Crazy pondering of the day
I recently came across this chip:
http://www.linear.com/product/LTC3107It's able to boost from 20mV up to 5v at 3mA and could theoretically be used to charge a capacitor from nerve impulses.
Add a Kinetis KL02 (which can run on 0.036mA) and you have a complete system that can run completely on nerve impulses (or other low-current power supplies).
As for practical uses - well, human nerve impulses are generally about 80mV and not a lot of current is needed to activate a nerve cell and make it take over transmission of the impulse.
With some development it could even be possible to swap out a few neural circuits for software implementations - you just need a mathematical model of the whole circuit and the right interfaces.
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It's just with my understanding it's impossible to run with ambient heat, that's zero point energy. It's not usable.
If you were using temperature cycles that would make more sense, but it's still a temperature gradient; just dt instead of dxyz.
there are some papers but I don't have time to dig through and find them atm. I'll see if i can find it later.
On another note, how do you intend to heat the thermocell when it's in a vacuum?
Correct me if I'm wrong @garethnelsonuk, but you're talking about using silicon-based electronics to interface and introduce or change an input action potential without amplifying the signal, and then output the new signal to another nerve.
Do PEDOT electrodes show any signs of causing rejection when implanted in nerves? Or Glial cell build up?