iPods 'Could Be Charged By Your Heart'

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Posted March 30, 2011 at 11:52am by iClarified

Scientists have developed a tiny chip which uses the body's own movement to generate power, reports The Telegraph.

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.

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 technology uses zinc oxide nanowires that generate electricity when strained or flexed by virtually any movement from walking to a heartbeat.

"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 [via 9to5Mac]

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fs1034 - April 1, 2011 at 4:07pm

It's called piezoelectricity, which was discovered a while ago. I'm assuming what they've done here is designed a system that can actually utilize this principle to generate a usable amount of energy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piezoelectricity

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xdrive - March 30, 2011 at 1:38pm

i'm not pessimistic but this just proves electronic gadgets affect our bodies / health. & it doesn't mean that if there are no published findings that its not true. i use an iphone4 & would love it not to run out of battery all the time!

krisss - March 31, 2011 at 5:37am

movement is energy. What they did is transform that energy into electrical energy. just like you can make electricity from the movement of the sea or the wind or a water stream or whatever movement. You can't turn it around and say that it affects the body. It's the body that affects the chip. There is no less wind because I use a wind turbine. What you mention is another discussion that has nothing to do with this. I can't way for it to be implemented in phones and other low-power devices.

JC - March 30, 2011 at 12:18pm

Wow, this is impressive indeed... imagine playing Angry Birds without ever running out of power : )