The brown patches in the image above are electrodes coated with genetically modified M13 bacteriophage, a virus that only attacks bacteria and is harmless to humans. When the electrodes are pressed, the viruses convert the force into electricity, as evidenced by the LCD display on top. The setup produces 6 nanoamperes of current and about 400 millivolts, about a quarter of the voltage of a triple-A battery. While there are already numerous piezoelectric technologies available, but Berkeley Labs states that those involve toxic materials and are “difficult to work with.” The modified M13 on the other hand is harmless, self-replicating and arrange themselves into organized films, making them quite promising.

I guess the video doesn’t really explain what’s going on in layman’s terms, but the full article at the Berkeley Lab News Center does have a more understandable breakdown of the research. The takeaway here is that if this virus-powered generators become fully developed, we’ll see more devices such as these that convert what would be otherwise wasted mechanical energy into electricity. Now where are the friendly worms and trojans?

[via Engadget]

Working on a similar principle to the BioLite CampStove, the PowerPot also will generate power for USB gadgets using thermoelectric power. There are three different versions of the PowerPot, offering from 5W up to 15W of electricity for charging. All three concept versions put that power out through a USB port.

In theory, all you need is a heat source of any kind from a fire to a grill and you can generate electricity to recharge your gadgets. The pot also needs to be filled with water or watery contents to work. This would be the perfect thing for emergency preparedness kit for campers. The PowerPot could also be a very useful new source of electricity in developing parts of the world.

Check out the video below to see the PowerPot prototype in action:

The PowerPot is currently raising funds over on Kickstarter. A pledge of $99(USD) will result in the donation of the 5W model to someone in a developing nation. $125 or more gets you one for yourself, while $199 buys the 10W model, and $500 will get you and a family in need the 15W model.

[via EverythingUSB]

The Power Box measures 4.5″×4.5″×8.75″ and weighs less than 2lbs., so it’s a very portable charger. Generally speaking, our legs are more powerful than our arms, so it should be easier to produce power on the Power Box than on a hand-powered generator. Add that to the fact that it has two pedals while most hand-powered generators only have one crank and you have a more useful and practical gadget. Its only weak point is that it doesn’t have a USB port. Instead, it’s just got an (ungrounded) outlet on top. Also you can’t use it while you’re running away from zombies. Hand-powered generators win that one.

The Power Box isn’t available for order yet, but K-TOR did say on their Facebook page that they’ve already “ordered production parts and tooling” for the device. The company’s hand-powered generator sells for $50 (USD), so I’m guessing the Power Box will be significantly pricier than that.

[K-TOR via The Gadgeteer]

The charger is actually a small piezoelectric microbelt that has the capacity to generate tiny amounts of electricity. The researchers behind the study, Xudong Wang, Chengliang Sun and Jian Shi, explain that the device generates a charge when it vibrates because of exposure to moving air – or someone’s breath. The microbelt can hold and deliver enough energy to recharge medical devices like blood glucose monitors and pacemakers, which is great news, because the batteries for these devices often have to replaced via surgery.

The device can be implanted into the human nose. So it doesn’t make use of the breath coming from your mouth per se, although if you’re a huge talker (or a mouth breather), then that’s a whole different story.

[PhysOrg via Dvice]

Now you can link whatever it is you want to link, whether it’s available on iTunes or not, thanks to the guys at Get The Sh** Done and their Now on iTunes generator. Just enter a name, a picture, and if you want, a link and voila!

The generator also comes up with a permalink for the page you made, so go do your worst and share the links with us in the comments.

[via Mikropikol]

Still, I am going to write about it because poo is funny and it gives me an excuse to break out a South Park reference. The story is that DARPA has put out a request for info on a reactor that could be powered by feces. This shitty generator would then be used to generate brown power for a several years off the grid.

I know a few parks with port-a-potties around my hometown that could corner the world market on electricity if this generator comes to pass. I can hear it now, “Oh crap sir, the power is out. Sergeant, have the cook break out the chili and prune juice right away.”

The machine, which was constructed from fluorescent vacuum tubes, also tells time. Just in case you want it to do something slightly less hypnotic but more useful. It is the opposite of cheap at $125, but if you are one of the twelve people with money to burn in this economy, and you’re like me, you might just find this hilariously random and therefore awesome.

The four-letter word generator is available from koolatron’s Etsy site.

The guys over at Technology-Ninja put together this tool that lets you make any silly achievement badge you’d like. With some real Xbox 360 achievements having such obscure titles like “Buddy with Porcupines!,” “Diggerling,” “Raining Zombies,” and “The Crushinator!,” pretty much anything you come up with will look legit.

Feel free to make some new ones and post a link to your own creations.

[via Xbox 360 Fanboy]