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Interview: The NDB team on its revolutionary nano-diamond batteries

newyankee 6y ago
It will be very hard to convince people who oppose Nuclear reactors even though their overall impact on humanity is much better, that something radioactive in a small packet will be safe too. Just a psychological issue but also the fear of it being misused even though Physics might suggest that is not possible.
- astronautelvis 6y ago
  I believe the convenience of not having to charge your phones will beat everything, plus if the commercial prototype is deemed to be safe when tested with early adopters (military, space use cases), then the laggards will have no option but fall in line, esp if the economics mentioned in the interview hold true at scaled production. Psychological issues exist only until a critical mass adopts it :) Also, the comparison with nuclear plants is a little inaccurate I feel. Power supply (as we know it) has always been centralised and hence comparisons are made with other centralised solutions such as thermal power plants. With this technology, we could be able to decentralise it - much cleaner and free from central grid fluctuations/failures.
  - me_me_me 6y ago
    What about harvesting phone batteries to get nuclear material which can be used to produce dirty bomb? IF those bateries are even real. They would be part of a electrical grid only. Also have a look at this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zT-kUcQb844 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zT-kUcQb844 Imagine battery that holds what 900x more energy.
virgilp 6y ago
> So if you're talking about electric vehicles, our battery could run for around 90 years without the requirement of recharging. > Take the battery for a Tesla car, it costs somewhere in the region of US$9-10K. Our battery will cost something in the region of US$7-8K > battery into the market in less than two years' time. This is too good to be true. Something's amiss. How do they stop the decay/ what do they do with the power while the car is not in use?
- numpad0 6y ago
  > Dr Nima Golsharifi: Our battery is based on the beta decay and alpha decay of radioisotopes. um...yeah, couple nuclear RTGs on a car, we do that all the time in Kerbal Space Program, yeah safe and good
- moltar 6y ago
  What would happen if a car gets into a massive accident? Will we have a nuclear spill? I know they say it’s covered in a diamond, and I’m not intimately familiar with it’s properties. But can it crack under certain conditions? Impact? High temperatures?
- me_me_me 6y ago
  90 years of energy stored. That is immersive about of power. A petrol tank is basically a fire bomb. Now take 90 years of driving worth of petrol. If this is real it would be a huge threat needing to be well protected from damage.
merricksb 6y ago
Earlier discussions: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24332054 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24332054 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24324684 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24324684
jerome-jh 6y ago
Do diamonds burn? I never found a definitive answer. However if they do radioactive C14 could be released this way.
jerome-jh 6y ago
I like the part "trying to get some of these devices out to places where kids don't have electricity to do their homework". What basically means: we're open to any kind of investor, greedy or philanthropic, if he is gullible enough.
- me_me_me 6y ago
  hehe, Its too good to be true so lets market it as a feel good save the world solution. Do they have a kickstarter page yet?

It will be very hard to convince people who oppose Nuclear reactors even though their overall impact on humanity is much better, that something radioactive in a small packet will be safe too. Just a psychological issue but also the fear of it being misused even though Physics might suggest that is not possible.

astronautelvis 6y ago
I believe the convenience of not having to charge your phones will beat everything, plus if the commercial prototype is deemed to be safe when tested with early adopters (military, space use cases), then the laggards will have no option but fall in line, esp if the economics mentioned in the interview hold true at scaled production. Psychological issues exist only until a critical mass adopts it :) Also, the comparison with nuclear plants is a little inaccurate I feel. Power supply (as we know it) has always been centralised and hence comparisons are made with other centralised solutions such as thermal power plants. With this technology, we could be able to decentralise it - much cleaner and free from central grid fluctuations/failures.
- me_me_me 6y ago
  What about harvesting phone batteries to get nuclear material which can be used to produce dirty bomb? IF those bateries are even real. They would be part of a electrical grid only. Also have a look at this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zT-kUcQb844 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zT-kUcQb844 Imagine battery that holds what 900x more energy.

virgilp 6y ago

> So if you're talking about electric vehicles, our battery could run for around 90 years without the requirement of recharging. > Take the battery for a Tesla car, it costs somewhere in the region of US$9-10K. Our battery will cost something in the region of US$7-8K > battery into the market in less than two years' time. This is too good to be true. Something's amiss. How do they stop the decay/ what do they do with the power while the car is not in use?

numpad0 6y ago
> Dr Nima Golsharifi: Our battery is based on the beta decay and alpha decay of radioisotopes. um...yeah, couple nuclear RTGs on a car, we do that all the time in Kerbal Space Program, yeah safe and good
moltar 6y ago
What would happen if a car gets into a massive accident? Will we have a nuclear spill? I know they say it’s covered in a diamond, and I’m not intimately familiar with it’s properties. But can it crack under certain conditions? Impact? High temperatures?
me_me_me 6y ago
90 years of energy stored. That is immersive about of power. A petrol tank is basically a fire bomb. Now take 90 years of driving worth of petrol. If this is real it would be a huge threat needing to be well protected from damage.

merricksb 6y ago

Earlier discussions: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24332054 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24332054 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24324684 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24324684

jerome-jh 6y ago

Do diamonds burn? I never found a definitive answer. However if they do radioactive C14 could be released this way.

jerome-jh 6y ago

I like the part "trying to get some of these devices out to places where kids don't have electricity to do their homework". What basically means: we're open to any kind of investor, greedy or philanthropic, if he is gullible enough.

me_me_me 6y ago
hehe, Its too good to be true so lets market it as a feel good save the world solution. Do they have a kickstarter page yet?