According to the Toronto Star, "scientists" created a knee-powered generator that can generate up to 5 watts of power if one is worn on each knee.
To quote: Lawrence C. Rome of the University of Pennsylvania called the development "extremely clever.''
Thank you, Lawrence C. Rome (though I am thinking you must not have a Ph.D. or the paper would have put "Dr." before your name.... oh wait, this is the Star. Nevermind. You are probably the Distinguished Chair of the Clever Things department at the University of Penn.) Actually, Mr. Rome invented a backpack that generates power while a person... backpacks. He was very impressed by the cleverness of the knee generator, but pointed out that it would need to be comfortable before it would cut into his backpack sales. I say, double-up and you can run your treadmill off the power you generate walking on the treadmill. Wow... I just saw colors!
I try to steer away from being too public about my true political affiliations. Sure, I'm a Democrat, no secret there, but I have tried to keep out of the current fracas publicly. However, today, I received an e-mail from MoveOn.org, which as a result of its members' votes, has endorsed Sen. Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination.
They attached a video made by Will I Am of the Black Eyed Peas and some other celebrities, citing how it moved them. I will admit, I, too, was moved. So I am now coming out of the Obama closet and publicly endorsing him myself, not that my little opinion carries much weight. You can watch the video below, and I have also pasted a transcript of the end of Obama's New Hampshire speech that I think is just a wonderful expression of hope and the power of the American people to do right by ourselves and by the world.
Transcript:
[...]
But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope. For when we have faced down impossible odds; when we've been told that we're not ready, or that we shouldn't try, or that we can't, generations of Americans have responded with a simple creed that sums up the spirit of a people.
Yes we can.
It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation.
Yes we can.
It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail toward freedom through the darkest of nights.
Yes we can.
It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness.
Yes we can.
It was the call of workers who organized; women who reached for the ballot; a President who chose the moon as our new frontier; and a King who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the Promised Land.
Yes we can to justice and equality. Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity. Yes we can heal this nation. Yes we can repair this world. Yes we can.
And so tomorrow, as we take this campaign South and West; as we learn that the struggles of the textile worker in Spartanburg are not so different than the plight of the dishwasher in Las Vegas; that the hopes of the little girl who goes to a crumbling school in Dillon are the same as the dreams of the boy who learns on the streets of LA; we will remember that there is something happening in America; that we are not as divided as our politics suggests; that we are one people; we are one nation; and together, we will begin the next great chapter in America's story with three words that will ring from coast to coast; from sea to shining sea - Yes. We. Can.