Energy From Vibrations

JN writes "Now here's a nifty invention. What started off as a Small Business Innovation Research grant from the Navy to a MIT professor has turned out to become a great mechanism that harnesses running machines' minute vibrations into energy. The possibilities are limitless. Aside from the obvious, imagine the ultimate cellphone - one that charges the battery every time it rings/vibrates, hence promising extended talktimes, and giving operators all the more reasons to get their customers to use their devices. How cool is that? Do I see 3G applications with a vibrate() call mandatory every couple minutes? "

Comments

This could be sweet.

[OwnerOfWhinyCat]

On a Harley block these could power my Microwave!

Re:This could be sweet.

[Anonymous Coward]

Hint: Seek a female perspective.

The vibration is, most decidedly, a feature, not a bug.

nothing new here

[kin_korn_karn]

I know plenty of women that get energy from vibrating objects.

Re:nothing new here

[Xzisted]

If us men scientists aren't careful...they wont have much of a use for us anymore. Imagine the self-recharging vibrator that never dies.

Wow!

[philovivero]

Yes! A phone that charges itself when it rings or vibrates.

And next, we can build a machine that, when slowing down from drag, uses that potential energy to cause another part of itself to move faster. Then, it would never stop. We could task it to make electricity to power... everything!

From cars that have more electricity at the end of the trip than when they started, to bicycles that coast faster when going uphill, the possibilities are... perpetual!

very funny

[joss]

> one that charges the battery every time it rings/vibrates

I sure hope you are just making a joke. If you're not being deliberately stupid, I impressed by your natural talent.

Anything that obtains energy from vibrations or sound is going to dampen those vibrations or muffle the sound [same thing really]. If phones can save energy like this, maybe you can levitate by pulling your own hair up. In fact, I recommend you try this.

Finally!

[Spackler]

This is one slashdot story I'll need to read at -1, just for the vibrator trolls

good vibrations

[poot_rootbeer]

I dunno about this -- my girlfriend seems to have no energy whatsoever left after I apply vibrations to her for 10-15 minutes straight...

Re:good vibrations

[DASHSL0T]

I dunno about this -- my girlfriend seems to have no energy whatsoever left after I apply vibrations to her for 10-15 minutes straight... That's odd, she usually tuckers out at the 8 minute mark for the rest of us.

BEST TROLL EVER

[Elwood P Dowd]

Please. Everyone should make basic errors in logical reasoning in their submissions, that way, we'll never talk about anything else. Slashdot will be ruined. My evil plans will come to fruition! Ah ha ha ha ha HA HA HA!

Re:Indeed

[Torqued]

"Unless the phone happens to be one of those nifty wrist-based one, the answer is no, this won't work."

1: Momentum powered wrist cell phone
2: Porn
3: !!!!!!!!!
4: Profit! (or at least unlimited power!) :)

Grr

[Greyfox]

Damn thermodynamics... always holding us back.

Re:Indeed

[cygnus]

1: Momentum powered wrist cell phone
2: Porn
3: !!!!!!!!!
4: Profit! (or at least unlimited power!) :)

...i hear that's the plot of The Matrix: Reloaded.

Ctrl-Alt-Del as a power source

[jcwren]

Imagine an energy scavenger like this inside a standard PC keyboard. You could power Intels hungriest processors using Windows and Ctrl-Alt-Del...

In related news...

[dfn5]

Scientists have learned to use Solar cells to harness the power of the light bulb. This energy, in turn, can be used to power more light bulbs of which can be harnessed by more cells.

"I don't know why we didn't see it before", stated a young lab assistant at the M.I.T center for alternative energy. "I wonder if Thomas Edison truely realized the potential in his invention."

Re:Windmills in the ducts

[outsider007]

More importantly, let's hope for commercial windmill farms that don't kill birds.

better yet, a windmill farm that converts the birds it kills into energy.