Engineers at MIT and the Technical University of Munich have designed a new kind of fuel cell that converts glucose (sugar) into electricity. The device is about 1/100 the diameter of a human hair. The sugary power source generates the highest power density of any glucose fuel cell to date under ambient conditions. Since glucose is the energy source of the cells in our body and runs free in our veins, the device can use that same energy source and avoid the need for a battery. “Excitingly,” says one of the fuel cell’s engineers, “we are able to draw power and current that’s sufficient to power implantable devices,” such as pacemakers for the heart. “Instead of using a battery,” they add, “which can take up 90 percent of an implant’s volume, you could make a … power source with no volumetric footprint,” and without the need to replace it, as is with batteries.
Medicine can really boost longevity. In fact, it has been doing so for the past 150 years or so. With technological advancements and scientific discoveries, there really seems to be no limit to what we can achieve when it comes to medicine.
“I think that before we go about prolonging our lives, we should plan them better. I do not think there is any justification in living longer unless we use our time here to benefit others rather than indulge ourselves in selfish pleasures for another century or so. The number of years we live should be determined by the amount of good we can bring.”
The question is not whether we can live longer, but what for? Why longevity? What would we do with our extra years? Today, we spend the first two to three decades of our lives growing up, two to three more decades working hard and trying to enjoy ourselves, and the remaining two to three decades fading away through illness and old age. Why stretch this over three centuries?
I think that before we go about prolonging our lives, we should plan them better. I do not think there is any justification in living longer unless we use our time here to benefit others rather than indulge ourselves in selfish pleasures for another century or so. The number of years we live should be determined by the amount of good we can bring.
Everything we do needs to have a purpose. This is especially so when it comes to our entire life. The purpose of life is to find the ultimate power of life, the driving force of existence, and tell the world about it so that everyone can achieve that goal, as well.
Currently, we are at war with life itself; this is why our paradigm is “survival of the fittest.” We are in a constant struggle for survival, and our best moments are when we can take a break from the war. But not fighting to stay alive is not enjoying life; it is not even enjoying, but only a temporary relief from the struggles for survival.
“Everything we do needs to have a purpose. This is especially so when it comes to our entire life. The purpose of life is to find the ultimate power of life, the driving force of existence, and tell the world about it so that everyone can achieve that goal, as well.”
Life’s purpose is to be complete, to understand everything, justify everything, be happy with everything, and feel the power of Creation operating behind all things. We know that there is a force that operates all things because if there weren’t, they would not exist. However, we do not feel this force. If we felt it, we would feel how the same force operates everything, all that exists, including ourselves. And since we would feel the same force behind everything, we would feel that everything is one, different faces of the same force.
When you feel that one force, you feel Creation itself, you understand what is happening, where you are, and that this force is within you and envelops you. Sympathizing with Creation opens up all your senses; you feel the world directly, as though you are not wrapped in your skin and nothing stands between you and all of Creation.
Because you now know that everything is one, you justify Creation, justify its creator, and justify the purpose of Creation. And because you feel connected to every thing and every one, and feel that they are all you and you are them, you can only do good to all things, and you feel that doing good for others is doing good for you.
If you achieve this, then life makes sense and longevity is worthwhile. In fact, if you achieve this, you have achieved eternity.
[Silicon chip with 30 individual glucose micro fuel cells, seen as small silver squares inside each gray rectangle. Credit: Kent Dayton]
