Summary:
Message claims that it is
possible to charge a mobile phone battery by touching the stems of
peepal tree leaves to the terminals (Full commentary below).


Commentary:

According to a wildly improbable "tip" that is currently circulating,
it is possible to charge your mobile phone battery by simply holding
the stems of two freshly picked peepal tree leaves to the terminals for
a minute or so. The message circulates via email, blogs and forums,
especially in India, Nepal and other parts of Asia. Even some Asian
news outlets have picked up the story, thereby giving it completely
underserved credibility.


Not surprisingly, there is no scientific evidence whatsoever to support
claims that such an outlandish technique would ever actually work. It is possible to construct rudimentary batteries
out of everyday objects such as potatoes, wire and nails. However, it
is absurd to suggest that enough energy to charge a mobile phone
battery could somehow magically flow from ordinary tree leaves just by
touching them to a battery terminal, especially in only a minute or so.
Even purpose-built, mains connected phone chargers take much longer
than a minute to recharge a phone.


The message claims that hundreds of people are using the technique to
charge their phones. In spite of this apparently widespread popularity,
however, there are no credible news or scientific reports confirming
its validity. If it were possible, the technique would certainly have
gained widespread media attention around the world and become the
subject of serious scientific studies. It is absurd to suggest that the
media, green groups, and the scientific community would simply ignore
such a potentially important source of alternative energy.


Several videos, apparently showing the technique in action
are also circulating. However, the "results" shown in these videos are
vague and inconclusive and they certainly do not offer any real proof
that the technique works.


Nepalese blogger, Navin Lama has dismissed the technique as a hoax
and has published a response from Nokia in which the mobile phone giant
declares the peepal leaf charging technique described as untrue.


In alternative versions
of the technique, the battery is actually replaced in the phone with
the leaf stems wedged between the battery terminals and the battery
case. In some brands of phone, this might give the illusion that the
phone had been charged because the stems interfered with the phone’s
charge sensors. Thus, the experimenter might think that the technique
had actually worked when, in fact, the higher charge reading display on
the phone was due only to false sensor input.


And, for the record, I have also tried the trick myself with a number
of different types of tree leaves and three brands of mobile phone.
None of the experiments had any impact whatsoever on the charge level
of the battery. Granted, my geographic location means that I do not
have immediate access to a peepal tree, but I strongly suspect that the
results would be the same even if I had used peepal leaves in my
experiments.