Aircraft that Feeds

The kids at the University of the West of England and the University of Bath are in a hurry to make the Wachowskis prophets. Researchers at the University of Bath are building micro-air-vehicles that mimic the flying capabilities of insects. Their hope is to make the machines as energy efficient and capable as nature's design, without waiting a few million years. Meanwhile, Frankenstein descendants at the University of the West of England have built a robot that can move and transit data via radio waves. It's power source: a microbial fuel cell. Microbial fuel cells contain microbes that consume organic matter and produce electricity. The robot, known as Ecobot II, can convert unrefined food into electricity for power. Unrefined food, for the uninitiated, consists of flies, apples and appendages of failing students. Combine the two technologies and you have something that would make Doctor Evil proud.