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Cooking With Your USB Ports
tekgoblin writes "Wow, I would never have thought to try and cook food with the power that a standard USB port provides, but someone did. A standard port provides 5V of power, give or take a little. I am not even sure what it takes to heat a small hotplate, but I am sure it is more than 5V. It looks like the guy tied together around 30 USB cables powered by his PC to power this small hotplate. But believe it or not, it seems to have cooked the meat perfectly."
Power = Volts * Amps
I am surprised that this story would be posted by a Slashdot editor, because I am surprised that the Slashdot editor would not have some sense that there is more to be understood.
USB ports supply a maximum of 1/2 Amp, 500 milliamps. The current is limited by internal circuitry. If you short the port, the internal circuitry turns off the power.
Can 2.5 Watts make something hot? Yes, if there is good insulation and little thermal loss.
Technically, yes, but there are plugs out there that say "hi, I'm a USB 2.0 device that needs high power". Commonly found on USB lava lamps and other desk toys, and presumably available from China for not much more than a regular USB plug.