Of course, from the phone maker standpoint this would put a crimp in the yearly upgrade cycle… Which would make a small additional dose rate worth it, perhaps, just to see them trying to rationalize it.
I don’t see 28k year lifetimes, though. Apart from the half-life issue, most devices like this ultimately rely on a semiconductor junction between materials with different dopings to convert something – heat, ionization, light – to an electrical potential. Over time the dopants will diffuse across the boundary layer and the device will fail. This same phenomenon is why solar cells, for instance, have a limited lifespan.
There has been talk about the Radioactive Diamond Batteries on some of the trade magazine sites for a while, and I’ve leaned toward the approach of “show me a working prototype and some evidence” about the story. I obviously don’t expect them to show me evidence the battery actually worked for 28,000 years, but some good data to demonstrate why they think their particular approach can last that long.
There’s a long history of high tech startups trying to get people to invest in them when there really isn’t anything there that justifies it.
A law aimed at one person, for example saying that Trump’s actions were unofficial and not subject to Presidential immunity is a bill of attainder, in addition to being an ex post facto law. Nice Read more…
A USF student participated in the pro-Gaza/anti-Israel protests back in April. The group of protesters was armed with umbrellas and shields made of wood. They violently took over campus and were making demands of the Read more…
3 Comments
it's just Boris · April 6, 2021 at 7:21 am
Of course, from the phone maker standpoint this would put a crimp in the yearly upgrade cycle… Which would make a small additional dose rate worth it, perhaps, just to see them trying to rationalize it.
I don’t see 28k year lifetimes, though. Apart from the half-life issue, most devices like this ultimately rely on a semiconductor junction between materials with different dopings to convert something – heat, ionization, light – to an electrical potential. Over time the dopants will diffuse across the boundary layer and the device will fail. This same phenomenon is why solar cells, for instance, have a limited lifespan.
SiG · April 6, 2021 at 9:41 am
There has been talk about the Radioactive Diamond Batteries on some of the trade magazine sites for a while, and I’ve leaned toward the approach of “show me a working prototype and some evidence” about the story. I obviously don’t expect them to show me evidence the battery actually worked for 28,000 years, but some good data to demonstrate why they think their particular approach can last that long.
There’s a long history of high tech startups trying to get people to invest in them when there really isn’t anything there that justifies it.
it's just Boris · April 6, 2021 at 9:45 pm
Agreed.
All I want for Christmas is a Shipstone…
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