Batteries

Click here to check out the limited-time-only Tangents t-shirt inspired by this episode! https://store.dftba.com/products/shirt-of-the-month-shrimp-battery

Batteries are all around us, in things we use all the time, and in all different shapes and sizes, so of course we know exactly how they all work, right? Nope! Not even close! The bizarre breadth of our battery banter includes Ben Franklin, tiny computers, and...shrimp? 

SciShow Tangents is on YouTube! Go to www.youtube.com/scishowtangents to check out this episode with the added bonus of seeing our faces! 

Head to www.patreon.com/SciShowTangents to find out how you can help support SciShow Tangents, and see all the cool perks you’ll get in return, like bonus episodes and a monthly newsletter! A big thank you to Patreon subscribers Garth Riley and Glenn Trewitt for helping to make the show possible!

And go to https://store.dftba.com/collections/scishow-tangents to buy some great Tangents merch!

Follow us on Twitter @SciShowTangents, where we’ll tweet out topics for upcoming episodes and you can ask the science couch questions! 

While you're at it, check out the Tangents crew on Twitter: Ceri: @ceriley Sam: @im_sam_schultz Hank: @hankgreen

[Trivia Question]

Oxford Electric Bell battery lifespan

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/52147/what%E2%80%99s-world%E2%80%99s-longest-running-science-experiment

https://archwww.physics.ox.ac.uk/history/Exhibit1.html

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/mystery-continuously-functioning-battery-1840-180954028/

https://x.com/UniofOxford/status/1610593348464640001?s=20

[Fact Off]

Edible battery for sustainability (and maybe child safety)

https://academic.oup.com/jimb/article/45/5/313/5996662

https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/05/researchers-craft-a-fully-edible-battery/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36919977/

https://www.popsci.com/technology/edible-battery-prototype/

https://www.connecticutchildrens.org/ear-nose-and-throat/what-to-do-if-your-child-swallows-or-ingests-a-button-battery/#:~:text=Every%20year%2C%20about%202%2C500%20kids,stomach%2C%20it%20can%20be%20fatal.

https://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2016/08/31/491947946/how-an-edible-battery-could-power-medical-robots-you-swallow

Platypus electroreception study using batteries

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3945317/

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-03-12-vw-18644-story.html

https://www.jstor.org/stable/56002?typeAccessWorkflow=login

https://journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/202/10/1447/8186/Electroreception-in-monotremes

[Ask the Science Couch]

Grid-scale storage with batteries

https://www.iea.org/energy-system/electricity/grid-scale-storage

https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy19osti/74426.pdf

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032122001368

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352152X17304437

https://www.science.org/content/article/new-generation-flow-batteries-could-eventually-sustain-grid-powered-sun-and-wind

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1364032113005418?via%3Dihub

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/rechargeable-molten-salt-battery-freezes-energy-in-place-for-long-term-storage/

[Butt One More Thing]

Microbial battery with exoelectrogens and poop water

https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1307327110

https://www.theverge.com/2013/9/19/4747532/scientists-use-poop-to-generate-electricity