Browsing Slate today, I came upon a link to an article describing a human-powered gym, just as I'd wondered about in my previous post. The energy produced by people working out is converted into lighting for the gym. (I still think powering fans would be also a good idea) Excess energy is stored in a battery. There's also one being developed in Seattle.
Then there's the Sustainable Dance Club, which generates electricity from the movements of dancing people. How cool is that?
And here's more on human-powered devices from the Wall Street Journal.
(OK, so the original article I was looking at in Slate was entitled "Harnessing the Untapped Power of Breast Motion." Uh-huh. It was a long article, and my eyes started to glaze over, but it did serve the purpose of leading me to the discoveries above.)
On a related note, I've always wondered why we don't harness the tons of energy generated by people using the stationary bikes, ellipticals, and rowing machines at gyms. At the very least, have the machines power attached fans so we don't sweat so much! My previous gym had fans built in to the treadmills, but they weren't foot-powered.
I also remember when I was growing up, an enterprising vendor would bike around town and sharpen tools and knives using a sharpening wheel connected to his bike's cycling mechanism. A low-tech but effective and elegant solution.
Love to read? Got a boring desk job and a nosy boss or coworkers? Here's the perfect thing for ya, found via Very Short List---a website that perfectly mimics a Windows desktop with all kinds of literature filed neatly in desktop folders. The reading material is disguised as PowerPoints, so it looks like you're working when you're actually reading F. Scott Fitzgerald! Go ahead--try it out. I won't tell anyone.
