Researchers at Case Western University have developed a biofuel cell (BFC) for cockroaches. Equipped with a micro-wireless sensor, these BFCs are inserted into the abdomen of a live female cockroach, where the BFC is fuelled by the cockroach’s own blood sugar. The BFC converts the trehalose sugar and oxygen from the air into electricity, which can then be stored for later use in a variety of microdevices such as sensors. The implantable cell was also tested on a shiitake mushroom —albeit with lower electrode responses— proving its overall viability as a renewable source of energy. Such a cell can only generate low amounts of energy, so further research must be conducted in order to find a way to power devices which necessitate higher amounts of energy. Long term, researchers hope that implantable biofuel cells for living organisms will enable them to convert the energy present in living organisms to electricity, to autonomously power microdevices like sensors, microphones, and even cameras.
Rasmussen, Michelle, Roy E. Ritzmann, Irene Lee, Alan J. Pollack, and Daniel Scherson. “An implantable biofuel cell for a live insect.” Journal of the American Chemical Society 134, no. 3 (2012): 1458-1460. Retrieved from https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ja210794c
Shoji, Kan, Yoshitake Akiyama, Masato Suzuki, Nobuhumi Nakamura, Hiroyuki Ohno, and Keisuke Morishima. “Biofuel cell backpacked insect and its application to wireless sensing.” Biosensors and Bioelectronics 78 (2016): 390-395.
Categories
Artificial Life, Ecological Monitoring, Industry/Natural Commodities, Internet of Things
Air Pollution Robot
The dangers of air pollution to human health are well documented, though the traditional methodology of collecting and reporting on sample lags behind the need to keep abreast and regulate air pollution in a meaningful amount of time. The use of drones and robots have been identified by researchers as resources that can be tweaked […]
Artificial Life, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Ecological Monitoring, Industry/Natural Commodities, Lifestyle, Monitoring
Telematic Rivers
Erica Kermani’s artwork seeks to answer a central question: if rivers were seeing an equal, living entity, would humans take issues like climate change threatening them more seriously? In his year-long art exhibition in 2017, Kermani, in collaboration with Diana Salcedo & Jeana Chesnik, created a new forum of interaction between humans and rivers to […]
Climate Change, Ecological Monitoring, Lifestyle, Monitoring, Pollution, Visual Technologies
Co-occupied Boundaries
Art is easily found in nature but rarely is what considered art today inherently natural. The concept of co-occupied mediums that serve to be both functional for nature and aesthetically pleasing to people is being actively explored by Asya Ilgun and Phil Ayres, from the CITAstudio at The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. In […]
Climate Change, Ecological Monitoring, Lifestyle, Monitoring, Pollution, Visual Technologies