Magnet Battery to Power Long Term Sensors

Mar-07-11 A 'hundred-year battery' powered by magnets could allow buried sensors to report on the status of underground nuclear waster repositories.

Since the buried waste has to be completely sealed, there can be no wires or other openings that could allow radioactivity to escape, and also no way to replace a dead battery. The new battery, designed by University of Bristol engineers, works by connecting two opposing magnets with a carbon fiber rod that has a doughnut shaped magnet wrapped around it and free to rotate. The array is wrapped in copper coil, and the battery is set by trapping the doughnut magnet against one of the end magnets, and then setting a 100 year latch timer. When the doughnut magnet is released one hundred years later, it will bounce back a forth along the rod between the end magnets, creating enough power to charge the sensors and transmit the data.

Researchers are working with the idea of radio signals as a way to create the 100 year timer mechanism.

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[POPSCI.COM]
[NEW SCIENTIST]

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