Technology never ceases to amaze me, and even the most improbable ideas can turn into reality, thanks to some of the most creative minds in this world. In the future, if you are in the middle of nowhere without electricity and your phone’s battery is running out of juice, you might just have to talk louder to power up your gadget.
I kid you not – this is the technique that has been developed by some electrical engineers in South Korea. The idea is simple – sound waves being converted into electricity. The brainchild of Dr. Sang-Woo Kim of the Institute of Nanotechnology at the Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul, South Korea, this technique holds a lot of promise for the average person today.
Not only can using the phone to make a call help to charge the battery, but the background noise can also be used to power up the device. Before you get too excited, you have to understand that there are limitations to the technology. For one, the power that can be derived from the sound waves may not be enough to charge the battery to its full capacity. However, if the technology works properly, the sound waves may at least be able to allow the device to keep on functioning until a proper outlet can be accessed. Even better, this technology can be applied to gadgets other than mobile phones. Think netbooks and laptops.
Here’s the science behind the idea: set up two electrodes with strands of zinc oxide in between. Attach a sound absorbing pad. When this pad vibrates, the zinc oxide strands move as well, the result of which is an electrical current. That is, of course, simplifying things, but the concept alone is enough to evoke some excitement as to its potential!
Via Crazy Engineers
Cool!!!
Wow at what people invent!
This is technology that should be suppressed. People already talk too loudly on their phones. To encourage them is anti-social and makes rudeness seem acceptable.
If the technology could be improved so that ambient noises would be constantly charging the phone, even if not being used, that would be a great idea.
There is enough noise pollution without encouraging people to make even more.