The evolution of the battery (along with other technology) has made it possible for the birth of such energy-hungry devices as laptop computers, cellular phones, and iPods.
However revolutionary these batteries may be, consumers can agree that they are still pretty chunky. In fact, most of the weight from cells and laptops can be attributed to the heft of their batteries. The removal of the rechargeable Lithium-ion battery from a modern Nokia reveals that its power source is much heavier than the remaining phone.
To cut the unnecessary weight, researchers have decided it's time to get viral.
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are developing a new Lithium-ion battery containing the active M13 virus. This new rechargeable power source is thin, lightweight, and translucent.
"You could laminate on the battery just like you would a picture," says Angela Belcher, the leading scientist in the MIT project.
What about the fact of having a virus attached to your precious purchase? According to MIT, the virus is completely harmless (to humans and electronic devices) and holds "more than three times the energy of a conventional electrode" because of its breakthrough design.
The virus is genetically altered to interact with ions and soaked in conductor-rich metals, making the combination a small yet extremely mighty mixture.
Don't toss out the brick quite yet, though, as the M13-powered (ooh, doesn't that sound cool) battery will not be on the market for another five years.
Information for this post was obtained from Michael Stroh's article "Powered by Germs."
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