In this week's wrap, Barack Obama's victory tweet beats Twitter records, and a group of Nigerian schoolgirls develop a generator powered by urine. Get the details on these stories and more below.
Obama tweet makes Twitter history
A celebratory tweet after winning the US election by president Barack Obama has become the most retweeted post of all time. By Friday morning, the tweet had been retweeted nearly 800 000 times, according to reports. The tweet, "Four more years", is accompanied by a photo of Obama and his wife, Michelle, embracing. According to statistics from Twitter, 31 million tweets were generated about the election, peaking at 327 452 tweets per minute when the results were reported by media.
Via: Mashable
Electricity from urine
A team of Nigerian schoolgirls have developed a urine-powered generator. The generator produces six hours of electricity using just one litre of urine. The quartet of teenage girls showcased their creation at the fourth annual Maker Faire Africa, in Lagos, Nigeria. The eco-friendly energy source functions by separating the excretion's hydrogen using an electrolytic cell.
Via: Biztech Africa
London council installs smart lighting
Following a successful pilot scheme earlier in the year, a London council will replace all 14 000 of its street lights with smart alternatives. This involves utilising bulbs controlled using an iPad that will alert engineers when they are broken or are coming to the end of their life cycles. The Westminster City Council will install the lights over the next four years as part of a £3.25 million investment, and the new system will form part of the UK's first electronically monitored lighting infrastructure. The implementation will also reduce Westminster Council's energy bill by £1 million every two years.
Via: The Next Web
Algorithm to predict future trending topics
At present, predicting future trending topics on Twitter is impossible. But a professor and student from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology claim to have developed an algorithm that they say will predict - with 95% accuracy - what topics will trend in just an hour-and-a-half. Should the algorithm prove true, it could have direct implications for the likes of Twitter itself, enabling the social network to sell ads against trending topics.
Via: Engadget
Chair knits beanie while you rock
As furniture becomes more functional, a design student has developed a rocking chair that knits a hat while you rock. The rocking chair knitting machine feeds a spool of yarn through a geared mechanism that slowly knits a wool tube descending towards the head of whoever is keeping it powered. When the hat is large enough for your head, you just stop rocking and tie off the top.
Via: Gizmodo
Indoor cloud machine makes TIME's best invention list
TIME Tech's Best Inventions of 2012 list features everything from Google's smart glasses, a motion-activated screwdriver and a home HIV test kit. The list of 25 items also includes an indoor cloud machine, which creates a small, perfect white cloud in the middle of a room and gloves that enable speech- and hearing-impaired people to communicate with those who don't use or understand sign language.
Via: TIMEtech
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