CORNELL UNIVERSITY RESEARCHERS DEVELOP A NEW MINUSCULE BATTERY; DEVICES, WHICH DRAW ENERGY FROM RADIOACTIVE ISOTOPES, COULD LAST FOR DECADES.(Technology) From: The Post-Standard (Syracuse, NY) | Date: November 6, 2002 | COPYRIGHT 2002 All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of The Herald Co. by the Gale Group, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan.  All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group.Copyright information

Byline: Staff reports

While electronic circuits and nanomachines grow ever smaller, batteries to power them have remained huge by comparison - and short-lived.

But now Cornell University researchers have built a microscopic device that could supply power for decades to remote sensors or implantable medical devices by drawing energy from a radioactive isotope.

The device converts the energy stored in the radioactive material directly into motion....