The Vertebrate Battery “Prof. Yuan Yang of the engineering school at Columbia University (New York) modeled, designed, built, and fully evaluated a configuration that emulates the spine of vertebrates, while providing 85% of the energy density of a prismatic Li-ion cell with equivalent volume.” According to Power Electronics.com. Professor Yang’s 14-member team, working in the impressively-named Center for Precision Assembly of Superstratic and Superatomic Solids, and inspired by the flexibility of the human spine and its ability to repeatedly endure bending and twisting, designed a battery that emulates the characteristics of what is in essence a structural battery. We know from experience that our backbones can perform some pretty extraordinary twists and turns – witness the supple routines of gymnasts and Cirque de Soleil performers. Our spines are not rigid assemblies, but a complex construction of solid parts (vertebrae), flexible bits between the vertebrae (disks), and a network of wiring (nerves), which transmit signals from our organs and extremities to …
