite terrifyjng.

Not a new thing. But on the “terrifying” front:

The History of Nuclear Powered Pacemakers

large.stanford.edu

 

[Orang Utan]

Multiple nuclear reactors in your pocket.

Cool idea.

They’re only little

 

[Aladdin]

They’re only little

An atom is tiny but tell that to a split one!

 

[Aladdin]

Not a new thing. But on the “terrifying” front:

The History of Nuclear Powered Pacemakers

large.stanford.edu

Interesting...so they kind of worked but were bulky and heavy.
Modern lithium battery operated ones are the kind my dad has..his is .programmable..which is fantastic. It also is constantly monitored remotely.

But who would seriously want to carry a nuclear powered phone? There would surely be risks of radiation leaks if the phone case is damaged and battery takes a bashing.

I think its great in theory. But maybe better for machines that are not carried around in our pockets

 

[weltweit]

50 years quite possibly ..

and then perhaps 50,000 years half life !

half life

 

[Orang Utan]

I’d risk an alarming amount of danger not to have to bother with chargers.

 

[WouldBe]

There would surely be risks of radiation leaks if the phone case is damaged and battery takes a bashing.

Even more so if a drone falls out of the sky.

 

[gosub]

Multiple nuclear reactors in your pocket.

Nope just pleased to see you

 

[PTK]

"however the thermonuclear batteries were both costly and bulky."

Thermonuclear? That is a synonym for fusion.

 

[PTK]

"however the thermonuclear batteries were both costly and bulky."

Thermonuclear? That is a synonym for fusion.

And controlled nuclear fusion is not yet available.

 

[Fez909]

And controlled nuclear fusion is not yet available.

We've had controlled nuclear fusion for ages. What we haven't had for ages is energy efficient fusion. But even that's been done now: US scientists achieve net energy gain for second time in a fusion reaction

 

[magneze]

Never trust atoms, they make up everything.

 

[SpookyFrank]

I'm not buying anything nuclear from a company that doesn't know the difference between a battery and a generator.

 

[SpookyFrank]

Still, getting early-adopter fuckwits to carry radioisotopes around in close proximity to their genitals could do wonders for the gene pool.

 

[gentlegreen]

I was at my sister's for the hostilities and my niece was proudly showing off her new UV torch making a piece of uranium glassware fluoresce...
My little brother who has a physics degree reassured me that any radiation would be alpha (helium nuclei) and couldn't do any harm ...

 

[xenon]

I was at my sister's for the hostilities and my niece was proudly showing off her new UV torch making a piece of uranium glassware fluoresce...
My little brother who has a physics degree reassured me that any radiation would be alpha (helium nuclei) and couldn't do any harm ...

Uranium glassware is a thing? Cool.

 

[xenon]

A friend bought back a tiny piece of volcanic rock from a Greek island several years ago. It was in a plastic bag. Which swelled up. I presumed it would only be an alpha emitter but got spooked and threw it out in the end.

 

[PTK]

We've had controlled nuclear fusion for ages. What we haven't had for ages is energy efficient fusion. But even that's been done now: US scientists achieve net energy gain for second time in a fusion reaction

Actually, that experiment did not achieve a net energy gain.

 

[PTK]

Still, getting early-adopter fuckwits to carry radioisotopes around in close proximity to their genitals could do wonders for the gene pool.

Well, if it makes my larger, than I am not sure if I am agin it.
Radiation had positive effects on the person who became Spiderman.

 

[PTK]

Never trust atoms, they make up everything.

VERY good! I am stealing that.

 

[PTK]

I was at my sister's for the hostilities and my niece was proudly showing off her new UV torch making a piece of uranium glassware fluoresce...
My little brother who has a physics degree reassured me that any radiation would be alpha (helium nuclei) and couldn't do any harm ...

I am not so sure. They say apha cannot penetrate the skin, but what if you have a cut? What if you have your mouth open?

 

[Sasaferrato]

Uranium glassware is a thing? Cool.

 

[WouldBe]

Uranium glassware is a thing? Cool.

Been around for ages. 1920's or 30's iirc.

 

[A380]

…

But who would seriously want to carry a nuclear powered phone? …

 

[PTK]

We've had controlled nuclear fusion for ages. What we haven't had for ages is energy efficient fusion. But even that's been done now: US scientists achieve net energy gain for second time in a fusion reaction

“it was the first time such a reaction gave off more energy (3.15 megajoules) than had been injected directly into the fuel (2.05 megajoules).”

“all-in-all, the entire device took about 400 megajoules to operate during the experiment. That means it lost about 99% of the power it consumed. That is pretty far from a net energy gain.”
Why the nuclear fusion ‘net energy gain’ is more hype than breakthrough

 

[T & P]

I’m glad we’re once again embracing the endless possibilities of nuclear energy. I for one wish they would bring shoe-fitting fluoroscopes back

Shoe-fitting fluoroscope - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[NoXion]

I am not so sure. They say apha cannot penetrate the skin, but what if you have a cut? What if you have your mouth open?

Unless you're rubbing ground uranium glass into a wound or swallowing it, you'll be fine. But if you are doing that then you'll have bigger problems on your hands than a minor increase in radiation exposure.

A friend bought back a tiny piece of volcanic rock from a Greek island several years ago. It was in a plastic bag. Which swelled up. I presumed it would only be an alpha emitter but got spooked and threw it out in the end.

If it was an alpha emitter, then that gas would have been helium, which is totally harmless. Worst case is that it was radon gas, but unless you were regularly huffing the contents of that bag then you would have been fine. Plenty of people live in whole regions where the local geology emits radon gas.

Still, getting early-adopter fuckwits to carry radioisotopes around in close proximity to their genitals could do wonders for the gene pool.

If the name of the company (Betavolt) is any indication, then decay mode of the isotopes used is beta radiation, AKA fast-travelling electrons. Those can be blocked by a thin layer of aluminium. My phone chassis is made of aluminium. I think they would be fine, at least in terms of radiation exposure.

50 years quite possibly ..

and then perhaps 50,000 years half life !

half life

Article claims that the isotopes used decay into a stable isotope of copper. Besides that, the radioactive half-life of a substance is inversely correlated with its radioactive intensity. Which makes sense if you think about it; stuff isn't going to remain fiercely hot for tens of thousands of years, where's the energy for that gonna come from?