clhs sciblog

Musings on current happenings in science from our little slice of the world.

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Harvesting Energy from Natural Motion: Magnets, Cantilever Capture Wide Range of Frequencies

October 28th, 2009 by christbr · 1 Comment · Physics

Energy Harvesting is essentially converting one type of energy, like the motion of wind, to another type of energy, like electricity. For example: in a “wind farm” wind blowing through the area causing giant propellers to turn. Because the propellers are turning it creates energy which can be converted to energy. Some propellers are also turned by vibrations in the ground. A study done by Duke University showed that using vibrations of a person walking can be converted into electricity to power a small device such as a pacemaker or cardiac defibrillator. In turn, scientists hope to take this to the next level by powering sensors or even space craft in the future.

This article is important because it is giving us a new and alternative way of getting energy. Hopefully, scientists will be able to really step it up in the hunt for alternative energy sources.

To read the article, click HERE.

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One Comment so far ↓

  • petersjm

    I think this is an amazing break through in science. We are finding new ways to convert things that we do every day, like walking, into energy.
    I think this is great because it could lower the cost of electricity and help the economy. I have always wondered if we could just run to make energy to use, and now i know we can. This was a very intresting article.

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