Ask HN: Why can't I use my body fat to power my devices?

2 points by mozak1111 4 years ago | 9 comments

Hi - This sounds like sci-fi brain storming, but I am actually asking a serious question.

I often think that the key to weight-loss in 21st century could be some kind of way to convert energy stored in our body to electricity. Maybe you can plug in your laptop to your body, or have a chip inside your body to mine Bitcoin or whatever. After some research, I assume the generated energy would not be that much but the goal here is to find a way to burn [use/waste] the extra energy so that you can lose weight.

Any input on this would be appreciated.

yuppie_scum 4 years ago |

Put a generator on a stationary bike and plug your phone or a usb battery into it.

Besides, we all know the best use for human fat is soap.

mozak1111 4 years ago | |

I appreciate the out of the box thinking here, but the idea is to have some sort of way to have some form of organ that artificially consumes a lot of energy, passively. The same way that your heart or brain consumes energy. "Glucose Biofuel Cell" was another answer here which is more aligned in what I am thinking of.

xen2xen1 4 years ago |

1. Very, very small energy potential. 2. Infection concerns. 3. Much, much simpler ways to do it much more effectively. 4. That being said, implants are getting more and more common, it won't be too long before finger pricks are replaced by injected sensors, as the latter is already a deployed technology, for instance. 5. It will happen on some level, but weight loss / gain isn't just energy in and out.

mozak1111 4 years ago | |

My question is very hypothetical. I've read that human brain consumes about 400-500 calories a day on average. Imagine you could somehow attach a device to body that could burn another 1000 calories. [and probably convert it to heat - forget about burning your skin and infections for now]

Do we have that kind of interface? Can we power an implant using energy stored in fat cells?

sigmaprimus 4 years ago |

It takes 600 Kilo Calories to replace a pint of blood so maybe some sort of maggot box that You feed your blood to that can then have their heat converted to electricity through peltier plates?

1970-01-01 4 years ago |

It's been done.

https://www.powerwatch.com/

mozak1111 4 years ago | |

Of course, but I am asking about an "interface" that can attach to body [surgically] and use the energy stored in fat cells. Like a constant "power leak" - the primary concern would be weight loss, with the side-effect of being able to use that power for something useful.

ohiovr 4 years ago |

You would need a glucose fuel cell.

mozak1111 4 years ago | |

Yes, thank you. That is the sort of thing I am thinking about. This article [0] talks about it. I think one should create something that use the body as a glucose fuel cell but can consume a lot of energy.

[0] - https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/glucose-body-fuel...