Many reading this will not know “the drinking bird” by name alone, but you might recognize the image.

This bird was part toy, part science experiment, and 100 percent mesmerizing as it bobbed up and down seemingly with endless energy. Adorned with a silly top hat and fluffy tail feather, few kids knew that the repetitive “drinking” of the bird from a water glass was actually physics at work.

You see, the drinking bird is a heat engine that exploits a temperature difference to convert heat energy to a pressure difference within the device, and performs mechanical work. 

And now scientists have developed a new version of the drinking bird that could be a clean energy generator to power your phone or watch! 

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I say let's take this one step further and make them into gigantic birds that could power a car or home! How fun would be be to see these bobbing up and down in the backyard or alongside a roadway!