http://www.geekologie.com/2009/06/carnivorous_robots_eat_meat_fo.php

That's right folks, robots that consume organic matter to power themselves. Scared yet? You should be. Your pants should be full right now. If not, more fiber. This particular model is a flytrap that digests insects to power a clock.

wrote:

UK-based designers James Auger and Jimmy Loizeau believe that, if robots are ever to be welcomed into people's homes, they'll need to fit in with the rest of the furniture, and earn their keep. Their prototypes trap and digest pests like flies and mice to gain energy.

Finally, robots that digest meat -- because that's what I want in the house. So let me get this straight: you're a robot AND YOU EAT MEAT. Welcome home!

Hit the jump for another picture of the flytrap and a coffee table that eats mice.

Carnivorous robots eager to eat your pests

Thanks to everyone who sent this in, you've got good heads on your shoulders. Until they're blasted off in the apocalypse.

Also: cars that run on coffee

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/21/20100311/tsc-coffee-fuelled-car-on-a-road-trip-4b158bc.html

BBC1's Bang Goes The Theory presenter is driving from London to Manchester to test an experimental car he built which runs on coffee grounds.

The vehicle, made from scrap, needs to be refuelled every 40 miles.

Stansfield designed the car to demonstrate how alternative energy sources can be harnessed.

The car features a system converting the grounds into flammable gases which fuel the engine instead of petrol.

Inventor Stansfield aims to encourage young people to think about how we can tap into energy from waste products and new sources.

He said: "Everyone recognises that coffee can give a person a bit of a boost, but many probably had no idea it had enough energy locked away to power a car.

"It's important for kids to understand that power is not something that is mystically there, simply at the flick of a switch or by pushing a pedal.

"With the energy challenge that is facing the world, the more we encourage children to think about alternative fuels, where energy is stored and how it can be released, the better."

His journey begins at BBC TV Centre in west London and - using the equivalent of 10,000 espressos-worth of grounds - takes him to Manchester for The Big Bang: UK Young Scientists' and Engineers' Fair.