Here at Operation Fistula, we’re accustomed to the awkward conversation-halters and “OMG-please-switch-topics” faces people display when we jabber on oh-so openly about leaking urine for a living. We get it: icky medical conditions can be uncomfortable. (Though, as we always think of it, it’s a lot more comfortable for us to talk about it than it is for the women who endure it.)

So we’re always pleased to see others embracing the quirks of how the human body behaves as a way to spark a conversation rather than shut it down. Today’s winner of pee-centric discussion: the four African girls (teenagers!) who invented a urine-powered generator.

Submitted to Maker Faire Africa as a prototype innovation, the generator invented by the 14- and 15-year-olds found a way to separate out the nitrogen, water, and hydrogen present in urine and... well, it gets a little science-y from there, but the bottom line is that one liter of pee can equal 6 hours of electricity (assuming you carry out all the above-mentioned science-y bits). This might be the coolest thing we've come across.

We’ll be on the lookout to see if this invention is followed up on or implemented in any sort of large-scale fashion. We certainly can’t think of anything more sustainable than urine output. Well done, ladies.