The Urine Battery
A researcher in Singapore has come up with a urine-powered battery. Dr. Ki Bang Lee of the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology has published a paper in the Institute of Physics' Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering that describes "a simple and cheap fabrication process for the paper batteries has been developed which is compatible with the existing plastic laminating technologies or plastic molding technologies." The paper battery can generate more than 1.5 mW, making it possibly suitable for cell phones, assuming the practical aspects of this can be worked out -- dropping trou to power up one's phone just isn't done in polite company. Dr. Lee envisions the integration of these batteries with bioMEMS devices such as home-based health test kits.
