Hamster Jackets Harness Piezoelectricity

Finally. I say it's about damn time we fit our hamsters with little jackets that harness all the energy they're wasting when running incessantly in their little wheels. Also, we're harnessing the power of the wheel too, right?

To harness hamster power, the scientists sewed electricity-generating threads one-fiftieth the width of a human hair into a yellow jacket worn by the hamsters as they ran. A human-sized jacket, capable of powering an iPod, could be ready in as little as three years.

"This can totally be scaled up," said Zhong Lin 'ZL' Wang, who co-authored a paper describing the research in this month's issue of Nano Letters. "This is just the first step. The idea is that we would harvest energy from any body movement, from walking, breathing, from any kind of vibration."

Well shit, let's scale it up to dinosaurs then. I could design a hell of a piezo-electric jacket for a T-Rex. And, while I'm at it, maybe some intimates. I'm thinking something lacy with a few silk accents. Did somebody just say crotchless? I like the way you think!

Hamster jackets harness wheel-running power [msnbc]

Thanks to I Won't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking My Juice on the Geekologie, who can run in his wheel for hours.

• That's Practical: Porky The Powerstrip Pig

  October 5, 2011

  Inb4 energy hog. This is the Svintus powerstrip concept from design studio Art Lebedev. It looks like a mutant pig and features 17 separate outlets. That...sounds like a house fire waiting to happen. Based on interest, they may actually put the powerpig into production. Of... / Continue →
• Movie Filmed Entirely By Chimps To Be Aired

  January 25, 2010

  The BBC will be airing the appropriately titled 'Chimpcam' on BBC Two at 2000GMT on Wednesday January, 27th, during the 'Natural World' show. It was shot entirely by chimps at the Edinburgh Zoo toting video cameras around their enclosures. Amazingly, none of them made sex vid... / Continue →
• The Plug Wall: Enough Holes For Anybody

  June 16, 2009

  The conceptual Outlet Wall by Ironic Sans is by far the most smartest thing I've seen in awhile. I mean, it's a wallmade of outlets. Plenty of room for everything. Just don't show this little power-hungry bastard or he'll be humping it for days. And you know what? So what ... / Continue →