Batteries are the one part of your wearable device that still seem old school. Although we’ve seen improvements in size and endurance, the chemistry and physics of batteries are just plain hard. A lot of scientists are investigating the alternative of energy harvesting or scavenging; that is, producing usable energy from natural sources, such wind, sun, or human … [Read more...]
Urine-Powered Wearables on the Horizon
If you really need electrical power, it may ill suit you to be fussy about where it comes from. British researchers, for instance, have developed a fuel cell that can use urine and steps to generate electricity. The urine comes from the expected source. The breakthrough here is using human power generated by walking to circulate the pee through microbial fuel cells, which … [Read more...]