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Hamster-Powered Night Light

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the electric-animals dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Though Skippy the Hamster powers this night light by running on his excercise wheel, the same concepts and low-rpm alternator design could be applied to a school science project using different energy sources! A small wind or hydro turbine could easily power this alternator. The Otherpower.com staff thought of building a hamster-powered nightlight a couple years ago at a rather, uh, soused company Christmas party. Then recently Analise, an 8th grader from Albuquerque, NM, contacted DanF through the AllExperts.com Science For Kids forum, asking 'Can a rodent generate enough electricity to power a light by running on it's wheel?'"

9 of 248 comments (clear)

  1. There's not enough hamsters in the world to... by Scythr0x0rs · · Score: 5, Funny

    power your website while it's being slashdotted.

  2. Devo! by vuvewux · · Score: 5, Funny

    Man has finally harnessed the power of animals. Soon we will be able to bring animals to other fields, replacing farm equipment and automobiles.

    --

    Let's not forget that one can hate his government, but love his country.
  3. Build one of these for Oprah... by EvilCabbage · · Score: 5, Funny

    String a baked ham to the thing and see if she can light up Chicago.

    Thankyou, I'll be here all week. Try the fish.

  4. In other news... by uodeltasig · · Score: 5, Funny

    Skippy dies due to slashdotting a site with 14 pictures of him... Now who is going to power the annoyingly loud little nightlight?

    --
    Hey look no pointless curley braces or semicolons... just like Python
  5. Re:Heh. by FrYGuY101 · · Score: 5, Funny
    Anything that gets kids interested in science can only be a good thing.
    And this will be my defence for my next book: "Creating Meth labs for fun and profit!"

    (Cue the 'Step 3: Profit' jokes now... we all know they're coming)
    --
    "If we let things terrify us, life will not be worth living."

    - Seneca
  6. Agonisingly true Douglas Adams/John Lloyd quote by zaxios · · Score: 5, Funny

    From ALBUQUERQUE, you say?

    ALBUQUERQUE (n.)

    A shapeless squiggle which is utterly unlike your normal signature, but which is, nevertheless, all you are able to produce when asked formally to identify yourself. Muslims, whose religion forbids the making of graven images, use albuquerques to decorate their towels, menu cards and pyjamas.

  7. Yes. by suss · · Score: 5, Funny

    'Can a rodent generate enough electricity to power a light by running on it's wheel?'

    If it thinks it's being chased by Richard Gere, then yes, it probably can.

  8. Our last hope... gone... by tacarat · · Score: 5, Funny

    Now that we can be replaced with hamsters, why are the machines going to keep us around? I imagine they'll get a great ROI by ditching the human based Matrix in favor of a less complex one designed to simulate a glass cage with tubing in some 5th grader's bedroom.

    Google cache here

    --
    "Common sense will be the death of us all"
  9. Come Pinky! by gijoel · · Score: 5, Funny

    Come Pinky! We must prepare for tomorrow night! Why? What are we going to do tomorrow night, Brain? The same thing we do every night, Pinky... Try to power the norhteastern seaboard!!!