Just saw this on the BBC…….amazing!

The ‘biofuel cells’ work by borrowing technology from living cells
Battery-like “biofuel cells” could in the future run on an energy drink or even vegetable oil, says a researcher.

A prototype cell has been described at a meeting of the American Chemical Society in the US.

The idea makes use of mitochondria, the power stations that in most living cells turn food into energy.

While applications may be far in the future, the work is a milestone in the integration of parts of a living cell into an electronic device.

Shelley Minteer of St Louis University in Missouri, US, said the devices could in the future replace disposable batteries in some applications.

Dr Minteer has been part of a wider research effort that is borrowing some of nature’s tricks for energy production.

Typically this involves the breaking down and rebuilding of molecules in a form that can be used by cells. That process unleashes electrons along the way - electrons that can be corralled and become electricity.

Until now, the efforts of Dr Minteer and her collaborators have focused on the use of enzymes, molecules that are expert at breaking down particular “fuel” molecules such as methanol or glucose.

But the new effort makes use of one of the living cell’s tiny constituent parts known as mitochondria.

These are a whole ensemble of enzymes working together to convert a range of “fuel” molecules into a form that cells can directly use.

“In order to be able to completely consume a fuel… you need a whole series of enzymes, anywhere from three, for something simple, to 22 for something like glucose, and you need to get these enzymes to work together,” Dr Minteer told BBC News. “The mitochondria channel the fuel from enzyme one directly to enzyme two and so on; they do this metabolism far more efficiently than we do by putting a soup of enzymes down on the electrode.”

The demonstration device has only been used with simple fuels made of a single type of molecule, as the enzyme approaches have required until now. But future efforts will aim to make the cells work with more familiar sources of energy.

“Mitochondria can break down a wide variety of fuels,” Dr Minteer explained.

“That means it can handle fuel mixtures that you might see in, say, an energy drink or a protein shake.”

‘New domain’

The work remains firmly at the experimental stage, and the researchers are working to change the materials used in the biofuel cells to make them produce more power.

However, the biofuel cell application may not be the most relevant focus, said Plamen Atanassov, director of the Center for Emerging Energy Technologies at the University of New Mexico.

Professor Atanassov told BBC News that the work was a “seminal achievement for biotechnology to be able to introduce [cell parts] into technical devices, especially in the context of energy harvesting,” but conceded that “whether it will have an immediate practical application remains to be seen”.

He said that “with all the acceleration that technology advances give us, things don’t happen overnight”, observing that it was a full 50 years between the first demonstration of a standard fuel cell and the Gemini space missions that first used them.

“The main contribution for this work is in the fundamental bridging of biotechnology and nanotechnology,” he explained.

“It ultimately may lead to the introduction of a whole new domain of fuels that we would never otherwise be able to tap.”

Paul Hodges has some interesting thoughts re boomers and their changing spending habits over at his blog.

The extract below is part of his comment;’

‘But they are getting closer to retirement, with a median age of 54 years. And so their need for ‘new things’ is reducing, as is their ability to afford them. Equally, as the above chart from thechartstore.com shows, their savings rate is starting to shoot up. They were let down by the stock market after the dot-com boom; then the housing market disappointed.
So now we seem to be seeing the start of a generational switch from spending to saving in the world’s most important market. From close to zero, the savings rate has already jumped to 6%, as baby-boomers worry about how to afford their retirement, especially as they can expect to live longer than any generation in history’.

Harry Dent argues that the economic cycle is dependent on the generation spending wave. And that indicates that things are not going to improve for quite a while yet. I hope he’s wrong, but in the mean time I am one of those boomers who is cutting spending and trying to save more!.

To read more go to Boomers cutting spending and start saving.

Today’s papers indicate that Prime Minister Julia Gillard may just get over the line. Labour have won 73 seats now and already have the support of the Green from Melbourne. It now appears that two od the remaining independents may give her the balance of power. By lending her support then Labour will have the 76 seats required to form a majority government.

Its still a wait and see game though.

It’s not often that you hear of a 71 year old tired of waiting around with nothing to do. But that’s the case with one of my favorite actors. Ian McKellen is considering quiting the upcoming Hobit movie series because of delays.

For the whole story see boomer role model

I can only hope to be that energetic at his age. A great role model for us poor old boomers!

The Last enrty hit the spot for me in slotting me - born in 1960 - to a group I feel more aligned with. It started me thinking of generational groups as a whole and wondering if those born in that period felt comfortable with the ‘tag’ they have been given.

Anyway here are the generations as per Wikipedia …. 1900 to present day.

Note: The following generations are listed in chronological order, but without specific birth year ranges.

* Interbellum Generation - those born at the dawn of the 20th century and who grew up during the 1920s.

* The Greatest Generation, the generation of veterans that fought and won World War II. They were born between World War I and the mid-1920s. Journalist Tom Brokaw dubbed this the Greatest Generation in a 1998 book of the same name.

* The Silent Generation was the generation who was too young to join the service when World War II started and prior to the end of the war. Many had fathers who served in World War I.

* The Baby Boom Generation was the generation born just after World War II, a time that included a 14-year increase in birthrate worldwide. Baby Boomers in their teenage and college years were characteristically part of the counterculture of the 1960s, but later became more ideologically divided, although the generation remained widely committed to keystone values such as gender equality, racial equality, and environmental stewardship.

* Generation X is the generation connected to the pop culture of the late 1970s to early 1990s they grew up in. Other names used interchangeably with Generation X are Reagan Generation, 13th Generation, and Baby Busters. Most of this generation are children of The Baby Boomers and The Silent Generation. Those born before 1973 spent most of their teen years in the 1980s.[2] The last of those in Generation X were born in 1981 and graduated high school in 1999.

* The MTV Generation are typically conceived as a “cusp” generation between Generation X and Generation Y that possess definable traits of both. While the music video and MTV rose to prominence during this generation’s formative period, it is also notable for being the last generation able to compare hardwired and analog technologies to wireless and digital technologies based upon personal experiences. They are also the last generation with personal memories of the Cold War era.

* The Generation Y, or the Millennials, are said to be dependent on digital technology. The start of this generation is marked by those born in 1982, or graduated high school in 2000. The end is far less clear, and can range anywhere from 1994 to 2003. It is in this generation that mobile phones, PCs and portable entertainment devices became affordable and readily available when the Gen Y-ers were in their teens or early 20s.

* Generation Z are modern children, born from somewhere in the second half of the 1990s to the present. In the early- to mid-2010s, the yet-to-exist generation after this will be born.