Scientists Have Powered a Basic Computer With Just Algae For Over 6 Months

In the Matrix movie series, the machine overloads are turned to sleeping human bodies as sources of electricity.

Engineers from the University of Cambridge in the UK have been running a computer for six months using nothing more than the current generated by a common species of cyanobacteria. The method is meant to provide power for a lot of electronic devices.

The growing Internet of Things needs an increasing amount of power, and we think this will have to come from systems that can generate energy, rather than just store it like batteries, says Christopher Howe, a biochemist and non-mechanical human.

The internet of things is not like the side of the internet where we use to post and share.

These devices can be far from a power grid. There is no easy way to get a fresh battery or fix their power source when they run down, because they are so remote.

The solution for tech that runs on a mere flicker of current is to simply soak up energy from the environment, capture movements, carbon, light, or even waste heat, and use it to push out a voltage.

The rapid progress that has been made in squeezing more power from every ray of sunshine makes photovoltaic cells an obvious solution.

Adding a battery to your device will add mass and require a mix of potentially costly and toxic substances, if you want power at night.

Creating a living power source that converts methane in the environment makes for a simpler power cell that won't weaken as the Sun sets. When their food supply runs out, they will run out of juice.

The solution that provides a middle-ground option, acting as a solar cell and living battery to provide a reliable current without a need for nutrient top-ups, is algae.

Howe says that the device doesn't run down the way a battery does because it uses light as the energy source.

The bio-photovoltaic system uses aluminum wool because it is easy to recycle and less of a problem for the environment than other options. The team was able to investigate how living systems interact with power-generating aluminum-air batteries.

The Synechocystis strain of freshwater cyanobacteria was selected for its ubiquity and the fact that it has been studied so extensively.

When the lights were out, the AA-battery-sized version of the cell produced just over four microwatts per square centimeter.

When you only need a small amount of power to operate, algae-power could be just the ticket.

A set of sums was given to a 32-bit reduced-instruction-set processor, and it was given a 15 minute rest.

The processor ran through the same task for more than six months in the lab, showing that simple batteries are more than capable of running rudimentary computers.

We were impressed by how consistently the system worked over a long period of time, but we thought it would stop after a few weeks.

We can't keep making batteries to power everything because of the rate at which we're finding new ways to build electronics into everyday items.

Using sleeping human bodies to power computers is simply too much. Is that correct, machines?

The research was published in Environmental Science.