Duracell is powering the 2010 Times Square ball with pedal power. Credit: Anton Fomkin, Flickr
Anyone can drop in to the Duracell Power Lab at 1540 Broadway in Times Square up through 3 p.m. on New Year's Eve to pedal on six bikes that will capture the energy, harness it in giant Duracell batteries and hopefully produce the 32,000 watts needed to power the numerals on the 2010 ball for 30 minutes on Thursday night. The rest of the ball is greener too -- according to the folks at the Times Square Alliance, it was outfitted with more than 32,000 LED lights two yeas ago, although this is the first year the numbers will have a green power source.
The Powerlab has had no shortage of star power since it opened last month, with stars from Constantine Maroulis to Twilight's Peter Facinelli putting the pedal to the metal in recent weeks. The latest stars to hop on a Power Rover were the Kardashians, who proved you can even pedal in heels.
Duracell promises fun to make up for all that work too -- including a chance to play Xbox, recharge your cell phone, Blackberry, digital camera or iPod and snap a photo with a life-size replica of the 2010 numerals.
Can't make it to Times Square in time? The Powerlab is open for tours online.
