Sewage-eating robot generates its own energy

The San Francisco Chronicle (SFGate.com)

The premise of any science fiction movie worth its salt is robots operating in the back of beyond without human supervision for long stretches of time. (Those pesky robots do get into trouble, don't they?) Researchers at the UK's Bristol Robotics Laboratory have brought us a step closer to that prospect with the Ecobot III, the first robot capable of powering itself by consuming and excreting biomass and can run unsupervised for a full week. (H/T PhysOrg)

The bot uses microbial fuel cells to break down its food, extracting electrons from the metabolic process to run ultra low-power circuitry.

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