Micro-Electromechanical Structures

It's not as good as issue 086's "Warp Bubbles In Negative Mass" title, but the physical technology is as good ... even if it is radioactive.

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin have announced they have won a US$450,000 grant from the US Department of Energy to develop hair width-sized, nuclear-powered batteries for use with miniature electronic devices. Tech.

Known as, or MEMS devices, they are about 60 to 70 microns wide and could be used in batteries to power devices such as medical or environmental monitoring equipment or in tiny sensors in cars that check the viscosity and temperature of axle grease to ensure safety, said James Blanchard, associate professor of nuclear engineering at UW.

"We think we'll have prototype batteries in less than a year." Yehaa.

For those that really care, the batteries would work not by employing nuclear fission or fusion, but by harnessing the natural decay of the radioactive materials. Just think, Homer and doughnuts. This can be done either by using the emitted particles as the direct energy source or by harnessing the heat they can create for power, Blanchard said.

Mr Blanchard went on to assure us that the fallout from using the radioactive devices won't make all our hair fall out and spawn a third nipple, or so he says: "The volume we use is so small that the radiation you get is less than standing next to a concrete wall," Blanchard explained. "There's more radiation coming out of concrete." Maybe he's been banging his head against that wall too long.

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