Nuclear Batteries

Background History

From your car to your cell phone to your calculators, batteries are used constantly in our everyday lives. But eventually these batteries die, and they need replacing or recharging. Well, this can often be a hassle and a pain, and could you imagine a world where the amount of replacing and recharging batteries was drastically reduced. This is where the idea for nuclear batteries was born. Since the 1950s, methods have been known to convert nuclear energy into electrical energy. As the field of nanotechnology rapidly grows, nuclear batteries are becoming more of a reality than just an idea.

How It Works

Similarly to a nuclear power plant, nuclear batteries convert radioactivity to electricity as opposed to storing electricity like in an ordinary battery. Like nuclear power plants, nuclear batteries let off small amounts of radiation which is very dangerous to humans. Even if the nanotechnology is developed, its radiation emission still makes it unusable to the public, but still has other real-world applications.

Impacts It Has On Society

Nuclear batteries can be developed to fuel spacecraft. Once launched into space, these batteries can last over 10 years. Other application would be implantable medical devices (IMDs). This would include small medical electronic devices like hearing aids. To make the technology possible, the radiation admitted would have to be lowered significantly. As of now, the nuclear technology is not advanced enough to make the nuclear batteries a realistic application in everyday life.

Related Engineering Fields

• Areospace Engineering
• Electric Engineering
• Energy Engineering
• Nanoengineering
• Nuclear Engineering
• Power Engineering
• Power Plant Engineering

Works Cited

Brown, Eric S. “The Atomic Battery.” MIT Technology Review, MIT Technology Review, 21 Oct. 2012, www.technologyreview.com/s/404293/the-atomic-battery/.

Park, Junwon. “Review and Preview of Nuclear Battery Technology.” Review and Preview of Nuclear Battery Technology, 3 Mar. 2017, large.stanford.edu/courses/2017/ph241/park-j1/.

Sebastian Anthony on September 19, 2014 at 11:38 am Comment. “This Nuclear Battery Could Power Your Smartphone Forever - as Long as You Don't Value Your Life or Sperm Count Too Highly.” ExtremeTech, 19 Sept. 2014, www.extremetech.com/extreme/190555-this-nuclear-battery-could-power-your-smartphone-forever-as-long-as-you-dont-value-your-life-or-sperm-count-too-highly.

Multimedia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=We51PWXoMjk
http://factor-tech.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/nuc.gif
https://inhabitat.com/uks-national-nuclear-laboratory-to-transform-waste-plutonium-into-batteries-for-spacecraft/

Brain-Computer Interfaces

What Are Brain-Computer Interfaces, How Do They Work, and When Were They Discovered/Invented?

Every time our brain functions neurons send small electronic signals as fast as 250 mph across our brains. Brain-computer interfaces are systems that use electrodes connected to the brain to detect these electrical signals to complete a simple task. In the 1960s many experiments were conducted on monkeys which kick-started the idea of brain-computer interfaces. Many scientists believe it is unsafe and inhumane to connect machines to the brains of humans and animals. It is also seen as unsafe because cutting into the brain to insert the machine can be life-threatening.

How Can They Be Used?

Current technology allows for the minor movement of prosthetic limbs and movement of a cursor on a computer screen. The goal is to give humans the ability to sense, control, and communicate with the world around them. This includes giving hearing to the deaf and giving sight to the blind. Some scientists go as far as saying that brain-computer interfaces could someday help humans connect with the world like never before, like turning off lights with a thought. 

Impacts on Society

Although the pros can seem undoubtedly substantial, in many cases the cons outweigh the pros. 

Pros

• Can give people abilities they always dreamed of: walking, moving prosthetics, vision
• Can give people unimagine abilities like turning off lights with a thought

Cons

• Can damage the brain upon installation
• Can be reverse-engineered to alter the mind of a person

As the technology of brain-computer interfaces advances, so will its impacts society. Although the technology may seem to be in its beginning stages, it is rapidly advancing and is soon to hit the marketplace. Companies BrainGate and Neuralink are leading the way in the creation and improvement of brain-computer interfaces.

Related Engineering Fields

• Biological Engineering
• Biomedical Engineering
• Biomolecular Engineering
• Computer Engineering
• Electronic Engineering

Works Cited

Grabianowski, Ed. “How Brain-Computer Interfaces Work.” HowStuffWorks, HowStuffWorks, 2 Nov. 2007, computer.howstuffworks.com/brain-computer-interface.htm.

Shih, Jerry J., et al. “Brain-Computer Interfaces in Medicine.” Mayo Clinic Proceedings, Mayo Foundation, Mar. 2012, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3497935/.

Wise, Jeff. “Brain-Computer Interfaces Are Already Here.” Bloomberg.com, Bloomberg, 7 Sept. 2017,www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2017-09-07/brain-computer-interfaces-are-already-here.

Multimedia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEd_fWilzF0

https://cdn.nanalyze.com/uploads/2017/01/Brain-Computer-Interface-Teaser.jpg

https://assets.bwbx.io/images/users/iqjWHBFdfxIU/iekQUsSWewk0/v1/-1x-1.jpg

http://graduateschool.colostate.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Chemical-Biological-Engineering.jpg