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Cell Phone Powered By Urine

Posted by samzenpus on from the want-to-use-my-phone? dept.

sciencehabit writes "The newest source of battery power for your cell phone is both cheap and abundant. Scientists report that microbial fuel cells using human urine can directly power a cell phone battery. However, the devices are not quite portable enough to come in handy during a marathon pub crawl. One consists of six, 4-inch-long ceramic cylinders; the other is a network of 25 smaller fuel cells borrowed from the team's waste-fueled EcoBot. And urine-powered conversations would have to be short and sweet. After 24 hours of charging, a Samsung phone stayed alive for 25 minutes—enough to send several texts and make a 6-minute, 20-second call."

47 of 88 comments (clear)

  1. Yeah but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Yeah but it gets piss-poor reception, even when using frosty piss.

  2. How does one pee for 24h straight ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    You'd be too drunk to speak over the phone by then.

    1. Re:How does one pee for 24h straight ? by gandhi_2 · · Score: 2

      I heard the new iPhone 6 has the catheter tube in the bottom!

      --
      THL phish sticks
    2. Re:How does one pee for 24h straight ? by Tarlus · · Score: 2

      They call it the iPee.

      --
      /* No Comment */
    3. Re:How does one pee for 24h straight ? by Velox_SwiftFox · · Score: 2

      Urine touch with the iPee

  3. So shit tech then by happyurine · · Score: 2

    And urine-powered conversations would have to be short and sweet. After 24 hours of charging, a Samsung phone stayed alive for 25 minutes

    Why do we even post this if it's that shitty charger?

    1. Re:So shit tech then by lightBearer · · Score: 4, Insightful

      ...because it's a start? Not all technology starts of at it's peak. This just happens to be a piss-poor beginning.

      --
      - No Bounce, No Play -
    2. Re:So shit tech then by The+MAZZTer · · Score: 1

      I assume most battery tech started out bad and got better as improvements were made.

    3. Re:So shit tech then by CastrTroy · · Score: 1

      Not really. Lead acid is about as good now as it was 50 years ago. Nickel Cadmium used to suck and it still does. Sure chemical batteries have come a long way, but only because we completely changed the chemicals we used. Although it might be possible that some microbial fuel cell might be reasonably useful in the future, it will be fed something much more energy dense than urine, and will use some kind of genetically engineered super microbes, and will be as similar to this as lithium polymer is to a zinc-carbon battery.

      --

      Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
    4. Re:So shit tech then by rla3rd · · Score: 1

      I think your talking the wrong side. Its a charger powered by urine, not feces.

    5. Re:So shit tech then by nukenerd · · Score: 1

      Not really. Lead acid is about as good now as it was 50 years ago.

      No, it is worse. Older car batteries used to spend a few months getting noticably worse, but still usable, like you needed to put them on charge on cold nights. So you got advance warning that you needed a new one, and you could avoid getting to the point of being stranded somewhere. Nowadays, they fail suddenly and completely with no warning - my last failure was a totally dead battery after I had only stopped for 15 minutes to buy something on the way home from work, even though it had been perfectly good until then. First time in my life I ever had to call a breakdown service.

      Perhaps modern car batteries are "better" in have a higher power/weight or are "greener" in some way. I don't care.

    6. Re:So shit tech then by dintech · · Score: 2

      "Hi, I'm not home at the moment so please wash your hands and call back later."

      "Oh... hi... it's me. I'll call back later when urine..."

  4. Whole new meaning.. by ackthpt · · Score: 1

    to when your mate calls you to take the piss...

    --

    A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
    1. Re:Whole new meaning.. by Zynder · · Score: 1

      There that is again! What the hell does "taking the piss" even mean? And why would anyone want to take the piss? I often want to take A piss but not THE piss. British slang is British :)

  5. Urine Powered by keytoe · · Score: 5, Funny

    Perfect for Bear Grylls!

    --

    Culture is more than commerce

  6. Too big to be portable? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    If the device is to big to be portable, simply convert every urinal everywhere, to a combo battery recharge and free wifi hot spot!!

    JJ

  7. Before you try this in the field ... by DrJimbo · · Score: 2

    You should know it does't work to power subway trains!

    --
    We don't see the world as it is, we see it as we are.
    -- Anais Nin
  8. grammar-school physics by bmo · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's like people are rediscovering that you can make a battery out of any random electrolyte and two dissimilar metals to get grants.

    Who *didn't* make a battery out of a potato or lemon as a kid, or at least didn't see it demonstrated in 4'th grade?

    --
    BMO

    1. Re:grammar-school physics by uCallHimDrJ0NES · · Score: 1

      In junior high school, they call the subject "chemistry".

      --
      Cloudiot: A person who does not see offsite storage as a way to lose control over access to his or her own data.
    2. Re:grammar-school physics by Tarlus · · Score: 1

      It's like people are rediscovering that you can make a battery out of any random electrolyte and two dissimilar metals to get grants.

      Seriously. It doesn't take a whiz to figure this out.

      --
      /* No Comment */
    3. Re:grammar-school physics by Nephrite · · Score: 1

      The real problem is that reports is misguiding. What really is used in those batteries are the metal electrodes. The electrolite isn't used up (except for eveporation) and can be anything. The "urine power" is just cheap marketing trick.

    4. Re:grammar-school physics by dywolf · · Score: 1

      we just had a similar article only what, 6 months ago?, about the same thing: using microbes to extra power from septic tanks.

      --
      The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
  9. Dehydration by MrEricSir · · Score: 4, Funny

    If you're so dehyrdated that you have to call 911, urine trouble.

    --
    There's no -1 for "I don't get it."
  10. "Are you taking the piss out of my phone?" by fellip_nectar · · Score: 1

    "Yes. I just need to make a quick call, then I'll give it back to you."

    --
    Worst. Signature. Ever.
  11. Expense account. by Capt.DrumkenBum · · Score: 1

    At last I will be able to expense beer.
    Quick overpriced beer in the airport lounge, and my phone is back to a full charge.
    How is that not a legitimate work expense?

    --
    If I were God, wouldn't I protect my churches from acts of me?
  12. That's no pally by Zynder · · Score: 1

    Sorry guy, he sounds more like a Warrior than a Paladin.

  13. Take the fuel cell to the source... by bughunter · · Score: 1

    the devices are not quite portable

    So put one underneath every one of those trough urinals in football stadiums and hockey rinks. Use the power generated to run the stadium lights, recharge electric cars, or hydrolyze water to create fuel for more portable fuel cells.

    --
    I can see the fnords!
  14. Battery dead? by reboot246 · · Score: 1

    Piss on it!!

  15. Oh, whatever by FuzzNugget · · Score: 1

    Just piss off already

  16. Piezo-piss by divec · · Score: 1

    Sorry, I tried to hold it in but it just burst out

    --

    perl -e 'fork||print for split//,"hahahaha"'

  17. The technology is still ruffff by Tablizer · · Score: 1

    "Mom, why does the fire hydrant keep ringing?"

    --
    Table-ized A.I.
  18. Re:NSA by Tablizer · · Score: 1

    Now they'll have a record of both when you called and when you took a leak.

    --
    Table-ized A.I.
  19. This'll be great by interval1066 · · Score: 1

    I can't wait to tell my boss I have to take a piss to talk to him.

    --
    Python: 'And then suddenly you have a language which says "we're all stuck with whatever the whiniest coder wants".'
  20. But this isn't a battery.... by Ellis+D.+Tripp · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is a fuel cell, not a simple primary cell like you make from a lemon and a couple coins. The urine isn't acting as a simple electrolyte here.

    The urine acts as the fuel, and a fuel cell will keep producing power as long as it has fuel and oxygen. Unlike a primary electrochemical cell, the electrodes are not consumed as part of the reaction.

    --
    Remember "News for Nerds, Stuff that Matters"? Help make it a reality again! http://soylentnews.org
  21. So much for the moisture detector labels... by Ellis+D.+Tripp · · Score: 1

    inside the phones.

    No, I didn't drop the phone in water, I just pissed on it to charge it up. Honest!

    --
    Remember "News for Nerds, Stuff that Matters"? Help make it a reality again! http://soylentnews.org
  22. Chemistry by manu0601 · · Score: 1

    What is the chemical reaction at stake here? Urine main compound is urea, which ofrmula is CO(NH2)2. How is energy extracted from it, and what is the byproduct?

  23. Afraid to ask ... by drew30319 · · Score: 1

    I'm afraid to ask what it takes to power a tablet.

    --
    JAGga.me ----> Producing video games addressing emotional health and wellness issues affecting teens.
  24. Re:What a faget by Guy+Harris · · Score: 1

    I'm intrigued - what is a Faget

    An US physician in New Orleans in the 19th century?

    Is this something about you picking up these Fagets on the piss we're all missing?

    Well, Faget worked with yellow fever patients, and we all know what else is often yellow....

  25. GTA4 was prophetic by SIGBUS · · Score: 1

    So when do we see real-life "Whiz Mobile" phones available in stores?

    --
    Oh, no! You have walked into the slavering fangs of a lurking grue!
  26. Prediction by Erbo · · Score: 1

    The advent of this technology means that, in the future, we'll hear people saying, "I'll be right back, I gotta take a wicked cellphone charge."

    --
    Be who you are...and be it in style!
  27. Relativity by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 1

    a Samsung phone stayed alive for 25 minutes—enough to send several texts and make a 6-minute, 20-second call.

    It takes 25 minutes to make a 6-minute, 20-second call? Trippy.

    --
    systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
  28. My cellphone smells like R. Kelly's sheets by Ukab+the+Great · · Score: 1

    But, shit, it lasted for 99 hours.

  29. Battery died? by TedRiot · · Score: 1

    Having it work on microbes takes the phrase "my battery just died" to a new level.

  30. Re:Oh, no!!! by grahammm · · Score: 1

    Now the government will put a tax on piss...

    Already been done by the Roman Emperor Vespasian.

  31. Pubcrawl sense by rpresser · · Score: 1

    Actually this makes sense to me for pubcrawls. Hook up the loo where everyone pisses to a bank of batteries, and let anyone at the bar plug in.

  32. Can this be used also for P2P networking? by Swave+An+deBwoner · · Score: 1

    I mean, they're talking about cellular communications but this seems just perfect for P2P. Maybe a little bit messy though.

  33. Urine from bees is better by shikaisi · · Score: 1

    A better energy source is urine produced by bees instead of human urine. And it's already available today for powering motor vehicles. In fact I just filled my car up with BP.

    --
    No left turn unstoned.