“The human heartbeat could be used to power an ipod after scientists developed a tiny chip which uses the body’s own movement to generate power. Scientists hope that as the nanotechnology used in the chip evolves, it could lead to electronics which don’t require batteries or mains power,” The Telegraph reports. “Hailed as a milestone, it can use tiny movements such as the pinch of a finger to generate power.”
“The team, presenting their findings at the National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society, have used it to power LCD displays and diodes, as well as to transmit a radio signal once its generated power has been stored,” The Telegraph reports. “Dr Zhong Lin Wang, of Georgia Institute of Technology said: ‘This development represents a milestone toward producing portable electronics that can be powered by body movements without the use of batteries or electrical outlets. Our nanogenerators are poised to change lives in the future. Their potential is only limited by one’s imagination.'”
The Telegraph reports, “Five nanogenerators working together produced about 1 micro ampere output current at 3 volts about the same voltage generated by two regular AA batteries. Dr Wang said: ‘While a few volts may not seem like much, it has grown by leaps and bounds over previous versions of the nanogenerator. Additional nanowires and more nanogenerators, stacked together, could produce enough energy for powering larger electronics, such as an iPod or charging a cell phone.'”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “BlackWolf” for the heads up.]
iHeart
I love my iPhone, but this is ridiculous!
Ridiculously cool!
Great idea, but they are coming at it from the wrong angle. Why not put the nano devices on the larynx? There are enough blowhards and bellyachers in the world to obsolete petrol.
I think its progress in the right direction. Never worry about keeping a charge. I just have to stay alive since I’m the generator now. 😉
I think. Tiny liquid metal can be a poweful Kinetic energy source
Here’s where karma really kicks in for Dick Cheney….
The machines from the Matrix ears just perked up.
finally! A use for the human heart!
So, it’s like a grid-tied PhotoVoltaic solar array? When your iPhone needs juice, your heart charges it, and when your heart goes on the fritz, your iPhone can jolt you back to life? Who needs those $1000 defib kits that weigh 20 pounds when you have your iPhone.
In the future you could power your pacemaker.
Seems to me that the ideal use would be to have them integrated into your clothing. All motion throughout the day would generate and store energy. And in your shoes? Fugedaboudit!
Not sure about that battery technology juiced by heart power…
Last thing I want to see or probably will see with such a device is the low battery warning light and me saying…
Wha
t t
he
f.
.
.
(and the iPhone will have that antiquated light of those last few powered pixels in the center of the screen as the power fades, just like those old time analog tvs of the ’50’s.)
Be hard to mass produce it!. Like right now to be able to have an iPad 2 in your hands.
the Murdoch press often exaggerate things… But we’ll see.
The Telegraph is not a Murdoch paper.
I HATE the amount of scientists that waste their time doing this nonsensical stuff. Like the ones who are trying to halt global warming sending thousands of lenses that would cost trillions of dollars and position them in orbit instead of simply researching nuclear fusion or something like that.
So if the user experiences cardiac arrest would the iPhone die of a broken heart?
I think the main thing is… where the heck is this nanogenerator inserted? or placed? Someone mentioned pacemaker and that would be a real good idea to have this charge the pacemaker instead of some bulky device.. but who knows.
Isn’t this how The Matrix got started — using us as batteries? 😛
Then masterbation will someday power a city
Heart chargers work fastest when your power source is scared, panicked or otherwise excited. 😉
So many things to address here:
1. The iPhone currently (no pun intended) requires 5 volts in the range of 1 amp (can be more or less, which controls charging time). So, they would need to get the nanogenerators up to 5 volts, and then stack hundreds of them to charge an iPhone. Maybe some day.
2. Scientists research many different areas where we don’t yet know what is possible. Believe it or not, many of the very useful things we use EVERY DAY are based on research that, at the time, didn’t seem as practical as other work being done. A diverse mix of immediately-useful development and long-range basic research is what builds a dynamic, advancing civilization. Don’t waste OUR time by crying out against basic research and attempts to push the frontiers of tech. Nuclear fusion is NOT easy, but many scientists are working on it (and even a guy in Brooklyn is doing homebrew fusion research in his basement). I doubt much money is being spent on reflectors in space to modify climate change. Whatever is learned from that research will be useful for other things anyway, even if never used to control Earth’s climate.
3. Finally, if you read about “science” in the Telegraph or the Daily Mail (or almost ANY publication that isn’t focused on science), you must realize that the reporter is almost certainly doing a terrible job representing a realistic picture of what the science/tech can do, how soon it can do it, and the motivations and intentions of the scientists. The reporter wants a story that will cause excitement and/or controversy, so they will tweak whatever is said to be as extreme as possible. Don’t buy into it. Just imagine if a reporter did a story on something in your life – do you really believe that you wouldn’t read the story and say “Wow, this guy’s a wacko/loser/hero”? If not, the reporter wasn’t doing his/her “job” – writing a story that gets hits to earn ad revenue.
I ♥
My watch operates the same way.
It was only a matter of time before they tapped into this potential for other uses.
We are the Borg. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.
This definitely makes great sense to anyone.