Tobacco Virus Could Boost Li Batteries 161
siliconbits alerts us to the possible use of one of the world's most destructive naturally occurring scourges, the tobacco mosaic virus, to boost the capacity of lithium ion batteries by 10 times. It seems the virus can be made to attach itself to the electrodes in a lithium cell perpendicularly, increasing the surface area of the electrode and greatly improving the battery's capacity to store energy. PhysOrg has some more detail on virus-enhanced batteries. Four years ago we discussed the use of the tobacco mosaic virus to enable fast-switching transistors.
Imagine the death star blowing up (Score:2)
That's what just happened to my mind.
Re: (Score:2)
So your co-workers heard a gentle pop and now you appear a little more glassy-eyed than usual?
Re: (Score:3)
Ever so slightly more glassy-eyed.
The scourge of mankind (Score:3, Interesting)
When you say "one of the world's most destructive naturally occurring scourges," are you referring to tobacco or the virus?
Signed,
to lazy to log in.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
Considering the frequency of dopamine-related mutations in humans that seem to require dopaminergic drugs for treatment (And our culture's current paralyzing fear of dopaminergics), it seems far too early to label tobacco a universal scourge.
How many murders or confrontations in general have been prevented by a dose of nicotine? How many suicides prevented due to its acute antidepressant effects? It's very difficult to quantify nicotine's benefits, and its negative effects are much more visible.
Not that I i
The Diamond Age (Score:2)
This should also lay to rest some of the more vehement rhetoric about 'grey goo' disasters; if there were going to be a 'grey goo' scenario, bacteria would have done it aeons ago.
Re: (Score:2)
we will probalby do that in the short term, then improve upon the technique so we don't need biologics.
Your comment about grey goo is akin to saying:
If there is going to be a nuclear explosion, uranium would of done it years ago.
Re: (Score:2)
This should also lay to rest some of the more vehement rhetoric about 'grey goo' disasters; if there were going to be a 'grey goo' scenario, bacteria would have done it aeons ago.
Humans have created more "grey goo" than bacteria ever could. Don't underestimate us.
Re: (Score:2)
Just FYI:
Most of the cell contained in your body are bacteria. Yes, thats correct There is less of you then the bacteria you carry around.
When taken by whimsy, Sometimes I think we evolved as a mechanize to efficiently move bacteria around.
Re: (Score:3)
in number you are correct but in weight you carry around only two to five pounds of bacteria
Re: (Score:2)
gut and brain sure : the cck4 neuropeptine can trigger a panic attack and it's receptor are in the brain
so bacteria->guts->brain is quite possible
Re: (Score:2)
Oh and by the way a peptine is : the proteolytic enzyme of gastric juice
Re: (Score:2)
In terms of area, the planet Earth is mostly uninhabited.
Where are the fast transistors? (Score:5, Insightful)
Four years ago we discussed the use of the tobacco mosaic virus to enable fast-switching transistors.
So where are the fast switching transistors? Does ANYTHING every come to fruition?
Re:Where are the fast transistors? (Score:5, Funny)
Not in this case, tobacco is a vegetable.
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Tomatoes are not vegetables either.
Whereas Tomacco [wikipedia.org] is both. And delicious. Addictively, addictively, delicious. Well, ok, not delicious. Pretty disgusting. But addictively, addictively, disgusting. And probably susceptible to TMV, as well. Darn the luck.
Re: (Score:3)
Really, it depends on what way you're speaking. In a horticultural (applied plant science)/culinary sense, vegetables are plant parts usually used in savory food, typically annuals, regardless if what you eat is leaf, petiole, root, tuber, stem, flower head, bud, seed, fruit, ect. Botanically, pure plant science, it's true that the term vegetable has no meaning. Confusion can arise with things like tomatoes because the term fruit has different meanings; as a horticultural or culinary term, it is someth
Re: (Score:2)
You said woody.
Re:Where are the fast transistors? (Score:5, Insightful)
No, nothing ever does. Which is sad because if it did then we could talk to each other over great distance using some sort of boxes.
Re: (Score:2)
Get off my lawn.. (Score:5, Funny)
Pre-loaded! (Score:2)
My notebook batteries came pre-loaded with a virus!
Confused... (Score:4, Funny)
It's both. (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
10-fold increase? (Score:4, Interesting)
Gasoline has an energy density of about 34 MJ/L, while current Li-ion batteries have an energy density of around 0.7 MJ/L. If this comes to fruition, we'll have batteries with about 1/5th of the energy density of gasoline. That's quite amazing, in my opinion.
What if that battery is pierced, though? I know that the Tesla rig uses a slew of small cells. Do other electric cars like the Volt or the Leaf do the same thing? It seems to me that a number of small cells might present less of a problem, though that would drive the energy density of a battery pack down.
Re:10-fold increase? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2)
You have simply moved the combustion for energy from your engine to the power plant down the street.
That's already a big deal. The plant down the street is way more efficient than a car.
The only true answer to our car emissions problem is hydrogen fuel.
Ah, yes, because generating/storing hydrogen is soooo efficient.
Re: (Score:2)
The only true amswer to our car emissions problem is hydrogen fuel.
And where does the hydrogen come from? As it stands, the internal combustion engine is the worst offender when it comes to car emissions. All the alternatives, including hydrogen and electric, are significantly better.
Li (Lithium) != Li-Ion (Lithium Ion) (Score:3)
As I discovered, much to my consternation, after buying a Kodak digital camera which came with an included “Kodak lithium digital camera battery”:
Lithium batteries are not rechargeable. Lithium ion batteries are.
Big difference.
Re: (Score:2)
Lithium batteries in NVRAM (Score:2)
lithium batteries are sufficiently unstable that they are banned from commercial aircraft and US mail.
Then explain why I'm allowed to mail a Game Pak of The Legend of Zelda, which contains a CR2032 lithium battery to power an 8 KiB SRAM. Or have classic video game dealers been breaking the law all this time?
Finally! (Score:2)
With a battery like this, my Sprint EVO might last a full workday on a single charge!!!
That's a lot of virus! (Score:2)
"On average, one acre of tobacco can produce approximately 2,100 pounds of leaf tissue, yielding approximately one pound of TMV per pound of infected leaves," he explains.
Those leaves are 100% TMV? Yuck!
I think that should read '1 lb/ton'.
Riiight... (Score:2)
If you combine all the claims of new technologies that enable 10x the capacity for batteries, we should be seeing AA cells that can hold enough power to run the planet for a year.
I'll believe it when I can buy it from Canadian Tire.
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
Actually, it's the smoking that gives you all those nasty ailments. Why not try a minty e-cigarette instead loaded with satiating tobacco?
Also, you can email your friends with your cigarette if you sign up for the $40/month e-cigarette data plan!
Re: (Score:2)
When not just chew gum?
Re:Scourge? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2)
Have a drug delivery system where dosage of an addictive substances is adjust by the user will not end well. The nicotine content is already trending upwards in vaporized cigarettes
People using those things look like idiots. The more you know.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I have a friend that hacks his ecigs to make them hotter like that, he also has a custom cigarette pack sized LIon battery pack for long trips.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I use a RIVA battery [liberty-flights.com] (available in a 901 or 510 style thread). My atomizer is a low resistance SLB 901 [madvapes.com] I also use an aluminum dripper tip [madvapes.com]
I might suggest a regular resistance atomizer for use with the RIVA as you can sometimes end up with a sort of burned taste. It takes some experimenting to figure out what works best for you. Your best bet is to head over to the E-Cig Forum [e-cigarette-forum.com] and doing a bit of reading. There's a lot to choose from and you should be able to make a more well informed decision based on what y
Re: (Score:2)
I agree, we must ban Tea and Coffee now.
Those vile addicts keep making their drinks stronger and stronger by using more leaves/grounds and longer steeping times.
Re: (Score:2)
The lozenges are good. It's basically just like dip (sustained release and stronger dose; what's not to love?) except that you put it in your cheek, like chaw, instead of behind your lip. As a bonus, there's no disgusting spit or oral cancer (AFAIK -- I'm not a doctor).
If you really want to quit nicotine, though, the patch works pretty well. It provides just enough nicotine to keep you from killing your neighbors, but not enough that it won't take significant willpower to resist other forms, which means
Re:Scourge? (Score:5, Informative)
Sorry, I don't consider a virus that primarily damages tobacco plants to be a scourge.
It affects all nightshades, including tomatoes, peppers and eggplant.
Re:Scourge? (Score:4, Funny)
I hate eggplant even more than I hate lunh cancer!
So the virus is still 2/4 in my book. Still not a scourge.
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Scourge? (Score:4, Interesting)
I used to hate eggplants too bacause I always was served goopy overbaked eggplant.
But then I discovered that they are best prepared sliced, battered and fried. Delicious.
Re:Scourge? (Score:4, Interesting)
Balderdash! The key to preparing eggplant is the following two steps:
1) Slice the eggplant into ~ 1.5 cm - 2 cm slices. Salt one side of each slice. Reassemble eggplant, wrapping with cling wrap to hold it together. Let it rest for ~30 minutes until all the bitter juices leech out, and then wipe each slice dry.
2) Roast or grill eggplant for a couple minutes, until it looks like it has started cooking.
Then, do whatever you want with it.
Also, it helps to know that the eggplant has "male" and "female" fruit, and that the female fruit has a more bitter flavor.
Re: (Score:2)
Also, it helps to know that the eggplant has "male" and "female" fruit, and that the female fruit has a more bitter flavor.
Ok, I’ll bite... someone had to ask. We’re all wanting to know how you tell them apart.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
My favorite eggplant recipe is as follows:
Take one eggplant, cut in ~3/8" slices. Lightly bread each side with Italian seasoned crumbs and grated Parmesan cheese, then toss delicately into a medium pail of garbage. Repeat the process if you need more practice, otherwise remove the veal cutlets from the fridge and make dinner.
Re:Scourge? (Score:4, Funny)
I used to hate eggplants too bacause I always was served goopy overbaked eggplant. But then I discovered that they are best prepared sliced, battered and fried. Delicious.
So what does that prove. *EVERYTHING* is best prepared sliced, battered, and fried: Cheese, Mars Bars, cardboard, you name it.
Re: (Score:2)
Yeah this sounds dubious: http://www.friedbeer.net/ [friedbeer.net]
Re: (Score:2)
Then there's moussaka, which is goopy baked eggplant, but usually with some minced meat in it
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parmigiana [wikipedia.org]
Interesting, I thought you meant that you created dried, grated, eggplant and thought it looked like grated Parmesan cheese. But it seems to me that this is a dish not well known in the Netherlands. It seems that - at least according to the Wikipedia page - eggplant Parmesan came first, so your family is actually preparing the original Italian dish again.
Re: (Score:2)
I prefer Asian eggplant, especially when prepared as Thai Basil Eggplant; I have it every week
Re: (Score:2)
Kid Icarus flashbacks....ugh!
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
It attack both tobacco plants, hop and weed? Are we sure it does not also infect politicians?
Re: (Score:2)
So there are a number of ways this could go wrong.
Somehow I see a parrallel here between computer security and the use of a virus to manufacture a product. Security makes it hard and less efficient, so lets do without security until all hell breaks loose and then we'll sit shaking our heads wondering or thinking we should have been more careful.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Sorry, I don't consider a virus that primarily damages tobacco plants to be a scourge.
Cancer, heart disease, and emphasema, now those are scourges. But a virus that kills their primary pathogen? Nope.
The virus is also a "scourge" on tomato, pepper, potato and other plants of the family. I've heard of it wiping out entire crops.
Re: (Score:2)
I like having the freedom to breathe air that isn't tainted by your smoke. Smoke in your own house, and nobody will bother you.
To tie this back to the topic: it will be interesting to see if this virus will actually spread, as a result of this new use. If it does, maybe we won't have to worry so much about non-smokers' rights. If I were a conspiracy theorist, I might even suggest that this is an attempt to destroy the nicotine crops. Ha.
Re: (Score:2)
I like having the freedom to breathe air that isn't tainted by your smoke.
Then don't stand near me. Seriously, the risks of second hand smoke in an outdoor area are very small compared to the risks indoors. You are willing to tolerate diesel fumes, which are also pretty bad for you (and contain many dangerous carcinogens and heavy metals); tobacco smoke is just a fun punching bag.
it will be interesting to see if this virus will actually spread
This virus has already spread and it causes a lot of crop damage each year, not just to tobacco but to plenty of other nightshade crops: tomatoes, peppers, potatoes. If tobacco is wiped out by this
Re: (Score:2)
>>> Then don't stand near me.
Then don't stand near the doors of the building, or in the way on the sidewalk. Smoke in the middle of the street and you won't infringe upon non-smoker pedestrians. Or put a trash bag over your head before you light up. Either way, your choice.
>>> Seriously, the risks of second hand smoke in an outdoor area are very small compared to the risks indoors.
Doesn't matter, it's the smell not the tiny chance of cancer.
>>> You are willing to tolerate diese
Re: (Score:2)
If I make known to you that I don't like it when you fart right next to me, and you compromise by farting in the bathroom instead, I have zero right to bitch about the bathroom smelling like farts.
Re: (Score:2)
Wait. People don't like the smell of farts, so people aren't supposed to fart anywhere? Good luck with that crusade.
Re: (Score:2)
I like having the freedom to breathe air that isn't tainted by your smoke.
Then don't stand near me.
I figure if you're free to smoke around me then I'm free to carry a tank of pure O2 and stream it into the air around you. We'll see who catches fire first.
Re: (Score:3)
Your smoking, on the other hand, contributes jack and squat.
His smoking contributes to making him happy and/or satisfied. You could very easily say the same thing about gay sex.
Especially given how some smokers, when foul weather hits, seem to think its their god given right to blockade the entrances and exits to building so that they can light up. Same with bus shelters and crowded streets.
You see, that's not a problem caused by smoking or by cigarettes.
You have a problem with people who are stupid, rude, and inconsiderate of you. However, there's a statistical link between people with those traits and smoking. There are further links between such and poverty. How cute that they all line up, eh?
Maybe if we use some of those exploitive cigarette taxes to fund education and
Re: (Score:2)
Especially given how some smokers, when foul weather hits, seem to think its their god given right to blockade the entrances and exits to building so that they can light up.
I do it on purpose for all the people who voted to take our rights away (I live in Wisconsin, ban was enacted July 5th). There is no demand for non smoking bars (not where I live anyway). If there was there would have been non-smoking bars before the ban and bars wouldn't be going out of business, shortening their hours and closing on Mondays.
Re: (Score:3)
Even I, a non-smoker, get angry when people try to impose things on smokers, because an attack on someone's freedom to do something that doesn't harm others is an attack on my freedom to do the same. And no, I'm not talking about restrictions on smoking in public spaces where the smoke affects others; I'm talking about restrictions/taxes on smoking on private property where the smoke doesn't drift on
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Even I, a non-smoker, get angry when people try to impose things on smokers, because an attack on someone's freedom to do something that doesn't harm others is an attack on my freedom to do the same. And no, I'm not talking about restrictions on smoking in public spaces where the smoke affects others; I'm talking about restrictions/taxes on smoking on private property where the smoke doesn't drift on to neighboring property and the property owner is OK with smoking.
How about the increase in the cost of my healthcare due to people with tobacco induced illnesses who can't pay their medical bills?
It's really quite simple. There are people who create and sell an addictive product which kills people. They know it, we know it, the idiots who kill themselves with the product know it, and at least in the US, we subsidize the process with tax breaks for the industry and 'free' emergency room care for the idiots. The manufacturers and sellers of tobacco, and the politicians w
Re: (Score:3)
All that and your conclusion is not that the system of socialized healthcare is unfair, but that smokers are exploiting it and should just be allowed to die so you can stay on your socialized healthcare without having to pay for their medical costs. Amazing.
Re: (Score:2)
Actually, that's a bit off target.
The truth is, I was using a bit of hyperbole to point out that 'personal freedom' is rarely as simple as it seems, and that one's actions often carry consequences not only beyond the obvious, but beyond one's knowledge. Also, I've noticed that the people who make the most noise about personal freedom often are the same ones who complain most loudly about how they are affected by other people's actions. So I turned a common argument from that quarter back on the source, so t
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
and then when that guy smoking a private property comes down with lung cancer, we have to pay for his treatment
and he won't have health insurance, because according to him, to be forced to get health insurance is evil socialism, an affront on his freedom
of course, he'll take the healthcare he can't afford without insurance, to save his ignorant ass, anyway, because his "ideology" is worth shit: its just an excuse to freeload off responsible people, by not carrying insurance, but expecting treatment he can't
Re: (Score:2)
Before anyone tries shooting me down over this, yes I smoke and I occasionally drink.
Good luck getting your third chemo dose with no insurance and no money paid to date. Hit by a car? Sure, we'll patch you up. Something stupid and long-term like smoking-induced lung cancer? Go screw yourself. Hospitals are not specialists, but oncologists are specialists that can and will demand cash up front from the uninsured (even if they work in a hospital). This is not the problem you make it out to be, and you
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
/facepalm
I can't be expected to read now, can I?
Re: (Score:2)
No such thing. Allergies occur due to reactions to proteins, those all get burned. You are either a liar or your sister has another problem.
Re: (Score:3)
Weight-for-weight tomatoes probably sell for less than tobacco, thus are less profitable. Would you put the effort into protecting a more profitable crop, or less profitable?
Re: (Score:2)
In some parts of the country, cigs go for eight bucks A PACK. Show me an "inspected and cared for" tomato going for 8 bucks...
Re: (Score:3)
In some parts of the country, cigs go for eight bucks A PACK. Show me an "inspected and cared for" tomato going for 8 bucks...
It's not the cigs that cost that much. It's all the sin-taxes put one them that make them that expensive. Tobacco is relatively cheap.
Re: (Score:2)
In some parts of the country, cigs go for eight bucks A PACK. Show me an "inspected and cared for" tomato going for 8 bucks...
It's not the cigs that cost that much. It's all the sin-taxes put one them that make them that expensive. Tobacco is relatively cheap.
You are right that the taxes are high on cigs. But, when compared to tomatoes... no it's not cheap. Tobacco goes for around $1.50/lb on the US wholesale market depending on the variety, harvest, etc. Tomatoes go for around $.40/lb on the US wholesale market. Remember, tomatoes are 98% water...
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
In some parts of the country, cigs go for eight bucks A PACK. Show me an "inspected and cared for" tomato going for 8 bucks...
It's not the cigs that cost that much. It's all the sin-taxes put one them that make them that expensive. Tobacco is relatively cheap.
Actually, it's the health care and lost productivity costs that make them so expensive, both to the user and to society at large. The taxes are just a down payment.
Re: (Score:2)
Actually smokers tend to die young, and on the balance pay far more in taxes than they cost.
The More You Know......
Re: (Score:2)
Maybe more people eat tomatoes, but there's probably more money in tobacco.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
except it would take tomatoes with it as well. Won't someone think of the pizza!!!
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
The tobacco plant is not evil (how can a plant be evil?) and its extinction would not necessarily be a good thi
Re: (Score:2)
This isn't a genetically-enhanced super virus or anything, it is a common virus. Granted, assuming the process does not disable the virus, there is the slight chance that an exploded (or improperly disposed of) battery could infect a nearby field, but it is far more likely that the virus . We are talking about a 10-fold increase in capacity here, though. That is huge. Assuming it scales linearly, the Nissan Leaf's 100 mile average capacity would be expanded to 1000 miles. I drive a ton for work, and that me
Re: (Score:2)
If, as I fervently hope, batteries like these become available for EVs in the next few years, we still have one big problem - CHARGING them. Gasoline holds about 36 kWh per US Gal - 50% more than the entire 100-mile battery pack of the Nissan Leaf. So, using the LEAF as a guide, a 1000-mile battery would be at least 240 kWh, which would take ONE HUNDRED hours on household current.
So, if you're planning a long trip, either you'll need 2 EVs, to plug-in everywhere you go in the week preceding your departure o
Re: (Score:2)
I'm well aware of vehicle to grid; it's one of the features of the Better Place plan that I like. I'm not even talking about strain on the grid either. I fully believe that the grid is capable of meeting the near-term demand for EVs. What I'm targeting here is the (in)ability to charge the "SuperBattery" - even if you could deliver the amount of power required to fill it up in a reasonable time - to charge a battery at the same rate that you pump gas, you'd need a 1.5 - 2.0 MegaWatt line.
Charging stations w