Wow, this is cool man. Stumbled!

nhick

This will sound cruel, but this ingenious invention is in one way quite idiotic: It will allow many people without good sources of drinking water to provide it for themselves. This will likely lead to greater population growth, something the planet does NOT need.

I'm sure the intentions behind this device were good, but the machine may actually end up having a detrimental effect on the environment.

Re: F at 8:27

What a way to celebrate Earth Day. That comment is a perfect encapsulation of the modern environmentalist movement. "Let's let the poor people die"

Classic leftist. Improving conditions for man will just lead to more mankind, which is bad for the planet, right? If you want to reduce the human population, start with the leftists, the liberals, the marxists, the communists, the anarchists, and 3/4 of the population of Seattle.

BTW, allahpundit is gay.

If these enviro-mental kooks were serious about saving the planet they'd kill themselves to set an example for the rest of us. Problem solved and it would be very entertaining.

An increase in healthy population is the only thing that will both fund and motivate human expansion into space. Room will be needed, and more man-hours means a greater scale of labour and an injection of money into the economy. This machine could also extract water from contaminated sources on other planets. That Dean Kamen is a genius. Check out his robotic arm as well.

RE: F at 8:27
Your comments are simply evil. By that reasoning; vaccines, seatbelts, child-proof caps and warning labels advising us not to operate our DVD player in the rain are all counter-productive to the environment.

The link to the video clip is bogus. It just goes to the main page for The Comedy Network. There are, indeed, some Colbert clips there, but I'm afraid you're going to have to do better than that at specifying which one.

If we could transform the intelligence in this comment list into potable water, you wouldn't be able to fill an eyedropper.

cow crap......really.? :/

I dont have a stable of cows...so....am I supposed to drive out of town and ask a farmer for a buch of crap...

this device seems 100% created for countries like Africa...not saying thats bad...but I wouldn't mind some sort of useful self-sustaining invention for me, here in the US.

but anywho, props to Kamen. Segway, robotic arm, portable generator/water purifier,.....wonder what he will invent next...?

@ F : No, it doesn't sound cruel. The general form of your argument - "Don't help, they'll only breed" - is lazy, arrogant, and vicious.

I think that this is a great device.To be quite serious,there will be water wars and we all will be affected.Water in this country,the U.S.,is getting more and more polluted and the day will come when we will be dieing for the lack of CLEAN water.Wether that be through diseases or poisoned(chemicals,and other pollutants)or simple climate change and drought,ask Atlanta,Georgia.
By the way,why don't you people get serious and get over yourselves.

Probably not many know this... But some southwest states have already tried to float the idea of a water pipeline from the Great Lakes. I live on the Great Lakes so I know about that one. These machines would be great for all those people. Want to water your grass in the middle of the arid desert? get some sea water and pee and an energy source and get your fresh water. Better yet, quit wasting the water you have and quit pumping the aquifers dry, try conserving and using water more sensibly.

Well, people are 75% water. You could use this for when they die a la Dune/Stranger in a Strange Land.
Soylent Water. Tagline: An individual Taste.
Siriously though, it's a great invention. The same technology on a larger scale is possible for cities/towns instead of small villages. Get enough people using them on seawater, and you needn't worry about the rising sea level! (Yes, I know it doesn't work like that.)

Soylent Water, it's got personality.

Actually, the requirements for this device are a bit restrictive and maybe even contradictory. To have cow poop, you need a cow. If you have a cow, you need food and water for the cow. There are, indeed, a number places that I can think of where this would work, the premise being that the water is good enough for the cow (and crops) but not good enough for drinking. Now if other fuel can be used, that would make it much more flexible (and marketable). For example, on the atoll of Majuro, coconuts are the major cash crop. The dried meat, copra, is used in all kinds of foods (palm oil). Now, if they could burn the husks and shells to power this device. That would be great. When I was last there, all of the water on the island was collected from a ditch that runs completely around the airstrip. Hey, it's an atoll.

Also, thank you for all that believe that life is sacred and valuable.

Rev. Craig H

Of course this can burn other fuels. I think the cow dung was simply an illustration. Did you really think this required cow dung?

I would like to clarify what we all see here. I have read your comments and I think several of you misunderstand what you are seeing. There are two separate machines here. The “Slingshot” is a water purifier with an estimated cost of $1,500. It claims to be able to purify any liquid source into drinking water. If you look at the picture that would be the one on the left. The second machine is a 1kw power generator that is fueled by cow dung. (Estimated cost of $3,700) I would like to mention that the average American home uses about 7kw. That would be the device on the right of the pic.

What about on another planet? There have been concepts put forwards about converting our waste into food to re-eat, but what about this machine?

This is hardly a new concept, but one of the oldest machine designs; called the steam engine. This would be running the generator from the pressure if the steam after it is boiled off from the water source, and then collecting the steam for clean drinking water, instead of just releasing it into the air from an exhaust port. It is the same sort of concept as a nuclear power plant. The machine could be made in a larger size for generating much more electricity, but you would need a constant source of fuel for the fire and lots of water from a well or stream. One of the problems would be how it would also require a lot of elbow grease to constantly man the machine to feed the fire and scrub the waste that is left from the purification process, depending on how polluted the source water is. That sludge and mineral deposits will not simply disappear and can be quite nasty. You will also need a place to dump this waste as well. Some place where it will not cause health or environmental issues. To run a house with electric heat could be a full time job 24/7. Our well pump requires 220 volt and a pretty substantial amount of amps. I imagine it would burn out much sooner with this extra load on it. I don't think I have the time or energy to do that is some one was kind enough to gift me one of these larger machines. It is hardly something for nothing.

WoW some of you posters are hard headed if you went to the Second link
http://www.redferret.net/?p=10222
You would have read that there are two devices as said before Left one proved the water and runs of electricity and the Right one a power generator for a kilowatt designed to use Cow dung so as to be available to 3d world villages and countries who have a much higher need for water than you hard headed folks. Then there are those that complain about population controll who probably do not know about the many building projects being done to sustain higehr populations and the fact that more workers = more $$ =better economy = easier tiime to build and research with mroe ppl helping directly or indirectly. What building projects?
Sky City 1000
The mellenium Tower
Co-Op city, Bronx
Taipei 101
Burj Dubai
Shimizu Mega-City Pyramid
Madinat al-Hareer
Burj Mubarak al-Kabir
DIB 200

Need I say more?

WoW! I agree.There are some real idiots here.Mr. Kamen has come up with a fantastic invention.It will literally,help solve drinking water problems in areas that have a shortage of said resource.And,the article said "and can operate using the most efficient fuel known to man: cow dung." It did not say that it couldn't run on other sources, just that it can run on this one.AND it "generates enough electricity to light 70 energy-efficient light bulbs." that sounds like a pretty good deal to me! All you nay-sayers and bigots? Come up with an invention that actually helps mankind,rather than spout your pessimistic rubbish.Hey,now if someone could create an invention that turned all this pessimism into a clean source of energy.......Wala!Kudos to Mr.Kamen! Boo to you simpletons.

Reading the comments from people saying how Kamen's idea is bad, makes me realize that with idiots likie those, there really is no help for this planet.

There may be some drawbacks to this technology. Obviously, some waste product must be generated. I would like to know how much and how toxic this would be. (None of the links discussed this.) But, somebody, is thinking out of the box. If this can be done now, how much better might it be in 10 years. At least there is some hope for the looming water crisis. I live in Southern California. We have been stealing water frorm other areas for a long time. This is catching up with us. If Los Angeles is ever to become self-sufficient for water, it will have to come from the ocean. That will take a quantum leap in technology. This may be a start.

I hope this is true, when will they be for sale. The people of this country will soon be needing an inexpensive source for power with energy prices going through the roof!!!!!! These devices severely need to be in production now. what is the hold up?

I am astounded by the many narrow-minded and evil comments regarding this invention. Maybe it isn't perfect, but at least somebody is doing something about the one critical resource that is already in short supply all over the world. Mr. Kamen: Keep up the good work!

high birth rate is often because so many babies and children die. if children are healthy, women will be stronger and be able to be educated, and women's education is directly correlated with economic well-being and less infant mortality. the death of children through preventable diseases is an enormous drain, in money and human energy. healthy people create, innovate, and thrive.

Dean... Why can't the Slingshot be married to a Solar Panel? Africa has plenty of sun. The "entrepreneur" could wheel their slingshot to a water source, raise a solar panel and provide water all day for sale to the public or free to an entire village. Would a 200 watt solar panel not be enough to supply energy for this device?

We already have Nuclear power plants creating massive amounts of steam from sea water. Isn't that steam desalinated? Is their no way to marry desalinization/distillation with the waste water produced from nuclear power plants? I might even be willing to allow for new nuclear construction if the plant was dual purposed for energy and clean water. Just an idea.

Where may i purchase one of the machines?

Where may i purchase one of the machines

Three cheers for the considerations and innovation that went into these inventions. Imagine if more of us considered sustainable means for handling survival issues. Bravo! As to the "Waste" by-products. We're used to "flushing away" things that we deem unpleasant but in truth there are technologies that utilize by-products in useful ways that we should not ignore. Like the Biodegradable Waste Composter from India (you can find it at http://www.clayforearth.org/solution.php?id=147So). In fact, perhaps the by-products from the energy machine could be utilized yet again in some fashion.

So Kamen's machines in tandem with other solutions for handling the waste could produce water, power... plus fertilizer, or more power. If we switch our viewpoint from how to dispose of, to how to utilize resources in wise ways... imagine! Thanks Dean Kamen! Can't wait to order some and put them to work.

For people who ridicule the 75% of the planet in poverty, and are comfortable in centralized water & power: Besides storms or earthquakes, if WMD nukes are exploded in the sky, all electricity and radio will not work--not even the internet, or the electric-powered pumps that cause water to come out of the tap. Generating your own electricity is a good idea. If you lost just 5% of your body water, you will get fevers; at 10%, you get paralyzed. To live more than three days, you will need water. The increase in life span today is not mainly because of medicine or science, but the availability of safe clean drinking water--something 75% of impoverished humanity needs.

There are always "idiots" and ignorant people who ridicule. They are usually the ones who have become spoiled by the system and presumptuous that it will always be there for them. Yes, "WE" have power plants but other countries don't. Who ever promised that we would always have the system we do? We can't afford to maitain the system we have developed. If there were a problem these type of people are the ones who cry to be taken care of and are usually to stupid to realize that there is no longer any supply of free money to do it. Don't come to my house to get your clean water and warmth, you will be greatly disappointed when I escort you away. Personally not only do I want one of these but I will attempt to get one for the orphanage I support in India........according to the critics I guess that doesn't matter because it's not in there back yard so it doesn't impact them. Get a life. This is an awsome machine. And if you can't figure out what to use in place of cow dung to produce methane then I guess you are not much use to anyone anyway.

Speaking of human expansion - and space... Would NASA be interested in such devices for the/a space station? Perhaps would work on human 'dung'??

Thank you Dean for continuing to innovate and improve our quality of life.
Too bad some of these commenters look at the glass half empty, want people to die and wish liberals off the face of the earth.
If it was up to these dictators, we'd be living in caves and bashing each other with clubs.

Thank you Dean for continuing to innovate and improve our quality of life.
Too bad some of these commenters look at the glass half empty, want people to die and wish liberals off the face of the earth.
If it was up to these dictators, we'd be living in caves and bashing each other with clubs.