Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
h a l f b a k e r y
Your journey of inspiration and perplexement provides a certain dark frisson.

idea: add, search, annotate, link, view, overview, recent, by name, random

meta: news, help, about, links, report a problem

account: browse anonymously, or get an account and write.

user:
pass:
register,


                         

Please log in.
Before you can vote, you need to register. Please log in or create an account.

Drain of Terror

Makes monster-like noises
  (+33, -4)(+33, -4)(+33, -4)
(+33, -4)
  [vote for,
against]

On hills and other sloping roads, rainwater can get up to a good speed as it flows along the gutter at the side of the road, before pouring into the drain. (I estimated it at several litres per second for the gentle hill and heavy shower when this idea came to me.)

Putting a small water wheel inside the drain would allow us to capture some of this energy and put it to good use.

Okay, there's probably not enough energy to make it worthwhile feeding it into the grid, given all the wiring and suchlike that would be required (and the safety issues; water and electricity are not good friends). But we could use it to power something by or in the drain itself...

Now, you may perhaps think of other ways to put this energy to use. What I thought is that the water wheel could wind up a clockwork-powered device that, at night, makes strange and scary noises to make people think there's a monster living in the drain.

(What kind of noises? Gutteral moans.)

imaginality, Nov 26 2006

[link]






       Borborygmus   

       <burp>, oops
po, Nov 27 2006
  

       Wow, [po], there's a word that deserves to be used more often. My borborygmi are telling me it's time for lunch.
imaginality, Nov 27 2006
  

       [+]
webfishrune, Nov 28 2006
  

       Aligator noises of course.   

       [+] for having caused me to discover the word 'borborygmus' - thankyou [po].
zen_tom, Nov 28 2006
  

       And I thought [po] made it up! If you say it with an upward intonation at the end, you sound like a tummy rumbling. Guess that's because it's an onomatopoeia. Bun
jtp, Nov 28 2006
  

       Bunbunygmus +
squeak, Nov 28 2006
  

       I'd buy it. Then I wouldn't have to keep reminding my girls that the catsnake lives in there.
nomocrow, Nov 28 2006
  

       sounds good to me
dev45, Nov 28 2006
  

       Can I nominate [squeak]'s anno for the halfbakery tagline listing?
shapu, Nov 29 2006
  

       At the pub quiz I went to on Sunday, one of the questions was "What is a borborygmus?"   

       Knowing that helped us claim second place in the quiz. Cheers [po], I owe you a pint.
imaginality, Jan 15 2007
  

       Any idea with the suffix "of Terror" is already off to a great start. Nice one [imaginality] and thank 'e [po] for the English lesson, 'tis a great word.
DocBrown, Jan 15 2007
  
      
[annotate]
  


 

back: main index

business  computer  culture  fashion  food  halfbakery  home  other  product  public  science  sport  vehicle