Carnivorous Gadgets Eat Bugs and Mice for Charging Up (Video)
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California 
on 06.30.09
Photo via New Scientist
We design solar cells based on the functions of plant leaves. What if we designed gadgets based on the functions of carnivorous plants? That's what a few artists have come up with in their gadgets and appliances that feed off the pests in our homes in order to gather a charge. Check out a video of how they work.
New Scientist shows off a slideshow of the gadgets, including a fly-trap clock that captures flies on a sticky conveyor belt, and a coffee table that traps mice and digests them in a microbial fuel cell where the decomposing mouse becomes energy for powering the mechanism that traps the mice. The devices are all based on carnivorous plants like the Venus Fly Trap and Pitcher Plant.
A clever idea for self-charging devices. It sure gets us past the put-a-solar-cell-on-everything hump.
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