nuclear batteries?

[blackbeard]

so i found this article online regarding powering a laptop with a nuclear battery.

http://www.danaquarium.com/article.php?story=20050218182306134

now what i'm wondering is where do i get these things! at least individual cells would be nice. apparently they are in pacemakers so they shouldn't be TOO hard to find.

[Soeren]

so i found this article online regarding powering a laptop with a nuclear battery.

http://www.danaquarium.com/article.php?story=20050218182306134

now what i'm wondering is where do i get these things! at least individual cells would be nice. apparently they are in pacemakers so they shouldn't be TOO hard to find.

I don't think these cells are - after all it would be hard to follow their own recommendations:

While Shephard says they are committed to safety, he does not recommend close exposure to an XCell-N powered laptop for more than 20 minutes a day.

Who can get by with 20 minutes a day? 
This has a long way to go before it can be released, so obviously, you cannot get them anywhere.

Consider a traffic accident where such a cell gets ripped open.
Don't be too eager on this.

[Challenger]

I wonder what terrorists are thinking about this 

[TrickyNekro]

I wonder what terrorists are thinking about this 

Ohh... I've been hearing the had some heart attacks lately... hahahaha...

Dude... If they want quantity there is a black market for them :-p

Don't let these thoughts make you "feel bad" for technology... After all this is where big oil companies are putting their bets at...

And even if you insist there is something called critical mass in particle physics... take a look at it...
Hmm I'm a terrorist in Afghanistan, what shall I do today... hmm... Let's order on million peacemakers for the sick yes...
You get the point I think....

And don't tell me that terrorists can get a particle accelerator without anyone knowing... 


Everyone is thinking how great the electric car is... Has anyone thought how terribly are we missing the "charge pots"...
And yes fusion is a solution here.... cold fusion of course, the other happens a little hotter let's say...

PS I don't want to make a fool of you saying the above, but it happens that if the Mr. Terrorist wants a bomb today, he will have it, either from Russia or corrupt US agents... or China and India (there are newer to the play ground)... Don't fall for this narrow-minded tactics and tricks... Please!!!

And let us not turn this to a political thread... There are many other forums for it... If you have anything extra to say Please PM me... but not on the forum...


BTW... nuclear cells are old technology... in let's say 3 years they have their 100 year birthday... :-p
It's only now that they are getting small....

And you imagine having a concrete laptop.... It would be literally a brick hehehe!!! :-p

[voyager2]

Very cool...
But:

XCell-N is prohibited in airports, government offices, schools,
hospitals, public transport, hotels, residential areas
or within 12 miles of food preparation areas

and

XCell-N also weighs substantially more than a regular laptop battery, coming in at 7 kilograms (15.4 lbs).

That just defeats the purpose of a laptop computer...
plus any "civilized" country is packed with schools, hospitals , and residential areas...

[photomark]

This technology is not new , they have been getting used in satellites for years , nuclear batteries are not really batteries but are more generators , I have no idea about them being used in pacemakers and even if they are I would NOT recommend any one pulling hem apart .

Any sort of nuclear power technology does NOT belong in a hobbyist back yard .




   

[blackbeard]

forget laptops. i want a robot that i can stick a battery in and never have to change! even if it had a small nuclear battery that would trickle charge the nimh batteries while the robot "slept" then that would be awesome. now for those thinking how horrible it would be for terrorists to get a hold of this remember that these batteries are powered by tritium, radium or many other isotopes that you or i could order online whenever we want! DX even offers a key-chain with a stick of tritium in it!

[Soeren]

Hi,

[...] remember that these batteries are powered by tritium, radium or many other isotopes that you or i could order online whenever we want! DX even offers a key-chain with a stick of tritium in it!

The miniscule amount of tritium in a meakly glowing keyhanger cannot be used to make any amount of useable power - and there's not a "stick of tritium" in it, just a tiny amount of radioactive gas and since tritium has got a half life of around 10 years, it is not gonna be usefull for "eternal" batteries).

I doubt it that you'd be allowed to buy any amount of radioactive material besides what you can dig out of a smoke detector (which is many times more dangerous than the tritium lights) and even if you could, you wouldn't be able to get it sent across a border.

[Gertlex]

Lol @ the weight of that thing.

Hi,

[...] remember that these batteries are powered by tritium, radium or many other isotopes that you or i could order online whenever we want! DX even offers a key-chain with a stick of tritium in it!

The miniscule amount of tritium in a meakly glowing keyhanger cannot be used to make any amount of useable power - and there's not a "stick of tritium" in it, just a tiny amount of radioactive gas and since tritium has got a half life of around 10 years, it is not gonna be usefull for "eternal" batteries).

I doubt it that you'd be allowed to buy any amount of radioactive material besides what you can dig out of a smoke detector (which is many times more dangerous than the tritium lights) and even if you could, you wouldn't be able to get it sent across a border.

The tritium has to be replenished, too.  (though that might be on the order of 10 years, like the half-life).

They've largely moved away from using Americium in smoke detectors, I'm pretty sure.

[Soeren]

Hi,

The tritium has to be replenished, too.  (though that might be on the order of 10 years, like the half-life).

I don't think they'd use tritium in a battery.
And I'd guess it would be the safest thing with use-once batteries, since they'll probably (whenever they'll be ready and mature - if ever) have a long life which will mean possible wear down of the encasing.

They've largely moved away from using Americium in smoke detectors, I'm pretty sure.

No, but the ones usually sold in dime-stores these days are of the optical variety. If you want the best coverage, you need one of each (optical and radioactive) as they each have their early warning strength with different types of fires (it's about the particle size, which is different in a smouldering fire contra a brisk fire).
I have a couple of the radioactive types and 6..8 of the optical types, mostly bought cheap to strip for parts - I really ought to put a few of them up though - would be a bit embarrassing if a load of smoke detectors was found in a box after a fire

[blackbeard]

Hi,

[...] remember that these batteries are powered by tritium, radium or many other isotopes that you or i could order online whenever we want! DX even offers a key-chain with a stick of tritium in it!

The miniscule amount of tritium in a meakly glowing keyhanger cannot be used to make any amount of useable power - and there's not a "stick of tritium" in it, just a tiny amount of radioactive gas and since tritium has got a half life of around 10 years, it is not gonna be usefull for "eternal" batteries).

I doubt it that you'd be allowed to buy any amount of radioactive material besides what you can dig out of a smoke detector (which is many times more dangerous than the tritium lights) and even if you could, you wouldn't be able to get it sent across a border.

don't you think i'd get bored of whatever i built after ten years anyway? also, who cares if if your laptop battery dies after working fine for 10 years! i don't really care if i make a robot powered by nuclear batteries dies in 10 years since all i would do is go out and buy a new one if for some odd reason i actually cared about something that i made 10 years ago. they'de probably have a better battery anyway.

[voyager2]

Hi,

[...] remember that these batteries are powered by tritium, radium or many other isotopes that you or i could order online whenever we want! DX even offers a key-chain with a stick of tritium in it!

The miniscule amount of tritium in a meakly glowing keyhanger cannot be used to make any amount of useable power - and there's not a "stick of tritium" in it, just a tiny amount of radioactive gas and since tritium has got a half life of around 10 years, it is not gonna be usefull for "eternal" batteries).

I doubt it that you'd be allowed to buy any amount of radioactive material besides what you can dig out of a smoke detector (which is many times more dangerous than the tritium lights) and even if you could, you wouldn't be able to get it sent across a border.

don't you think i'd get bored of whatever i built after ten years anyway? also, who cares if if your laptop battery dies after working fine for 10 years! i don't really care if i make a robot powered by nuclear batteries dies in 10 years since all i would do is go out and buy a new one if for some odd reason i actually cared about something that i made 10 years ago. they'de probably have a better battery anyway.

here! here!
excellent point!
How about a Mars rover though

[Gertlex]

My earlier comment about tritium replenishing was about Exit signs that Walmart uses... which was in my head, but never actually mentioned in this thread, durrr.