Virus-Built Wearable Batteries Could Power Military

Virus-Built Wearable Batteries Could Power Military Virus-Powered Batteries Could Be Sprayed on to Uniforms

By ERIC BLAND Aug. 29, 2010

Batteries, built by viruses, could someday be sprayed onto military uniforms as wearable power sources.

Teams of researchers, one from MIT, one from the University of Maryland, have used two different viruses to create the cathode and anode for a lithium ion battery.

If the Maryland research pans out, the parts for lithium ion batteries could be grown in and harvested from tobacco plants. The MIT research, meanwhile, could produce lithium ion batteries that could be woven into clothing to power a wide range of electronic devices, from unmanned aerial vehicles to cell phones.

“Typical soldiers have to carry several pounds of batteries. But if you could turn their clothing into a battery pack, they could drop a lot of

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/virus-built-wearable-batteries-power-military/story?id=11496924