The world’s first nuclear-powered battery, which uses a radioactive isotope embedded in a diamond, could power small devices for thousands of years, scientists say.

The nuclear battery uses the reaction of a diamond placed close to a radioactive source to spontaneously produce electricity, scientists at the University of Bristol in the U.K. explained in a Dec. 4 statement. No motion — neither linear nor rotational — is required. That means no energy is needed to move a magnet through a coil or to turn an armature within a magnetic field to produce electric current, as is required in conventional power sources.

The diamond battery harvests fast-moving electrons excited by radiation, similar to how solar power uses photovoltaic cells to convert photons into electricity, the scientists said.

  • @Dkarma
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    422 hours ago

    It lasts 1000 years. Your great great grand children would never have to worry about this.

    • @Hardeehar
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      113 hours ago

      Maybe in 1000 years we can just toss it out of the spaceship

    • Ricky Rigatoni
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      fedilink
      012 hours ago

      How do you know I won’t live that long? With thousand year power sources anything is possible.