16-04-2011, 03:26 PM
The device converts the energy stored in the radioactive material directly into motion. It could directly move the parts of a tiny machine or could generate electricity in a form more useful for many circuits than has been possible with earlier devices. This new approach creates a high-impedance source (the factor that determines the amplitude of the current) better suited to power many types of circuits, says Amil Lal, Cornell assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering. Also what if we considered an atomic powered laptop. Soon they will start making affordable solid state drives and oled screens which means laptops will require drastically less energy and therefore may be in the range of low power atomic batteries. This would be good on car trips or long plane flights where current batteries only last for about 1.5 hours.