What is Digg?48 Comments
- hummer13, on 11/12/2007, -5/+26Sweet it uses a cigarette lighter hookup. That means you would definitely be able to use more than just the laptop, as the article says it can produce up to 75 kilowatts and the laptop only needs 30. Now if we could make a smaller, foldable, more compact version that straps to your backpack or fits in your trunk. Talk about the ultimate piece of a survival kit; you might see more conversations like this:
me: "yeah my card slid off the road into this ravine during the snow storm"
911: "is everyone ok?"
me: "yeah can you send someone to get us out"
911: "we will do our best sir... please sit tight and don't panic, it might be awhile."
me: "panic? I think... oh can you hold one sec... my pop tarts just popped out of the toaster. Take your time I know your busy." - inactive, on 11/10/2007, -3/+19When is someone going to invent wireless power?
- jamdogg, on 11/11/2007, -0/+11I thought of a whole gym where all the machines generate power which you would sell into the grid, maybe even pay people to come and work out based on the energy they produce. Hell, why not just stack everyone into towers, feed them a virtual reality and use the bio-electricity they produce....
- facelesscoward, on 11/10/2007, -0/+8I'm not sure I understand. Are you making an argument against exercising?
- guymal, on 11/10/2007, -1/+8Let's see you use that while watching pron...
- tomokatsu, on 11/11/2007, -0/+7Nicoli Tesla did quite a bit with "wireless power"... some pretty interesting stuff. just wikipedia/google him.
- forcedfx, on 11/11/2007, -0/+775,000 watts eh?
- mlvassallo, on 11/11/2007, -0/+6But how is this going to help me when I am on the toilet and my battery is dying yet my heated debate over IRC isn't finished yet?!?!?
- ursername180, on 11/11/2007, -0/+6Isn't a laptop mainly bought because it doesn't have the 'bulkiness' of a desktop computer?
- dudinatrix, on 11/11/2007, -0/+6great scott!!
- inactive, on 11/10/2007, -0/+6Slideshow of the Pedal Powered Athena laptop: http://www.flickr.com/photos/itenergyrao/sets/7215 ...
- alphacoder, on 11/10/2007, -0/+5I think this has been done before but great news anyway.
- brogers810, on 11/10/2007, -0/+5because I am lazy I will just plug it into a wall.
- dave6, on 11/10/2007, -0/+3Much easier to use on an airplane, too.
- Dan2552, on 11/10/2007, -0/+3It was on BBC news earlier this year but I havn't heard anything since...
- Durrok, on 11/10/2007, -0/+3The idea has been tossed around quite a bit.
http://www.damninteresting.com/?p=703 - Scaryclouds, on 11/11/2007, -1/+4This isn't very impressive for MIT students... It's not even that innovative...
- hiPpymIck, on 11/10/2007, -0/+3sounds perfect for Diggers - you only get power if you pedal
- Oronar, on 11/10/2007, -0/+3Not quite, still can't time travel on it. :(
- d00by, on 11/10/2007, -2/+5i think any method that involved shooting electrons through the air to provide wireless electricity would be bound to give us all cancer.
- djphatjive, on 11/10/2007, -0/+3Here ya go,
http://www.physorg.com/news100445957.html - Snakedal337, on 11/11/2007, -0/+3I've been here before... whatd they change.
- andywebb95, on 11/10/2007, -0/+2This sounds familiar
- andywebb95, on 11/10/2007, -0/+2Great! All they need to do now is supply someone to pedal :)
- kenvsryu, on 11/10/2007, -0/+2the xo laptop or olpc recharges the battery by a pull string, much easier to carry than a stationary bike.
- scottc, on 11/11/2007, -0/+2You need one of those pee-powered batteries for that.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/08/08 ... - Dan2552, on 11/10/2007, -0/+2Takes up too much space...
- andywebb95, on 11/10/2007, -0/+2We need a green version of the Flux capacitor.
- Oronar, on 11/10/2007, -0/+2Done.
http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/41/wec.shtml - facelesscoward, on 11/10/2007, -0/+1Does anyone sell something like this?
- mutt, on 11/10/2007, -0/+1neat.
- flashmastert, on 11/10/2007, -0/+1This is the most intelligent news I have seen in a long time... I would buy this...
- XIUgraag, on 11/10/2007, -0/+1Sweet!
- inactive, on 11/10/2007, -1/+2You know, if you think you're going to save energy by doing this, remember you can't take a shower afterwards, since heating up the water for a shower will use probably 100 times the energy you're generating by pedaling the bike. You're going to end up smelling like sweat all the time.
- zeroFiftySix, on 11/16/2007, -0/+1I think the idea is to have "charging stations" at coffee shops or universities and such where people can just pedal away and charge their laptops. I mean, why would you carry, essentially, a stationary bike with you? That's just stupid.
- zakool21, on 11/10/2007, -0/+1Agreed. The "OMG MIT STUDENTS!!11oneone!!" hype I've seen this story get in some places kinda sickens me considering I could have done this in my garage.
- Icyfenix, on 11/10/2007, -0/+1What's neat is that they're trying to bring it to the public
- inactive, on 11/11/2007, -0/+1I'm making an argument against exercising as a way to generate power, unless you want to exercise for eight hours to heat up enough water to take a shower.
- JonatanP, on 11/11/2007, -0/+1I like the idea of being conservative with electricity, but how is using a dynamo anything new? This is the exact way your bicycle light works too? Well.. Unless you have a fancy-pants battery-powered one.
- andywebb95, on 11/10/2007, -0/+1That is what the attached gloves are for
- nphase, on 11/10/2007, -1/+1LAME. I was hoping for something more tesla-like.
- Y0tsuya, on 11/10/2007, -1/+1You can't spell.
- pkphil, on 11/10/2007, -0/+0We did a similar project at McGill University last year. We were a team of four and we basically did the same set up, but instead of recharging your laptop, it would boil and then condense poluted water into potable water. Its use was for sinisters like Katrina where you have no electricity and no potable water... (The only problem is that you were sweating more liquid than you were actually producing!)
- rhino369, on 11/10/2007, -0/+0My friend at U of Illinois did a power generating backpack for his senor design project. It only produced about 10 watts though. This idea isn't original or even hard to do. In fact it seems like they used 100% off the shelf products to do it.
- inactive, on 11/10/2007, -1/+0I'd like to try a set up like that!
- abcdigg, on 11/11/2007, -3/+2Weird how they talk about it as though it's some ingenious thing that hasn't been been done before.
People have been charging/powering all kinds of stuff, including laptops, for many years.
It would kinda neat if a 2nd grader put it together .. I guess. - Thomaschaaf, on 11/10/2007, -3/+1You still have plug it in.. buried as incorrect!
- razishaban, on 11/11/2007, -7/+1your a retard
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