Coin-Sized “Eternity” Batteries With Radioactive Contents

This is some pretty cool stuff. A team of scientists from the University of Missouri reports a break-through in battery technology. The scientists have created a battery with the size of a small coin, able to contain a million times as much capacity than a regular battery and last for hundreds of years.

It contain a radioactive material which slowly “decay” and then emancipate particles that converts to electricity. This type of batteries are already being used in the military and space programs, but are often much bigger than the prototype the Missouri based team of scientists created.

One of the problems faced by the scientists was the breaking down of semiconductors that were used to create electricity from the particles, before the battery actually was supposed to run out. This new type of battery uses fluid semiconductors where the old ones were solid.

But the biggest problem with the battery might not even be technical – but more so the challenge of convincing the public on how safe it is to walk around with small atom batteries. The scientists claims the technology is completely safe and is already being used in lots of things ranging from pacemakers to satellites.

Mr. Scientist, can I please try one of those fancy batteries in my iPhone 3GS?

[via TheRegister]