Scream to recharge

Khalil Najafi and Tzeno Galchev at the University of Michigan have created a new Parametric Frequency Increased Generator (PFIG), which measures only one cubic centimeter and produces an electric charge when stressed.  Regular body movements, noise, traffic vibration, and other non-periodic vibrations can create enough electricity to power a wristwatch or a pacemaker.  If you wore one of these on a wrist while watching porn and screaming, you could power a city.  Okay, maybe not, but you should try it anyway.  For science.

With current pacemakers, the patient has to be cut open every ten years or so to have a new battery put in.  A PFIG could be a permanent replacement.  It can also be used on bridges, harvesting road vibration to power wireless sensors monitoring the stability of the bridge.  It can be used in public buildings with a lot of foot traffic vibration to produce supplemental electricity.  It can also be hooked to a cat’s collar to power a little gizmo that randomly makes bird calls and shoots a laser pointer at the floor, just out of reach.  And that’s the most practical use of all.

[UMich via MedGadget]