Portable Hydro-Electric Backpack Generator Goes Where the Grid Can't

Where/when can I buy this?

How useful would that be in the desert? Where water is often a luxury.

reminds me of inerialess drive technologies (genny), that invented by kiwi, to run on water,gas,steam or air pressure; except it didn't have 3 foot rotor to get in the way; or need you to dig rather large trench in waterway for rotor;
ken was about 15yrs ahead of the curve,as far as public perception & requirements or enviromental issues;
there was a number of sizes of (genny)micro generator,from small device capable of running 12volt systems to larger scale power station devices;
not sure what happened to company; as i say,was ahead of his time;

Could we not get some pictures or video of this thing fully assembled? Hard to grasp the concept when all you see is the plain box(or tube) the thing comes in. If the blades are exposed(like a wind turbine being held underwater) are they rugged enough to sustain impact from branches, logs, fish, and other objects that float down stream and might snarl the gear?
One other thing, Omaracoustic, go solar if you are in the desert SA.

JimmyD: Could you be bothered to click through to the link provided for "Bourne Energy" ?

It amazes me how people comment and ask for more info on these short articles, when they usually provide a link or two at the bottom of the article for more information...

BSTUR1: Did you bother to click the link yourself? It's a nifty site with other turbine concepts but there are no other details or photos on this device. You would assume that Popsci is actually in contact and doing information gathering here and not just reposting content.

Now don't you feel like an idiot?

JD: Yes I did (and usually do click through when a link is provided) and understand very well from the information at Bourne's site the answers to your questions.

No I don't feel like an idiot (apparently you might), because actually there were pictures of other models there and one could very well understand how it looks and works on the smaller scale.

I was just commenting that a lot of people ask foolish questions in Pop Sci's comments that could be figured out if the commenter clicked through to the provided links.

Pop Sci and many other websites, just do re-post the content from the sources they link to - for these short introduction to new technology articles. You haven't noticed that yet? If this was an in depth report of the company and/or technology, then I would expect them to be in contact, but these short articles are generally reposts or reworked information from the provided links.

You should have asked Bourne Energy for more pics and videos, since Pop Sci wouldn't have any that weren't on Bourne's web site.

You were being confrontational and not constructive. Yes many people ask questions on these forums that they could answer themselves with a little research. Common courtesy, you should try to be helpful or ignore them, but you should not attack them.