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US and Britain plan cyborg warriors |
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Investigations
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Written by Danny Penman
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 It may have been one small step for the grasshoppers but it was one giant leap for mankind: scientists in Texas have implanted tiny biofuel cells into insects.
American chemists developed the implantable biofuel cell – which runs off the body’s own glucose - to power electronic devices such as pacemakers and biosensors. But it is also likely to be used to power a whole range of new devices being developed by the military.
The army is interested in using the implantable generator to power miniature biosensors that detect a soldiers’ state of mind and physical fitness. It could also be used to power electronic ‘dog tags’, ‘friend or foe’ detectors, and a sensor that detects nerve gases and automatically dispenses an antidote.
“Bio-monitoring is very important for us,” says Colin Smedley, chief systems engineer for BAE Systems’ Future Infantry Soldier Technology development team. “Commanders need to constantly know the battle-readiness of their men.”
“Anything that can do this whilst reducing the number of batteries required is of interest to us. Even something as simple as reducing the number of wires hanging off a soldier would be a great benefit.”
The biofuel cell consists of a pair of fine, 2 cm long carbon fibre electrodes. One electrode is coated with a polymer and the enzyme glucose oxidase. This enzyme removes electrons from glucose. The other electrode is coated with the enzyme bilirubin oxidase, which adds electrons to dissolved oxygen. This reaction generates a small electric current. The only waste products are gluconolactone and water.
At present, the biofuel cell generates only about 2 microwatts of power – sufficient for a wristwatch. It also loses about six per cent of its generating capacity per day. But its developer, Adam Heller at the University of Texas at Austin, says that he expects to be able to triple its power output and significantly extend its working life.
The fuel cell has so far run successfully in grapes and green peppers. A smaller prototype – consisting of 3 millimetre long electrodes – has been tested in grasshoppers. Both died withing fifteen minutes.
“We don’t know why they died,” says Nicolas Mano, Heller’s co-worker.
Despite the military interesr, Heller says the biofuel cell is ideally suited for powering miniature “peaceful research tools” such as tracking devices for migrating birds. These would incorporate a GPS receiver, a capacitor and a radio transmitter.
“Normally the size limiting component is the battery,” says Heller. “Using the biofuel cell we will be able to make sensors less than a millimetre square. This opens up a huge range of possibilities.”
He also expects the biofuel cells to be incorporated into sensors for diabetics. These would automatically dispense enough insulin to stabilise blood sugar levels. Similar machines could be used to deliver painkillers to cancer patients as soon as an increase in stress hormones was detected.
Tony Cass, Professor of biology at Imperial College, says that the biofuel sensor is a significant development.
“There are myriad applications for it but I would expect some work would be needed to ‘stealth’ the fuel cell so that it doesn’t induce an immune response in the body,” says Cass.
Ultimately, Heller aims to miniaturise the technology so that it will fit inside a single blood cell. This would incorporate a range of biosensors that would constantly transmit data.
“So long as you don’t need much power, there’s really no limit to how small you can make such devices. The technology really is here to make these things fit inside an individual cell,” says Heller.
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"now my jeans need a belt"
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Mysteries and the Unexplained |
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 Supernatural frogs falling
from the sky, mysterious airships, spontaneous human combustion...
it all fascinated Charles Fort, whose appetite for the paranormal
lives on today in sci-fi, conspiracy theories and that quirky
chronicle of the unknown, the Fortean Times.
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 The spirit of Montague Keen watched helplessly as his body was loaded
into an ambulance. His wife, Veronica, stared blankly into the
distance, tears flooding down her face. Her friends whispered words of
hope, but in her heart she knew her husband was dead.
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 It sounds ridiculous and terrifying in equal measure but could hypnotism replace general anaesthetics in surgery? Many doctors certainly think so. Belgian surgeons have carried out over 6,000 operations using only hypnosis to dull the pain including hysterectomies and major abdominal surgery....
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Health news |
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Ever wanted to lose weight permanently? Lorna Houldsworth appeared on Channel 4's Richard & Judy programme as a weight-loss guinea pig. Lorna was a depressed serial dieter who had never succeeded in losing weight. Here she describes how she managed to permanently lose weight and become a happier, more contented person.
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Latest news |
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Strange Tales 11: Which Story is False? |
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Can you tell fact from fiction? Play our game. Read the four stories presented. Three of the stories are true, but one of them has been completely manufactured. Detect which...
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Animal Stories |
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 Over the coming days tens of thousands of baby seals will be clubbed and hacked to death off Canada’s east coast. Hundreds of thousands more will be shot and left to die. The lucky ones will die swiftly. Many will suffer long lingering deaths….
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 'Cultural tradition' or the world's cruellest sport? Horse-fighting is big business in the Philippines and has a huge following. Here we reveal the true horror of horse-fighting.... |
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 As the early morning mist curled around Dracula's castle, the three bears cautiously sniffed the air and stepped gingerly out of their cages. It was the first time they'd been free of their tiny prison cells for at least a decade......
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NewsMonster recommends |
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Ever since mankind first began painting on cave walls, eerie but familiar beings and objects in the sky have been depicted.
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Gadget Reviews |
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 In a word “Amazing”. There’s no other way of describing these Denon
earphones. They produce wonderful sound, are built to last and look
pretty cool too.
Newsmonster tested these earphones over a couple of months so that we
could pick up on those niggling little faults that only show up after a
lot of heavy use. These earphones are one of the few things we’ve
tested which didn’t seem to have any faults at all. We dropped them too
often, trod on them and used them in the pouring rain. Nothing seemed
to phaze ‘em. They’re as tough as old boots (probably because they’re
made of chunks of machined aluminium) and sound wonderful too.
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