MIT developing hairy capacitors, Energizer Bunny weeps

Check it grandpa, 'cause your 18th century inventions are set to change modern portable electronics in a big way. Those neomaxizoomdweebies over at MIT have discovered a process whereby capacitors -- those little stored energy devices knocking dim-witted TV tinkerers on their asses for decades -- can be slathered at the electrodes with nanotubes thereby increasing the surface density to store more energy. So just like a thick fuzzy towel soaks up more slop than a bedside sock, these new capacitors can be kept small and store the equivalent energy of today's chemical batteries. Why do you care? Well, the device could potentially be recharged hundreds of thousands of times and in only a matter of seconds saving you time and the environment, heartburn. Prototypes are expected within the next few months with actual product hitting the market in less than five years. Fuel cells, fool cells, bring on the capacitors!

[oshean @ Jun 9th 2006 8:08AM]

More slop than a bedside sock? ROFL.

[rj @ Jun 9th 2006 8:16AM]

it's amazing how batteries haven't really progressed technologically with everything else. still seems like my duracell battery still lasts just about as long as it did 15 years ago. sure they've gotten some fancier names over the years but i don't think they have really improved all that much. hopefully this new technology will aid in the development of some truly longer lasting batteries and speed up the recharge time of them as well. it would be amazing if i could just recharge my mp3 player or camera in just a few minutes as opposed to the several hours currently available.

[Andy @ Jun 9th 2006 8:16AM]

I've never heard of the Duracell Bunny. Energizer Bunny maybe. Interesting stuff either way.

[king-Dom @ Jun 9th 2006 8:22AM]

Rj i totally agree. I'm think what size new phones and laptops are going to be in the future since it seems to be the size of the battery at the moment that determines the size of the product.

fast forward five years...

[hesh @ Jun 9th 2006 8:23AM]

Um, isn't it the Energizer bunny?

[Gregor @ Jun 9th 2006 8:37AM]

There certainly *is* a Duracell bunny - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duracell_Bunny
Just not in America. So you Yanks get your facts straight!

[jcg @ Jun 9th 2006 8:38AM]

http://idun.sandsgaard.dk/archives/2005/01/Duracell_bunny.gif

Look a duracell bunny

[dhi @ Jun 9th 2006 8:43AM]

This is the realisation of Peter F Hamiltion's giga-conductor. In his SF universe this changed the balance of power (sorry) in favour of a British company, Event Horizon, that subsequently developed electric aeroplanes and a whole slew of new transportation tecnologies. Sort of the Microsoft of transportation as everything needed their patented giga-conductor technology.

It's actually quite a neat idea. Petroleum is just a liquid with energy densely packed in a liquid form. Hydrogen is less dense and so less good for transportation. But a Giga-Conductor means that extremely high density energy in the form of electricity removes the need for an oil economy... though you still need to generate the electricity in the first place.

Certainly this was needed in his universe with the seas having risen due to global warming. Perhaps this will help in ours.

One caveat though - deus ex machina rules his literary universe: very unfortunate...

[GhostDoggy @ Jun 9th 2006 8:46AM]

I'm still waiting on the AAA-sized fusion generators.

[Clay @ Jun 9th 2006 9:25AM]

Let's smack one of these into my iPod. Thing lasts 2 hours and takes an entire day to charge.

[Simon @ Jun 9th 2006 9:38AM]

Sounds great, execpt for the "less than five years". Even if "less", it still an awful long time, by todays standards.

[Brian @ Jun 9th 2006 9:41AM]

Totally agree with dhi.

[Alcaron @ Jun 9th 2006 9:52AM]

"neomaxizoomdweebies"

Hahahahaha, normally I think the "lets be funny" around here is way too forced, but that made me laugh hard, lol.

[Todd @ Jun 9th 2006 9:54AM]

Thomas Ricker wrote: "...So just like a thick fuzzy towel soaks up more slop than a bedside sock..."

Aw damn - that's a Hall of Fame level use of the language. More of the same, please - hilarious.

[matt jackson @ Jun 9th 2006 10:33AM]

awesome!

[Ben Grogan @ Jun 9th 2006 10:37AM]

You know what strikes me is how an electric or hybrid car with some of these would be interesting. Drive 100-200 miles, then top off the electricity in 5 minutes. It seems like this shouldn't work, but I can't see why not.

[Doug001 @ Jun 9th 2006 10:38AM]

FYI:
"neomaxizoomdweebie" - movie reference (The Breakfast Club)
Capacitors are fully charged in seconds, not minutes

TMI:
towels and socks

[R055 @ Jun 9th 2006 10:42AM]

I think Mr. Ricker has been reading too many Fark headlines...its starting to rub off.

[Eric @ Jun 9th 2006 10:49AM]

This is an excellent advancement for energy storage. The energy density must be phenomenal. A good trial for this type of technology would be air-conditioning in a desert environment to test the staying power.

[Dom @ Jun 9th 2006 11:27AM]

A capacity covered in threads... is that a Flax Capacitor?

[bigmouthstrikesagain @ Jun 9th 2006 12:14PM]

Duracell had a Bunny mascot first, the Energizer Bunny was a spoof, which was a lot more successful than the original and outlasted it.

as for the invention, anything that cuts down on battery useage and recharging time is a good thing.

[Vincent @ Jun 9th 2006 12:30PM]

"Look a duracell bunny"

Yup, before you guys go flame them for a "typo" do your research. Duracell HAD a bunny. d=

[tai viinikka @ Jun 9th 2006 3:45PM]

Drive 100-200 miles, then top off the electricity in 5 minutes. It seems like this shouldn't work, but I can't see why not.

The current to do that would be insane. Hybrid car batteries charge for hours, not only because the batteries are chemical-based, but also because your household service can only supply so much current.

It's definitely NOT impossible.. but it might require a lot of new wiring at the pumping station!

[jcg @ Jun 9th 2006 7:31PM]

@Vincent, Duracell still has the bunny, atleast here in the Netherlands.

But I'm wondering, how much current is needed to charge this capacitor in a couple of seconds? There probally is a limited to the voltage it can handle so the current must go up.

[Riviera @ Jun 9th 2006 8:12PM]

It is a common occurance that battery manufacturers use bunny mascot to promote their product. This perhaps due to the fact that bunnies are seen as "active" and "energetic" as they are bouncing around. Their reproductive habbit also indicates that they can go on and on (and on). Now who are to blame if two manufacturers with the most air time both use the bunny in their advertisement? Duracell got the little fella running around doing seemingly endless errands in its traditional tracksuit jumpers or the more modern shirt and tie. He's very competitive and always racing against his friends. The Energizer bunny is also pink (!) but he's got shades. He plays a big drum but never seen hanging around with his mates. His drumming skills can be regarded as "average" but people just can't seem to get enough of it!

[bob @ Jun 9th 2006 10:12PM]

duracell has a Llama. His name is "Duracell Llama"

[theCardinal @ Jun 10th 2006 8:25AM]

Duracell still have a bunny, everywhere except the states. Ye're missing out.

[Xanderxavier @ Jun 12th 2007 10:33AM]

Meh, I have to disagree with the comment on deus ex machina relating to Peter F Hamilton Novels, I find much of his work is enthused by imaginably feasible concepts into the future which follow a logical progression, especially in his novels relating to the near future (such as the Mandel series (with the giga-conductor) and novels like mis-spent youth, of course going beyond a certain period into the future, makes a certain sense of fantasy a given for good sci-fi.

After all imagine yourself in 1900 trying to peer into life in the first decade of the the new mellenium, just how fantastical would our world appear to such a person, and as a result any good sci-fi author has to peer just as far even with a certain amount of deduced fantasy just to (ironically) seem like a credible attempt, several hundred years and beyond of course will be order of magnitude more fantastical, yet the true test of author is not just his ideas but how well he manages to make the readers believe in those ideas, and ensure they follow a logical progression to a degree with it still seems feasible.

Like many modern innovations of modern day, the ideas which lead to them being conceived of in reality in the first place can trace itself back to a work of science fiction, and there can be no greater compliment to a writer when his or her ideas of how a given futuristic technology could and should fit into the world is enticing enough to produce genuine research in finding a real world equivalent to forfill the same role.