Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

MIT creates glucose fuel cell to power implanted brain-computer interfaces

extremetech.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 47 posts

Re: MIT creates glucose fuel cell to power implanted brain-computer interfaces

#31

Post by sp332 »

debacle wrote: post #21
daeken wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

By what mechanism? Capturing and stripping the glucose before it's digested naturally? Seems a bit roundabout since the weight we want to lose (primarily fat) is really just an energy store in the body in the first place.

An artificial means of controlling blood sugar would alleviate the insulin cycle and prevent the body from storing blood sugar as fat.

That only works if your extra calories come from glucose intake. It wouldn't help for complex carbs, fat, or protein.

Re: MIT creates glucose fuel cell to power implanted brain-computer interfaces

#32

Post by natrius »

sp332 wrote: post #29
rogerbinns wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or even just manage blood sugar levels. It would be an immense help to the folks with type 2 diabetes.

There are already small devices that regulate insulin levels. How would this improve on those?

Insulin causes blood sugar to be deposited as fat. A fuel cell causes blood sugar to be turned into electricity, and eventually some combination of work and heat, which could be far more desirable than fat.

Re: MIT creates glucose fuel cell to power implanted brain-computer interfaces

#33

Post by debacle »

sp332 wrote: post #31
debacle wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An artificial means of controlling blood sugar would alleviate the insulin cycle and prevent the body from storing blood sugar as fat.

That only works if your extra calories come from glucose intake. It wouldn't help for complex carbs, fat, or protein.

Your extra calories always wind up as glucose in your blood sugar.

Re: MIT creates glucose fuel cell to power implanted brain-computer interfaces

#34

Post by mindcruzer »

carbocation wrote: post #27
mindcruzer wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually, I'm not sure it is. Not for an energy related reason anyway. I'd wager the main reason the the glucose is present is due to osmolarity when the CSF is being created from the blood. Also realize that the CSF has a high turnover rate, something like 3-4 times per day, so that glucose is being replenished readily. I doubt this chip uses much glucose in comparison (plus, they've probably thought of this).

Usually glucose is transported, as it doesn't freely pass through membranes. I believe the same is true for the glucose in the csf.

Yup, my point was that the glucose may be moved into the CSF in order to favor the movement of water in that direction.

Re: MIT creates glucose fuel cell to power implanted brain-computer interfaces

#35

Post by tomp »

Wow... My immediate idea is exactly the oposite from the one proposed in the article:

Have robots that can "live" by eating "food"! Imagine a robot, say a "spider" or a "mouse", that roams around a city, collecting food (and has a form of a "stomach", similar to say the one that cows have, where there are bacteria, dissolving food and producing glucose), and it can use that glucose to generate electricity, indefinitely... An interesting idea!

Re: MIT creates glucose fuel cell to power implanted brain-computer interfaces

#36

Post by Scaevolus »

sp332 wrote: post #28
MBlume wrote: post #24

My first thought was "Does this mean if I want a BCI, I'll have to start eating sugar again?"

Your body uses glucose as fuel. You can generate it from other kinds of fuel sources, but unless you're in a diabetic coma, I guarantee your body has plenty of glucose in it.

Very little if you're on a ketogenic diet, which is often used for hard-to-treat epilepsy.

Re: MIT creates glucose fuel cell to power implanted brain-computer interfaces

#37

Post by [deleted] »

sp332 wrote: post #28
MBlume wrote: post #24

My first thought was "Does this mean if I want a BCI, I'll have to start eating sugar again?"

Your body uses glucose as fuel. You can generate it from other kinds of fuel sources, but unless you're in a diabetic coma, I guarantee your body has plenty of glucose in it.

[deleted]

Re: MIT creates glucose fuel cell to power implanted brain-computer interfaces

#38

Post by TheSOB88 »

tomp wrote: post #35

Wow... My immediate idea is exactly the oposite from the one proposed in the article: Have robots that can "live" by eating "food"! Imagine a robot, say a "spider" or a "mouse", that roams around a city, collecting food (and has a form of a "stomach", similar to say the one that cows have, where there are bacteria, dissolving food and producing glucose), and it can use that glucose to generate electricity, indefinite…

Bacteria actually do a lot of the digestion in a human as well.

Re: MIT creates glucose fuel cell to power implanted brain-computer interfaces

#39

Post by TheSOB88 »

stcredzero wrote: post #8
smoyer wrote: post #5

I keep thinking "You will be assimilated" ... and it's simultaneously a scary idea and strangely desirable.

I keep thinking "You will be assimilated" You're using the future tense. Sorry, but it's already happened. and it's simultaneously a scary idea and strangely desirable. Again, lots of precedent, and it's historical precedent.

I agree. Wake up, sheeple!

Re: MIT creates glucose fuel cell to power implanted brain-computer interfaces

#40

Post by TheSOB88 »

debacle wrote: post #33
sp332 wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That only works if your extra calories come from glucose intake. It wouldn't help for complex carbs, fat, or protein.

Your extra calories always wind up as glucose in your blood sugar.

Not true AFAIRC. Lipids are absorbed as lipids (fatty acids), proteins as amino acids. Aminos can be broken down into sugar, though.
Post reply on HN