The Ecobot-III does just that, plus it can poop itself. So, that’s more poop for the planet. Ecobot-I had an E. Coli engine that ran on refined sugar and Ecobot-II had sludge microbe engine that ate stuff like dead flies and prawn shells. The only problem was that they could not eject waste. They just kept cramming in new batteries until there was no room. You might say they became the world’s first constipated robots.

This third version can collect its own food and water and poop in a litter tray, which should prolong it’s life, but I guess someone has to change that tray now and again like changing a diaper. Ecobot is being funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, who, coincidentally have also invested in the creation of some shiny new toilets.

[via Scientific American via Geekosystem]

The process of using roaches to create power has something to do with an enzyme roaches have that can be turned into a cockroach biofuel cell. The enzyme from the roach is able to break down sugars in the digestive tract into simpler sugars called monosaccharides. A second enzyme is introduced that oxidizes the monosaccharides and results in the release of electrons or creation of power.

So far, the system only produces around 100 µW of power, which admittedly isn’t much. Who knows what be done with that little bit of power in the future, perhaps something along the lines of little remote-control roaches to invade roach strongholds and disperse bug killer. According to the researchers, hailing from Case Western Reserve University, the little bugs aren’t harmed in any way. The electronics that are used to create power can be removed from the insects with no lasting effects.

[via medGadget via OhGizmo!]

While it’s an unusual concept, it’s not a surprise that one young entrepreneur in the Kiandutu slums of Kenya has decided to build his own power strips. Amos Njoroge really wanted to be a professional an electrical engineer, but lacked the resources to go to school and earn a degree. Instead, he decided to take his self-taught skills and set up a small assembly line where he churns out wooden power strips that he sells in his neighborhood. I love how he calls his tiny start-up “Gigantic Electronics.” Think big, Amos. Think, big.

Like me, your first reaction was probably that a wooden outlet strip is probably not the safest way to distribute electricity – especially in damp environments. But as long as it remains dry, wood is nearly as good of an insulator as plastic or ceramic, so I don’t think it’s dramatically more of a shock hazard. They are painting them with something in the video, so that might help seal out the moisture too. On the other hand, my scientific instincts tell me a wood outlet strip is way more of a fire risk than a plastic one, but that’s just me.

On the other hand, this self-taught skill and spirit of ingenuity is helping Njoroge and his co-workers make a living in one of the poorest parts of the world, while at the same time providing his community with a product that’s in demand. Hopefully, any fears about safety will be unwarranted, and Amos will continue to see success in his budding endeavor.

[via Afrigadget via Reddit]

However, the idea of putting your device under the heat of the sweltering sun isn’t very appealing because it might overheat and end up getting fried if you don’t pay attention. A pretty neat solution for taking advantage of solar energy without being out in the elements? The XDModo Solar Charger.

Basically, the charger “catches” solar energy through the window where it’s stuck on, and uses this energy to charge up your device, while it sits safely in an indoor environment, such as an office or even in your car. Of course, there’s no reason you can’t just flip it over and use it outdoors if you want too.

The XDModo charger comes with regular and micro USB outputs, and stores power in its 1400mAh rechargeable lithium battery – which should be good for about a full charge of today’s smartphones. It’s available for purchase online from Design3000 shop for €49.95 (~$66 USD.)

[via The Green Head]

The Rozetkus Wall is designed for plugging in low-power devices, the ones that don’t need a third prong for grounding. The abundance of female contacts – the holes – means you can arrange several plugs that may not fit at the same time on conventional wall sockets.

The female contacts are backlit by an LED panel to make the socket easier to spot in the dark.

If you find the design of the Rozetkus Wall familiar, it’s because it’s based on one of the studio’s earlier products, the Rozetkus power strip. If you’re wondering why both Rozetkuses (Rozetki?) have an odd number of female contacts when all plugs have two male contacts, I got no answer for you.

Obviously, this thing wouldn’t work in the U.S., where outlets have straight prongs instead of pins, and building code requires that all wall outlets must offer ground plugs – even if the devices themselves use just 2 prongs.

[via Yanko Design]

The project is aimed at making a roof for a car that would allow the people inside to see out at during the day and capture solar energy as well. Then at night, the roof turns into a glowing OLED light. I think the windows of homes could someday use this technology too. They could capture solar power during the day to power the house and then turn into room lighting at night.

The OLED light is only 1.8mm thick and provides a uniform and soft glow across the entire surface. By combining this with an invisible solar panel, you get power and light in one device without blocking your view. Apparently, the technology is being developed for the sunroof of Daimler’s unusual Smart Forvision concept EV, shown below:

[via TG Daily and OLED-Info]

Imagine how much harder it is for those who don’t, or who don’t anymore. But to make things more organized and a whole lot safer, there’s these Braille Electric Plug Tags, designed by Shuwen Chen. These tags would be made from hard fabrics with Braille letters, device icons and abbreviations embossed onto them. Each tag would have Velcro sewn onto the back, making them easy to put on and remove from cords as needed.

The Braille Electric Plug Tags are yet another winner of the 2011 red dot design concept competition.

[via Yanko Design]

ZMote will soon release a variety of related products, such as a separate switch, a dimmable switch, as well as a lamp and upright lights. ZMote is going to make home automation – and pranks – a lot easier and cheaper.

They say the Smart Cord will go on sale later this month for $40 (USD). I hope by that time they’ve worked on their website – which looks sort of like something out of 1994.

[via TUAW]

The advantage is that the charger actually looks pretty good and can handle your tablet, laptop, and smartphone at the same time without missing a beat. It delivers 2.1A of juice to each of its four USB ports, so even the power-hungry iPad can be charged without a problem. It ships with three short USB to 30-pin cables – though it would be nice if they included four. Guess they’re assuming at least one of your gadgets isn’t an iOS device.

The Kanex Sydnee charging station will be available in two colors, onyx and snow, when it arrives at the end of Q1 this year for $149(USD).

[via Ubergizmo]

Its makers state that with the cover in place and a reasonable amount of sunlight, you’ll be able to use your Kindle for three months straight before needing a regular recharge. The SolarKindle cover also comes with an LED lamp, to allow you late night reading. The lamp will be juiced up for 50 hours of continuous use.

The cover can also be recharged via USB, so it doubles as conventional battery in case there isn’t much sun around. Thanks to the Kindle’s minimal power requirements, an hour under the sun translates to 3 days of reading. The SolarKindle cover will retail for $79.99 when it’s launched.

Electricity is one of the things that everyone can consume less of to help the environment. A lot of people aren’t aware of it, but leaving appliances and electronics plugged into chargers even when they’re already fully charged is a huge energy waster. Concept designs like the Eco-Socket and the PumPing Tap Concept all work with the concept of stopping the flow of energy once the device is fully charged or when it’s not used, respectively.

If you’ve ever wished for at least one of those concepts to become a reality, then your wish has already been granted with Bracketron’s GreenZero Chargers. Your wall sockets remain unchanged, because all the green stuff happens in their smart and eco-friendly chargers.

Their series of GreenZero chargers automatically shuts off at zero idle power when your device is fully charged. There’s one specifically for Apple devices, one with a micro USB wire, and two that have a USB slot so you charge any USB-powered device. The chargers will be priced from $24.95 to $34.95 (USD) and will be unveiled at CES next week.

[via Oh Gizmo!]

The Ridekick trailer has got a 1HP/500W electric motor. The twelve amp-hour rechargeable battery is enough for a maximum range of 12 miles and a top speed of 20 mph. The throttle control can be affixed to your handlebars, and can be used to give you that little extra boost while hauling cargo or heading up a steep hill.

Ridekick costs $699 (USD), so it’s cheaper than the vast majority of electric bikes out there. It will certainly enable people who wouldn’t normally consider using bikes everyday to do so, thanks to the extra power.

[via Inhabitat via DVice]

The onboard generator will provide live hydrogen production, meaning that you won’t have to worry about unstable hydrogen tanks which might blow up in the rough seas. The only emissions of this boat are water vapor. It’s produced by Quimperié, a French company, and they aren’t saying if the boat needs other types of fuel, or if it can operate indefinitely using seawater.

The hydrogen generator will power all of the electrical devices, which include a GPS, a 10-inch touchscreen controller, and an electric anchor roller. The boat has a 500 horsepower motor and is supposed to go up to 70 mph. The boat itself is a 22-footer that weighs 2,866 lbs. The hull is made out of aluminum. There are more goodies, but you’ll have to spend €250,000 (~$326,000 USD) to find out for yourself.

[Gizmag via DVice]

I’m not talking about leaving the computer or television on (although both cases still aren’t ideal.) I’m talking about leaving the power and gas on in your home – which could lead to dangerous and life-threatening circumstances if you plan on being away for an extended amount of time.

So to prevent all that, Eun Ah Kim, Jinhyuk Rho and Maria Rho came up with Off, the door handle that’s connected to your mains like gas supply and electricity. I mean, how can you forget to switch it off when the switches are just on your door handle, which is most probably the last thing inside your house that you’ll touch?

There are three functions on the Off handle. You can choose to turn off just your lights, just the gas, or turn everything off. Just rotate the dial to the function, push the button, and leave your home. Quick, easy, simple, and safe.

Of course, this won’t work if you need to keep your heat and water heater running in the winter time, and there’s no mention of how it would start all your pilot lights back up when gas is reactivated.

[via Yanko Design]

The Roll Up Travel Charger is basically a power stick that hooks up to an AC adapter at one end, and offers an additional four sockets to charge up your various devices. This can be quite useful because in most hotel rooms, you’ll be lucky to find just one socket to power up. The outputs will charge iOS devices, mini USB, and micro USB ports. There’s also a Samsung charger. When not in use, the whole thing rolls up neatly and snaps closed.

It sells for $49 (USD), so it’s not too expensive and it’s an elegant solution to all of your travel-based charging quandaries.

[via Wired]

Before we could graduate with a BS degree in Chemical Engineering, we had to complete our thesis for one course and design a plant (the plant that you build, not the plant that grows) for another subject. For the first one, we worked in groups of three, while for the design project, we were a group of five.

We spent countless days and nights toiling away together in the room with our laptops in front of us, only leaving the room to go to the bathroom or to take a quick nap. We would be cramped so closely together since we needed to constantly charge up our laptops and there was only one extension power cord and as you probably already know, laptop charging wires aren’t exactly a mile long. I just wish I knew about the Pod Power extension cord back then (although it didn’t exist back then) because it would’ve made my life (and my groupmate’s lives) a whole lot easier.

Pod Power is composed of five pods that bring an outlet to you. The cable is 15 feet long, with an outlet every 3 feet – with 5 pods total. And since each pod has a cord reel on it, you can wind up any slack too. This seems like a great idea when you’re working in a group and have various devices that you need to keep plugged in. It’s also great for those conference room meetings where everyone at the table has a laptop to plug in.

The Pod Power is fitted with a standard three-prong outlet with a keyhole on the back of each pod for easy mounting. Pod Power is available from Quirky on pre-sale for $34.99 (USD). They need to sell at least 2000 to go into production, and they’re nearly half way to that goal already.

[via Geeky Gadgets]

The iPhone Speaker is basically a wooden dock that amplifies your iPhone’s tiny internal speaker. It’s supposed to work with all iPhones, and Lowell says the amplification effect is “amazing.” The dock measures 2″×2″×9″ and comes made out of cherry, walnut or soft maple. Each one has been handcrafted and finished with orange oil, coupled with wax.

Note that Lowell mentions that some older iPhones with cases won’t work in this dock. Other types of wood are available for $10 extra. The wooden iPhone speakers sell for $60 to $70 (USD) at Lowell’s Etsy shop, YellowGlueBlues.

[via Make:]

Part of the problem is having an infrastructure and supply chain for such liquid refills. That’s where urine comes in handy. We all produce it everyday, so it is widely available and cheap. Researchers at the University of the West of England in Bristol have started experimenting with urine as the fuel for a microbial fuel cell.

Microbial fuel cells generate their power from bacteria feeding on the sugars and give off electrons. Did you know that humans produce 6.4 trillion liters of urine every year? That’s just humans. If you include farm animals there’s 38 billion liters every day right there.

So far, tests have produced a very small amount of power (peaking at whopping 8 milliamps). By miniaturizing and stacking microbial fuel cells, they hope to increase the power significantly. It’s fascinating stuff. Just think – one day our toilets could power our homes.

[via BBC News via geek]

You can use the Dialug to schedule or set when you want power to flow through. But for everything else, there’s the Eco-Socket.

I honestly prefer the Eco-Socket over the other concept design because it’s more intuitive than a timer. The Eco-Socket automatically pops out and cuts power when it detects that a dip in energy consumption of a device that’s plugged in. It’s the more convenient option because there’s no need to time anything or keep monitoring it.

And when you need to power your device again, just push the plug right back in again. The Eco-Socket was designed by Ya-Hui Chi and is an entry for the 2011 Lite-On Award.

[via Yanko Design]

While modern appliances, this shouldn’t cause a problem, there’s the chance that something might overheat and you might yourself coming home to, well, a burnt or melted mess. Or your cat could try and take a nap on the heated griddle while you’re out. Not only that, but it’s also sort of endangering the lives of your neighbors or other family members who might live in the same place as you, which isn’t good at all.

Quick and smart solution? The Dialug, a concept design by DanBee Lee, JangSoo Kim, KyoYeon Kim and WooRi Kim, which integrates a timer into the socket so you can set the number of hours when you want to keep the electricity flowing to whatever is plugged in.

Of course, there are some kinks that need to be worked out in the design. For one, there’s the issue of twisted wires. They’re bound to become all twisted up and messy and eventually loose and ruined because of repeated twists, unless there’s some sort of rotating strain-relief built into the plug itself. Aside from that, though, I still think it’s a pretty neat idea and will prove to be extremely useful, especially if you’re the forgetful or absent-minded type.

[via Yanko Design]