Thermoelectric motor
Ok, here's the page where I first heard about this interesting item. http://www.netcomuk.co.uk/~wwl/bbmotor.html
It basically states that the heat created from a low voltage/high amperage source causes a small bulge in the ball bearings which causes rotation.
I tried this out today with a 5/16 shaft in two ball bearings, I wedged it in a bench vise insulated by two wooden boards. Then I connected two wires
(10 or 12 gauge) to the terminals of the battery. Well, the pictures explain it pretty well.
http://aaronewf.tripod.com/EBB.html
It's somewhat large pictures.
The driveshaft rotates at very high speed when off balance, even faster when it's balanced out and left connected so it can accelerate. Never was I
able to actually melt the wiring though, it melted the outer jacket with a cloud of smoke but no actual flames.
I also stopped after a while because the page says that energy draining activities can cause a wet-cell battery to emit hydrogen gas (!) and I wasnt
going to risk it.
So then, I'm planning on making a larger version, possibly with a 1" shaft and pillowblock bearings for mounting. Then if that's successful I plan to
make some water jackets from sheet metal for cooling. It might be possible for this to be somewhat efficient rather than smoke out after ten seconds
operation. 
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