The slimy stuff that gunks up the bench or gives you that yucky feeling when you jump into a pond could be powering your iPod in the future.  Algae are being studied to see if they can form the basis for a ‘conducting polymer’ a material that like metals can conduct electricity.  Scientists at Uppsala a university in Sweden have been using that algae that make better cellulose, the same material that is used to make paper.  It holds a lot more charge and it is flexible meaning that it could also be used in clothing.  Now all they have to do it get rid of the nasty odor and figure out some other things to make it work.