COMPUTER TIPS

The biggest problem of all gadgets is battery life. Cell phone or audio player, it becomes completely dead when its battery is depleted. Sometimes it is very annoying when in the middle of long trip you are left with no gadgets to entertain you. Moreover, dead GPS in a forest or tourist journey can mean a ruined trip. The only solution to this problem is better batteries. However, the laws of nature are cruel - the more battery holds, the bigger and heavier it is. However, an answer comes straight from nanotechnologies.



Scientists at UCLA have made an interesting, yet useful invention. They built and showed to the public the first nanotube batteries, which will be, as we think, a great replace for modern Li-Ion or Li-Pol batteries. They are less than millimeter thin, and have the structure almost like the old rechargeable batteries do, using zinc-carbon makeup - they are composed of thin layers of zinc and manganese oxide over a layer of nanotubes. They are very thin and small, and because of nanotubes they are bendable too.


Unfortunately, the energy produced by this type of batteries is very small at this level. However, with the current rate of technology development, it will be easy to solve that problem - thats what lead scientist George Gruner says.

In the future, these nano-batteries can be used even for producing a powered T-Shirts or jackets - imagine your clothes, that recharge your gadgets while you are on the go. It is amazing to think that huge and heavy box-like batteries as we know them now will become a thing of the past, making way for a true high-tech thin and bendable ones.