Nuclear batteries could help power the electronics attached to insect spies...they may also prove effective against Godzilla.
They don’t have the pomp and flair of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but Nuclear Cyborg Insect Spies are still shell-shocking researchers in the world of miniaturized electronics. We’ve already reported on how DARPA funded research teams are using electrodes to control insects in flight to adapt them for surveillance. The associated group at Cornell, however, is trying to solve the problem of getting cyborg bugs to carry heavy batteries. The solution: ditch traditional chemical cells and use light weight nuclear power instead. Amit Lal and his team are adapting a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) that generates electricity from radioactive decay to work with the flying insect project. They recently presented their work at the International Electron Devices Meeting sponsored by IEEE. The nuclear powered MEMS doesn’t use fusion or fission but rather harnesses the natural release of power from an unstable isotope, Nickel-63, as it turns into copper. These MEMS nuclear batteries won’t just power the insect spies of the future, they could provide electricity for all sorts of micro devices, allowing them to run for a hundred years without a recharge.
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