Scientists have succeeded in producing a computer that can store energy by photosynthesis and requires little energy to operate. Cambridge University researchers placed a colony of cyanobacteria known as blue-green algae (algae) in an AA battery-sized metal dish.
This metal container was then placed on a window sill where it could photosynthesize and generate an electric current that could power an ARM Cortex-M0+ chip. Of course, the system is currently only in concept stage, but the researchers hope that the algae-powered chips could be used in future IoT (Internet of Things) devices.
They do less harm to the environment compared to conventional batteries and Solar power
Scientists believe that the advantage of using algae compared to traditional batteries or solar energy has a smaller environmental impact. They say it has to have and potentially provide sustained power.
Professor Christopher Howe, senior author of the study, said: “The growing Internet of Things needs an increasing amount of power, and we think it must come from systems that can generate energy rather than store it, such as batteries. Our photosynthetic device doesn’t run out like a battery because it uses light as an energy source all the time.”
According to the research, the algae-powered ARM chip was used to make very basic calculations, consuming 0.3 microwatts per hour. The energy use of normal computers, workload and This is only a small fraction of the electricity required to run an average computer, although this varies depending on factors such as age.If a normal desktop computer consumes, for example, 100 watts of power per hour, roughly 333,000,000 algae batteries are needed to run it
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