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Anonymous Coward writes "Bringing us one step closer to becoming centrally-controlled meatbots, Japanese scientists have developed a device that produces power from the glucose in human blood. Theoretically, this technology (aka "Dracucell") could produce 100W of power. Of course, it can't produce that much power in practice since your body stupidly wastes glucose in maintaining homeostasis. The scientists propose that this devices could be used to power implanted devices. Now how many of you Slashdotters would it take to power my laptop? I'll buy the cola!"

22 of 516 comments (clear)

  1. Some Interesting New Products... by eaglebtc · · Score: 5, Funny
    This is fantastic stuff! Pretty soon we'll see places like ThinkGeek selling stuff to boost your glucose levels. I can see the reviews from OverclockedCafe 50 years from now -- "HowTo: Speed up your pacemaker with Glucose!" Plus, with the embedded chips coming our way, we'll probably be tapping our circulatory systems to power in-built PDAs or to watch movies in the palms of our hands on a flexible OLED screen.

    Overclock Your Body NOW! Drink UBER-BLOOD(TM) XP!!

    fp btw.

    --
    Homestarrunner.net -- It's Dot Com!
    1. Re:Some Interesting New Products... by PepsiProgrammer · · Score: 4, Funny

      Wow, using humans as batteries, now where have us well informed geeks heard about something like this before? What a novel idea.

      --
      "The United States has no right, no desire, and no intention to impose our form of government on anyone else." - Bush 05
    2. Re:Some Interesting New Products... by GreyPoopon · · Score: 5, Funny
      Pretty soon we'll see places like ThinkGeek [thinkgeek.com] selling stuff to boost your glucose levels.

      Forget that, man. Do you realize this means I can eat ALL the potato salad I can fit in my stomach. And potato chips and popcorn and pretty much anything starchy. For those of us walking dangerously close to the diabetes line this thing could be great! I could power my laptop AND lose weight at the same time. I can just see the Infomercials now. Of course, we'll need Dan Akroyd to do the voiceover....

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      GreyPoopon
      --
      Why is it I can write insightful comments but can't come up with a clever signature?

    3. Re:Some Interesting New Products... by Tackhead · · Score: 5, Funny
      > more efficient to make ethanol out of that lovely sugar.

      Why not just add a second extractor to get energy straight out of the ethanol already in your bloodstream?

      What's that you say? No ethanol in your bloodstream? Well, put some in already!

      What's that you say again? You drank three shots of Scotland's finest single malt, and you're not drunk because the extractor's drawing all that ethanol to power your laptop? Just keep drinking!

  2. Two cows by mao+che+minh · · Score: 4, Funny
    Leave it to the Japanese to find a way to create usefulness and efficiency out of anything.

    Two cows:

    JAPANESE CORPORATION
    You have two cows.
    You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk. You then create clever cow cartoon images called Cowikimon and market them worldwide.

    1. Re:Two cows by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      AMERICAN CORPORATION
      You have two cows.
      You sell three of them to your publicly listed company, using letters of credit opened by your brother-in-law at the band, then execute a debt/equity swap with an associated general offer so that you get all four cows back, with a tax exemption for five cows. The milk rights of the six cows are transferred via an intermediary to a Cayman Island company secretly owned by the majority shareholder who sells the rights to all seven cows back to your listed company. The annual report says the company owns eight cows, with an option on one more. Sell one cow to buy a new president of the United States, leaving you with nine cows. No balance sheet provided with the release. The public buys your bull.

  3. Riding the bus gets more dangerous... by BrynM · · Score: 5, Funny
    Headphones on, he sits at the back of the bus. His mind filled with the music he loves as the tape slowly comes to an unexpected halt:

    "'Cause I'm as freeee aaaaasssssss aaaaaaaaaa biiiiiiirrrrrrrrr nnnnnn." -Klick!

    Callously, he eyeballs the passanger next to him. He thinks, "Kinda short, but chubby... About 11 Pints."

    --
    US Democracy:The best person for the job (among These pre-selected choices...)
  4. some interesting applications by www.sorehands.com · · Score: 4, Funny
    • Self powered diabetes control systems. You can use the excess glucose into power, and when the level is too low, it can release a reserve of glucose.
    • Weight loss implants. Eat all the chocolate you like, and then use it to start your car.
    1. Re:some interesting applications by cybermace5 · · Score: 4, Funny

      Does your sister know that you're offering her to random Slashdot nerds?

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      ...
  5. stupid body by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny
    your body stupidly wastes glucose in maintaining homeostasis

    My homo-status is NONE of your business.

  6. I want the opposite by spun · · Score: 4, Funny

    Give me an implant that uses electricity to create glucose, so that I can plug myself into the wall and not have to stop to eat during those long coding sessions.

    --
    - None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
  7. Hey you Porky! by niko9 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Would the morbidly obese qualify for US Department of Energy rebates?

  8. Other uses by mao+che+minh · · Score: 5, Funny

    You know, some fly-by-night internet "entrepreneur" is going to spin a tale about how this pioneering new technology can help you increase the size of your penis. You watch.

    1. Re:Other uses by frankthechicken · · Score: 5, Funny

      Damn man, if blood doesn't increase the size of your penis, then what on earth does? Unless you've got some form of winch and rack system going on, in which case I'd rather not know, though it sounds like a nice hack.

    2. Re:Other uses by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      Does anyone else feel uneasy with the work "hack" being used in relation to the word "penis"...?

  9. Ahhh, Gordon! by wowbagger · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Ahhh, Gordon, good to see you. We've found a way to keep your HEV charged, but you'll find you need the cola machines more."

  10. This was done long ago by Boyceterous · · Score: 4, Funny

    when Uncle Fester was able to light that incandescent bulb in his mouth!

  11. Stop following me! by winkydink · · Score: 5, Funny
    Now how many of you Slashdotters would it take to power my laptop?

    Too many I suspect until geek hygiene improves dramatically.

    --

    "I'd rather be a lightning rod than a seismometer." -Ken Kesey

  12. why the premise of the Matrix is so dumb by peccary · · Score: 4, Funny

    the efficiency of conversion of biomass to energy by the human metabolism is very, very, poor. It's not that the oxidation of glucose is so inefficient, it's that there's so much energy spent digesting food to glucose in the first place.

    Chickens and rabbits do much better. But then, what kind of a movie would it be if Keanu Reeves was trying to free acres and acres of penned hens? I know, it's about his speed. He'd probably get an Oscar for best supporting actor.

    Er, as I was saying, the human body is not a very efficient producer of energy, and the amount of fossil fuels used to produce our food is staggering.

    What would be more useful, in terms of the worlds energy demands, is if these guys could *reverse* the process... By putting energy IN to the metabolism, synthesise glucose from H20 and C02. Ideally, the energy source would be good old solar insolation on exposed skin.

    So, lay around in the backyard naked for a few hours and save the money you would have had to spend on doughnuts.

    This isn't too incredibly speculative, plenty of organisms do this already. The downside is, you'd probably be green, but if everyone was green, it wouldn't be so bad.

  13. Re:Matrix? by t0rnt0pieces · · Score: 4, Funny

    So "The Matrix" was a documentary??!?

    Fate, it seems, is not without a sense of irony.

    --
    Karma: Excellent (In Soviet Russia, karma pimps YOU)
  14. Re:Rusty Glucose by WolfWithoutAClause · · Score: 4, Funny
    Oxidation? Yes, actually really nasty stuff is produced:

    2 C2H6O6 + O2 -> 4CO2 + 6H2O

    That CO2 could suffocate you, and H2O is harmful by inhalation and is found in all known cancers!

    --

    -WolfWithoutAClause

    "Gravity is only a theory, not a fact!"
  15. Almost right... by YuppieScum · · Score: 4, Funny

    I find that a wench and rack does it for me...

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