To Pee or Not to Pee Trivia Quiz

Answer: Robots

By the year 2010, almost 9,000,000 robots were being used right around the world in different places and for different work functions. This has led scientists to look into more feasible and cost effective ways of powering them and their ever increasing numbers.

The means of robotic power is normally either solar energy, batteries or electricity. Scientists at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory have designed an artificial robotic "heart" that pumps urine into an internal microscopic power "station" in the robot.

This in turn converts the urine into electricity. How amazing is that? Perhaps they could call the model R2P2.

Answer: Climate change

This astonishing little creature, which looks somewhat like a guinea pig, has the tendency to always urinate in the one spot. Its urine is very fast drying and qualities within it somehow trap samples from objects such as leaves and pollen and so forth, and sets them into the soil and rock there as a sort of widdly time capsule.

When researchers from France's Montpelier University analysed samples from these areas, they were able to see how climate has changed over millennia, and compare these changes to current theories about same. From these results, they are hoping to predict trends of future climate change. Isn't that incredible?

Answer: True

Astronauts and long term residents on space stations have already shown this can work successfully. They consume their recycled and treated urine as a matter of course. Indeed, scientists from the US National Research Council assure us gravely, as they drink their coffee made from fresh water, drinking treated urine may be even healthier for us than drinking water from natural supplies of this precious commodity. AND, they enthuse, we may even be able to manufacture phosphorus from our urine. This is also in short supply throughout the world. Phosphorus is used as fertiliser, in pesticides and steel and copper production, in the manufacture of glass, china, matches, in some soft drinks and food phosphates, in improving the taste of processed meats and cheeses, in toothpaste and in treating water. Well, at least the last one will no longer be necessary, it seems. The idea is not new. It's just that, until fairly recently, this idea belonged more to the realm of science fiction than cold, hard reality.

You may be interested to learn that, because it is so dry in the Texas town of Big Spring, the local authorities there have already switched over to this process. They have utilised treated urine to supply the residents of that town of 27,000 with "water".

Answer: Waste water from olive oil manufacture

This waste water, which is a result of olive oil production, when mixed with urine, has the ability to absorb CO2 emissions. If this is indeed true, and if same could be manufactured on a much larger scale, this could put a halt to the dreadful excesses of man-made CO2 which is pouring into our atmosphere and helping to create the tragedy of global warming. CO2 occurs naturally in our planet of course, but it is the huge amount of created CO2 by mankind that is causing the problem. To think that our urine, when combined with the waste product of olives, has the ability to solve this problem is nothing short of miraculous. Scientists from Andalusia in Spain reported this amazing breakthrough in 2012.

Answer: Smart phones

Smart phones are just basically mobile phones with advanced features. In the world of tomorrow, apparently these smart phones could be powered by small amounts of urine passing through fuel cells within the phone, and converted into the power needed to keep the phone operating. Scientists have already shown this can work. Such is the interest in this new method of creating power for phones that the Bill and Melissa Gates Foundation has provided the funds to further develop this breakthrough.

It's hard to believe that urine could do all this, isn't it, but yet one day, this may all be as commonplace as television sets.

Answer: Cars

Cars powered by the power of the sun will hopefully one day be a reality, but until then, many of the newer cars have the ability to be powered by hydrogen, instead of the ever increasing price of petrol. The problem with that, though, is that while this product is abundant in our universe and our water supplies, it is very difficult to make it in large enough amounts because of the power costs of doing so.

The amazing Dr Botte has come up with a device that can instead create readily available sources of hydrogen from our urine.

This device uses less energy that half the power in an AA battery to convert hydrogen from urea, whereas using normal power supplies to convert hydrogen from water uses 1.23 volts for the same amount to be produced. Remarkable.

Answer: Brain cells

Can you imagine how miraculous this breakthrough could be for people suffering from Alzheimer's and other dreadful neurological disabilities and life threatening illnesses? One Duanqing Pei and his dedicated team of scientists from China have already converted immature brain cells into fully grown neurons, from urine samples, and transplanted them into rats. One month following these transplants, scientists reported that those brain cells were still alive and functioning.

The next stage in this amazing ongoing research will be integrating those new brain cells into the existing brain circuitry of the brain. Once that is achieved, and with its implications for curing these cruel neurological conditions, how wonderful could be the outcome for the victims and the families who are enduring their effects - and the despair they cause.

Answer: Rocket fuel

These scientists have discovered a way of converting the ammonia found naturally in urine into hydrazine, which is a type of rocket fuel. They did this by using a form of bacteria that can survive in space without oxygen. When combined with urine, the fuel is ultimately produced.

The ability for the bacteria to do this has been known for some time, but not HOW this was accomplished. The Dutch team of scientists have made a breakthrough in this, and now the fully explained process of the bacteria's genius is hoped to be utilised to produce vast amounts of rocket fuel from mankind's readily available source of urine. Beam me up, potty.

Answer: Plastic plates and utensils

In 2008 Agroplast announced plans to turn compounds in the pig urine into substances to create these necessary items. Making plastic utensils and so forth from other products such as plant cellulose or fossil fuels isn't a new idea. It has been carried out for some time.

Their disadvantage however is the expense incurred in doing so. Agroplast's breakthrough of creating same from piggy pee is claimed have the dual advantages of utilising the pig waste as well as costing one-third less to manufacture. Ugh, we used plastic plates and utensils at our family Christmas picnic. Next time, it's the best crockery.

Answer: Rubber

The rubber used in the manufacture of toys, car tyres and a thousand other products, makes those products useless once they break or split. Leibler, by combining urea from urine with vegetable oil, both of which are renewable resources, has created a synthetic form of rubber which, if it splits or rips, can simply be pushed back together.

It then resumes the original shape and usefulness of each product. Think of the billions of dollars that could be saved as a result of this invention? Self-repairing shoes, furniture, tyres, toys - the list is endless - as is the possibility of utilising this substance in many other new areas. What a truly remarkable invention.