A bacteria-powered cell phone charger! Wow, this is really one of the most innovative products I have seen till date. I can’t imagine living without my cell phone, and, I especially feel very upset if there is no electricity to keep my cell phone charged. In fact in many rural areas of developing countries, electricity is really hard to come by. Do you know in rural Uganda less than one percent of households have access to an electrical grid, so they typically power lights and other devices using car batteries? To overcome this problem, a team of students from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, US, have designed a microbial fuel cell (MFC) that runs on plant waste. These MFCs use electrons released by feeding bacteria on organic material including sugars and starches to produce electricity. The team’s BioVolt prototypes run on less-refined fuel than Sony’s glucose-gobbling battery, the bacteria instead digest the cellulose in plant waste. This amazing bug-cell-phone-charger is sure to be a huge success because there is no dearth of cellulosic feedstock in rural areas. Why just cell phones, MFCs have potential in many areas, including powering MP3 players! So, now no matter where you are, as long as you have this bacteria-powered cell phone charger, you don’t need to worry about charging your cell phone anymore. Source
