One hell of a fast burning cigarette. Harry
----- Original Message ---- > From: Stephen A. Lawrence <sa...@pobox.com> > To: vortex-l@eskimo.com > Sent: Sat, March 13, 2010 11:28:42 AM > Subject: Re: [Vo]:MIT's Bettery > > On 03/13/2010 11:07 AM, OrionWorks - Steven Vincent Johnson > wrote: > >From Terry, > > >> > href="http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2010/thermopower-waves-0308"; > target=_blank > >http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2010/thermopower-waves-0308 >> >> > <excerpt> >> >> "A previously unknown > phenomenon >> >> In the new experiments, each of these > electrically and thermally >> conductive nanotubes was coated with a > layer of a reactive fuel that >> can produce heat by decomposing. This > fuel was then ignited at one end >> of the nanotube using either a > laser beam or a high-voltage spark, and >> the result was a fast-moving > thermal wave traveling along the length >> of the carbon nanotube like > a flame speeding along the length of a lit >> fuse. Heat from the fuel > goes into the nanotube, where it travels >> thousands of times faster > than in the fuel itself. As the heat feeds >> back to the fuel > coating, a thermal wave is created that is guided >> along the > nanotube. With a temperature of 3,000 kelvins, this ring of >> heat > speeds along the tube 10,000 times faster than the normal spread >> of > this chemical reaction. The heating produced by that combustion, it >> > turns out, also pushes electrons along the tube, creating a >> > substantial electrical current. " >> > Additional > Excerpt: > > "After further development, the system now puts out > energy, in proportion > to its weight, about 100 times greater than an > equivalent weight > of lithium-ion battery." > And, > presumably, since the wave travels along the tubes at detonation speeds, it > puts out all that energy essentially at a single point in time, in the first > microsecond or so after the nanotubes are lit. This sounds somewhat > more exciting, even, than the exploding Macintosh laptops. Do we really > believe this is intended as a battery, or is it the first example of a > non-nuclear EMP device? __________________________________________________________________ Looking for the perfect gift? Give the gift of Flickr! http://www.flickr.com/gift/
