Researchers have discovered a process that transfers the energy from fingers clacking on a laptop keyboard to powering the computer itself, reports Gizmag.

The team of Australian scientists successfully used piezoelectricity to turn mechanical pressure into energy, like how electric cigarette lighters work. To make the self-powered laptop idea feasible, a thin film of piezoelectric material would first have to be developed, the scientists told Gizmag.

“The power of piezoelectrics could be integrated into running shoes to charge mobile phones, enable laptops to be powered through typing or even used to convert blood pressure into a power source for pacemakers—essentially creating an everlasting battery,” the lead co-author of the research, Dr Madhu Bhaskaran told Gizmag.

Piezoelectricity was first discovered in the 19th Century, but research on thin films able to harness and use the electricity is “relatively new”, Dr Bhaskaran was quoted as saying.

[via Gizmag]


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