Electricity from bacteria! Yes, this is what is invented by a 16-year-old high school student. He did it by harnessing the brawny power of bacteria! A fifth of an ounce of naturally occurring magnetic bacteria or ‘Magnetotactic’ can generate about half the voltage of a normal AA battery. Congratulations, Kartik Madiraju! He is an 11th-grader from Montreal.
Do you know, this amount of bacteria continued to produce electricity for 48 hours nonstop! This is perhaps for the first time; magnetic bacteria are used to harness an electrical current.
Amidst the growing need for alternative energy production, the experiment is sure to bring a relief to the power sectors, if can be put to use in commercial scale. The study is being presented at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair this week. It is a competition for uber-science geeks. And to add to the encouragement for making such innovative discoveries, in this event, the chipmaker hands out $4 million in prize money to students annually.
Via: Wired News
