Paper: Helping students read, workers appear busy and people with pica eat since before common era. And now, thanks to technology, this object of both love and distain can be used as a battery.
A team of researchers in New York developed a sheet of paper that can both store and discharge energy, according to LiveScience. The team did this by covering a sheet of paper with carbon nanotubes - which is just a fancy way of saying "little tubes made out of graphite" - and soaking it in salt water.
My favorite part about it is that the batteries are biodegradable, unlike the kind that explode all over my seemingly-ancient electronics. There's nothing like cleaning out the garage or a spare room and finding that nasty battery-juice - also called potassium hydroxide - leaking from your Duracells.*
Another amazing quality of the paper battery is that it can charge itself using human blood or sweat, according to Discover Magazine. This could prove useful in powering medical devices, such as artificial pacemakers, which remain inside the body.
I'm sure you could come up with other uses for this wonder-paper, as batteries are as common as bottled water. The batteries may even put the Energizer bunny to shame, as the researchers told Live Science that they hope to print these batteries from a computer one day.
But please, whatever you plan to do with these batteries in the future - whether they're used to power your car or your remote control - I suggest you don't eat them.**
*Don't pretend that it hasn't happened to you. It happens to the best of us.
**I'm looking at you, pica-chew.
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