Problem Solved!: Turning Urine Into Hydrogen

Finally, I can sleep at night: scientists have discovered a way to turn urine into hydrogen. And you said I was crazy for collecting it in milk jugs!

From a group led by chemist Gerardine Botte of Ohio University comes a report (just published in the Royal Society of Chemistry's journal Chemical Communications) that hydrogen has been produced from urine.

According to a July 3, 2009 story on PhysOrg.com, "Urine's major constituent is urea, which incorporates four hydrogen atoms per molecule -- importantly, less tightly bonded than the hydrogen atoms in water molecules."

"Botte uses electrolysis to break the molecule apart, developing an inexpensive new nickel-based electrode to selectively and efficiently oxidise the urea. To break the molecule down, a voltage of 0.37V needs to be applied across the cell -- much less than the 1.23V needed to split water.

So, you know what this means, right? Wait for it....wait for it....the P-bomb. Thanks folks, I'll be here all week. Make sure to tip your bartender and maybe steal a bottle for me when they're not looking. *tap tap* Haha, is this still on?

21st-century alchemy: Hydrogen from urine [bookofjoe]

Thanks to towhee, who pees in swimming pools.

• Finally, I Can Sleep At Night: Researchers Develop Algorithms To Mimic Water Sounds

  June 5, 2009

  The watery sounds you hear in this video were all made using algorithms developed by researchers at Cornell, because, honestly, curing diseases can wait. Doug James and Changxi Zheng, researchers at Cornell University, have developed a way to simulate the sounds of flowing or ... / Continue →
• Quick, Just Show Me Where You Want It: Urine Could Be The Key To Cheaper Electricity

  November 7, 2011

  Green yellow energy. Urine: minus writing your name in the snow or peeing under a roommate's bedroom door, most of it gets wasted. But now researchers in England are experimenting with microbial fuel cells (MFCs) to draw pee power from yellow gold. *splashing all over the ba... / Continue →
• The Future Is Now!: A Sink/Urinal Combo

  August 30, 2010

  This is a conceptual 'Eco Urinal' designed by Yeongwoo Kim. It's a urinal that, after you finish relieving yourself in, you wash your hands above, effectively flushing your liquid gold down the drain. Now I know what you're thinking, and no: IT'S NOT MEANT TO BE SHAT IN. The... / Continue →