Australian researchers have made a breakthrough that could abolish wall wart power plugs forever, writes Kit Eaton for FastCompany. The research involves piezoelectric materials which generate electricity when you squeeze them and change shape when you run electricity across them.
Cigarette lighters and the ultrasonic sensors your car uses to reverse park already employ piezoelectrics, which usually involve bulky crystals, limiting the technology’s usefulness. Now, though, the researchers say it’s possible to create a coating for smart phones and laptops that keeps the battery charged when you touch the screen or when you use a trackpad.
Essentially this development could mean you rarely, if ever, will need to plug in your portable devices to charge them–meaning the end of the electricity-wasting wall wart, as well as dead devices.
Read more at FastCompany.
