Kartik Madiraju- in a move that's at once innovative and reminscent of an era of innovation that seemed far behind us- has invented a new source of ecologically benign energy. In contrast to the complex sorts of experiments going on night and day at particle accelerators around the world, Madiraju, a 16-year old student from Montreal, happened across an amazingly simple way to generate electricity. His solution, with potential applications ranging from clean-running powerplants to micro-power sources for nanotechnologies?

Magnetic bacteria.

Madiraju has found a way to generate roughly half the power of a standard AA battery with about an ounce of the bacteria- which is commonly found in water- for 48 hours. The magnetotactic bacteria, which he learned about reading Nature, are placed free-floating into tiny plastic bottles with metal strips on the sides serving as electrodes, causing crystals of magnetite inside the bacteria to spin and generate a magnetic field and electrical current.

While this discovery could lead to underwater powerstations with zero polution one day, the most remarkable thing about this story may not be the bacterial batteries at all. While Emerge is as concerned about the environment as any self-respecting blogger, we're also really excited at the idea of adolescents, that oft-maligned demographic so fond of video games and shows about Orange County, knocking the socks of the scientific establishment. It takes us back to a simpler time, when amateurs (like the Wright Brothers) changed the way we interact with our world in their free time.

It's the same minor irony about participatory media and the growth of micro-niche everything: all this new technology and innovation is really about restoring the kinds of meaningful engagements with society, culture and discourse that the suburbs and television allegedly made so scarce. Even if Madiraju's discovery doesn't solve the world's energy problems, it's exciting that an individual's creativity can shake things up to such a degree.

via: Wired News

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