Rechargeable batteries are the brawn behind the brains of today’s portable electronic devices. But unless a cell phone dies in the middle of a call, or you are trying to determine which of your six charging devices to stuff into a suitcase before a flight, you might not give batteries much thought.
Cnet News has a full list on tips on how to get the most on battery life.
Succeeding last year’s Mega Player 521, MSI’s Mega Player 540 digital audio / video player is housed in a white case, has a 4GB HDD, and even sports a solar cell built onto the back the of the device to power the player and recharge its battery. Providing a balance between ease of use and functionality.
Some of the specs: play MP3, WMA, WMA with DRM audio files or M-JPEG video files, show JPEG graphic files, listen to the FM radio broadcasts via the built in FM tuner and record voice.
Source: Bios Magazine
A strain of bacteria that releases electrons as a waste product could become the secret ingredient for developing fuel cells for spy drones and other small robots.
Researchers at Rice University and the University of Southern California have embarked on a project to harness the power of Shewanella oneidensis, a microorganism that essentially spits lightning. Rather than consume oxygen to turn food into energy, Shewanella consumes metals.
The waste product of its metabolic process comes in the form of excess electrons stripped from the metals but not recombined in subsequent chemical reactions. The bacteria lives in soil, water and other environments and can extract its necessary nutrients from a variety of materials.
