Thanks to some new research done by MIT students, you might soon be using a lawnmower that gets its power from the grass clippings it cuts up as it does its thing. Am I blowing your mind? Sit down, sparky. The students developed a device that generates energy from cellulose biomass, otherwise known as plant materials.

OK, so maybe it won't be powering your lawnmower anytime soon. It turns out that the device generates only enough juice to power a cell phone, and even then it takes a whopping 6 months to deliver a full charge. And you thought having to leave it plugged in overnight was annoying. But hey, the materials cost only about $2, so it could be helpful in the developing world. The team members say that "multiple units could be connected together to increase power output and that refinements in the design of the device could yield a 100 times increase in efficiency." Call me when you've got that lawnmower idea working. — Adam Frucci

Daily Tech, via Neatorama