Electrical device plugs directly into trees for power

I think it is something to look into - We may be able to do alot with it.

Reminds me of idiocracy, where when asked why people are watering their fields with Gatorade they replied "It has electrolites!".

Ever heard of Nikola Tesla? All living things, including us, have electrical pulses that run through them. The earth has all we need. So, why is it the 'researchers' are just now getting around to 'discovering' this?

I've made batteries out of coins: take a nickel, place a small piece of paper towel on it, a drop of salt water on the paper towel, then a penny (well, really any two different coins, but penny and nickel work well). Touch your voltmeter, one probe to nickel, one to penny, and viola -- you have electricity! Not only that, it is easy to stack for more voltage: nickel, saltwater, penny, nickel, saltwater, penny; repeat. Tree power isn't all that unexpected or impressive.

To the writer.... More

Is this really 'electrical power' or is it a chemical reaction between the electrodes and the sap of the tree? If it is just a chemical reaction, it is only temporary and may poison the tree. If it is real 'power' what is the effect on the tree? I am sure it cannot provide power without damage to itself.

Perhaps this all boils down to someone needing to produce some kind of output information due to receiving Grant money from the Government.

As a professional in the "electrical and electronics" industry, I can tell you that this isn't even worth the time it took to read it. There are many ways to produce the same or better results without even involving a tree.

You simply can't get more than you take from nature. The law of conservation of energy states that the total amount of energy in a closed system remains constant. Sap power from plants for example, and there will be some negative consequence to offset the effort. You cant just "plug into plants" and expect all other variables remain the same. You always 'lose' something...

Simply put, charge your iPod and kill a plant.. or fifty...

The article (sans the poorly informed last.... More

Consider this: The computer you use to type your narrow minded tree hugging ideas is being powered by some sort of fossil fuel or if you are lucky enough to be on some grid that makes up less than 1% of this nations power, well good for you. It still took a substantial amount of fossil fuel to create your PC and to build and maintain your alternative energy source. The way I figure it you are more a problem than i am. I am not in denial. The way I see it, any advancement towards.... More

If we give the trees more electricity they should grow even better! Just look at all the big trees that lightning strikes have made. We must continue this faulty flow of logic...What a bunch of tree huging weirdos.

Of course electrolytes produce electricity, but this is in the soil. soil isn't electrolytic, is it? Anyway, this is really cool. Talk about green energy! Maybe this will encourage more parks and forests to be preserved, even if only to plug electrodes into them for power. And if the tree needs the power, why didn't it evolve some way to insulate that power from the ground? And there are bigger applications to this then charging a cell phone. If they can find a way to get a higher voltage, or.... More

It's bad enough these days with people throwing trash all over - but we do NOT need people to start poking holes in our trees.

Shouldn't we stop to consider the consequences of tapping this source of power? What if the tree needs that energy? Draining it might harm or kill the tree. Not only that, but isn't the whole point of going to parks and wilderness areas to get away from electronic devices? If you want to keep your cell phone plugged in, don't go camping!