Urine powered battery takes the piss…

…and then uses it to power a urine test, as well as mobile phones, in emergency situations. Yup, you heard me: apparently some clever boffins from the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology in Singapore have come up with a way to make a urine powered battery. New Scientist reports that It works by sandwiching a layer of copper chloride steeped filter paper between magnesium and copper. The resulting battery, which is smaller than a credit card, will then produce 1.5 volts with a power of 1.5 microwatts, from just 0.2 millimetres of urine. Before you start worrying about how your new nokia phone will be charged, relax: it’s being prepped for use in self powered urine diagnostics.