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A betavoltaic device uses beta particles from radioactive decay to generate electricity. Basically, it works like a solar cell, but using radiation instead of light.

Hypothetically, this could be used to make batteries which last a long time. Using thin layers of radioactive carbon-14 sandwiched between layers of semiconductive diamond (which would also keep the radioactivity contained), tiny batteries like these could supply small amounts of power for thousands of years. Prototypes have been made using nickel-63 as the energy source,

@RadioAngel I was thinking specifically as a way to back up those libraries in case of catastrophes. You could fit an entire library of knowledge on just one of these things!

@InvaderXan Yup. It could eliminate library burnings which would be amazing. It would also be good for museums to have digital backups of their galleries because they tend to burn a lot too.

@RadioAngel @InvaderXan there's a lot of really cool high density storage media that have been developed. The problem, as I understand it (which might be wrong) is that it's really fucking difficult to read from them.

And, ya know, maybe you could write the Lord's Prayer on a grain of rice, but who would bother to read it?

@zzz Sounds like a very similar concept...

@Chickiepup I have a feeling that when they made this thing to allow data to survive apocalypses and natural disasters, and potentially last longer than the Sun itself, optimising it for speed probably wasn't one of their main concerns.

@InvaderXan

I wanna read what's on the disk before the sun explodes tho. Cus I can't survive that.

@Chickiepup I'm pretty sure you'll be able to load one of these discs before the Sun dies. Which is an improvement over DAT tapes.

@InvaderXan @Chickiepup based purely on the image, this thing seems to work more like a CD, so seek times shouldn't be such a big issue. but who knows what device can even read it.

@InvaderXan @grainloom

It's unethical to use these in a computer cus you hafta have a gnome read the runes ethched on it for you

@FuchsiaShock Radiation gonna radiate!

@InvaderXan radioactive batteries whee

@FuchsiaShock For real, imagine having a phone or something which you never need to charge. Just swap the battery out once every couple of decades and you're good!

@pthenq1

Hay un start up muy propagandeado con esa idea. El problema es que no hay ningún avance respecto de lo que ya se sabe desde hace décadas, sólo hay confianza en que "nosotros lo lograremos". Como Elon con el neuralink o el hyperloop, son pibes que ser creen destinados a ser más vivos que la gente que se atascó en esos problemas antes.

@InvaderXan

@lilly Ooo yes, I read about this! Honestly, you’re so right, the idea of someone whose heart is powered by radiation from decaying atoms is just seriously cool!

@Jo Low energy beta radiation is easy to contain. The concept here is to use layers of diamond which are thick enough to contain the radioactivity while also acting as semiconductors to generate electric current.

In short, if it’s properly constructed, it should be perfectly safe.

@Jo Side note: for a while, in the 20th century, people made wrist watches which used radioactive paint to make the numbers glow in the dark. Pretty clever idea, really. The watches themselves weren’t dangerous at all to the people wearing them, as radiation couldn’t escape from the glass and metal of the watch casing. The danger was to the factory workers who were assembling them, using radioactive paint for hours every day, which had the kind of effect you might expect.

But in a world where robots can do these jobs, that shouldn’t be a problem.