Posted on 01/15/2014 10:48:13 AM PST by smokingfrog
Forget hand-cranked chargers and solar-powered cases, the latest way to solve the ever-present problem of a dying phone battery is by using thin air.
Researchers from Texas have developed a miniscule micro-windmill that is just 1.8mm wide and can transform wind energy into electricity.
The team behind the design claim hundreds of the nickel devices could be fitted to a phone case, for example, and users could charge their phone simply by waving it in the air.
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The technology was built by micro-engineering experts at the University of Texas Arlington (UTA).
Each windmill is made of flexible nickel alloy components capable of taking strong winds without breaking.
They are so small that ten of them can fit onto a single grain of rice.
Professor J.C. Chiao from the university said: The micro-windmills work well because the metal alloy is flexible and the design follows minimalism for functionality.
Imagine that they can be cheaply made on the surfaces of portable electronics, so you can place them on a sleeve for your smartphone.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Holding it out of the window driving down the road?
Sounds interesting, like the piezo-electric (?) chargers on flashlights - no need for batteries.
How many lawsuits will follow from people hearing a “buzzing noise” by being within a mile of the little wind turbine?
Paging Sir Paul McCartney; Sir Paul, please pick up the white phone!
wrong Beatle
All Beatles are the wrong Beatle.
When are they going to have a surgically implanted model like in Total Rekall 2?
Right; not that I cared for any of them...and I guess it shows.
I don’t remember that one (or didn’t see it).
Hogwash. Come on, just ONE example. Perhaps you are the one who should read and study before making bold claims about static electricity?
Micro circuits just under the skin, you talk to the hand, or hold to any glass surface and it beams images. It was in the right palm of Kate Bekinsell if I spelled that right.
I really think its possible, for all I know its already been done.
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