Skip to Content

Charge an iPod with an onion


I think we somehow missed this at TUAW, but I have no idea how. Just in time for everyone to head home for the holidays (and forget their iPod chargers), here's a quick fix solution to get that battery back up and you back listening to The Cars' Greatest Hits. Household Hacker put this together, and unfortunately they say on the same page that you should not attempt this at home if you're not an expert, but all of you TUAW-reading iPod owners out there are experts, right? If you do try this, don't hurt yourselves or your iPods.

How does it work? Beats us-- the electrolytes in the Gatorade might be breaking down the individual cells of the onion, and releasing excess energy as electricity of some kind, but obviously that's just a guess based on my many years of watching Bill Nye, Beakman's World, and more recently, Mythbusters (pop science for the win!).

There is one major problem with this plan, however, and that is that as of right now, onions do not properly install updated firmware for any iPods of any generation. Hopefully, Apple will fix this oversight in the next Software Update.

I think we somehow missed this at TUAW, but I have no idea how. Just in time for everyone to head home for the holidays (and forget their...
 

Add a Comment

*0 / 3000 Character Maximum

34 Comments

Filter by:
AJ

"31. Is it a 5G iPod running the new Operating System? Or should I sleep more than 8 hrs a day?"

That is EXACTLY what I thought. I tried it for shits and giggles, knowing it was fake, and it was. why does he have it on a box with the wire oh-so perfectly wrapped around the bottom? To have two wires!

November 26 2007 at 10:24 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
ekw

Onions have lots of sulfur compounds in them. When onion cells are broken, these compounds undergo a number of reactions, forming other compounds that react with water to form sulfuric acid. Maybe this setup is akin to a car battery?

November 26 2007 at 9:43 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Matt M

Ok putting aside the obvious fake aspect of the science behind the power creation itself, and how about turning to the physics aspect.... An onion under the skin is almost entirely made up of water. An onion will NOT absorb that much liquid that they claim. did you SEE how much further down the cup was? ALSO!!!!! look at the basic principles of water displacement. If the gatorade had been absorbed into the onion, the increased density of the onion would cause the water level to REMAIN CONSTANT IN THE CONTAINER. In their example it simply disappears.

This is completely fake and those obvious flaws are just a few of the pieces of overwhelming evidence.

November 20 2007 at 2:24 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jodi

fake??????..........are you people for real....it works.....how about trying a 30 minute experiment instead of running your mouths about how it isnt possible!...............or just go back to science class

November 17 2007 at 7:09 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jamie

It is called electrolysis and will eat away at the tin (zinc) ground sheath of the USB connector and eventually ruin the connector.

I am in the sailing business and bronze fittings exposed to salt water degrade unless protected by zincs.

It is feasable. If one were to use a bronze and zinc nail and wire a female USB socket to them, and plug the charger into that it would certainly produce current and not sacrifice the charger cord.

November 17 2007 at 4:38 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Leon

WOW....am I ever impressed ! I have been charging my iPod with farts for the past 3 years ! Go figure.

November 17 2007 at 3:34 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
kate

This is cool. I'd try it...but I wouldn't want to fxk over my iPod.

November 17 2007 at 3:20 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Ron

Powering a television with a triple A battery? No way. Not enough current to run the television. First of all house voltage is transformed to a lower voltage that the television uses so if your voltage is not 120 but only 1.5 volts, the step down transformer in the power supply circuit would step the battery voltage down to almost nothing.

November 17 2007 at 2:55 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
phefff.....

13. Brawndo's got what plants crave...
Yeah, it's got electrolytes...

hahahahahahahahahahaha funny....

November 17 2007 at 2:30 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jack

I DID IT AND IT WORKED!!! HOW COOL IS THIS???






















JK i didnt try lol

November 15 2007 at 11:54 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Buy an ad here

Hot Apps on TUAW

Tweets

© 2012 AOL Inc. All Rights Reserved.