Piezoelectric

While most planes use heat to melt ice that can form on the wing either before takeoff or during flight, the process is highly energy intensive and can impact engine efficiency. A new process from German researchers shakes the ice off instead.

An experimental new helmet could save drivers of construction vehicles from serious injuries. The device measures the extent to which its wearer is being shaken up while driving, and sounds an alert when the shaking gets to be too much.

Monitoring extreme environments requires a sensor continues to work in high temperatures. Now, researchers have developed a piezoelectric sensor that operates reliably at the temperature of erupting mafic lava, the hottest type of lava on Earth.

Although there already are experimental "telehaptic" systems that allow people to send and receive tactile sensations, they tend to be bulky and awkward. A new one is much slimmer and thus more practical, thanks to the use of piezoelectric materials.

Engineers at MIT have developed an ultra-thin speaker that could be used to make entire surfaces produce sound. The unique design should be energy efficient and easy to produce at scale, the team says.

Although we've seen several systems that use vehicle-integrated cameras to detect intoxicated drivers, a team of Japanese scientists claim that such technology isn't always reliable. Their alternative? A drunk-driver-detecting car seat.

There are untold energy sources all around us, if we can just figure out how to tap into them. Swiss researchers have now demonstrated an environmentally friendly way to make spongy wood flooring that can generate electricity with every step.

In today’s concrete jungle, pavement takes up a lot of space, so we might as well cram some smarts in there. Now NASA is installing a high-tech new path that lights up, emits Wi-Fi signals and generates electricity, due to greet visitors to the Kennedy Space Center.

​With their ability to generate electricity from mechanical stress, piezoelectric systems made from synthetic materials are great and all, but you know what might be even better? Piezoelectric systems made from natural materials.

In the future, we might overcome anxiety about a dying phone battery by doing a few star jumps. Researchers are developing an ultra-thin device that can generate electricity from motions as subtle as sitting down, opening up possibilities of clothes that charge phones or light up like an LCD screen.

Energy harvesting devices that generate electricity from light, heat, and mechanical pressure in a single package may soon be possible. Researchers from the University of Oulu have discovered a crystal mineral material that is able to simultaneously generate electricity from all these sources.

One of the biggest hurdles that electric cars face in going mainstream is range anxiety. To help combat this, Goodyear came up with its BHO3 concept tire, which generates electricity by converting heat and motion into current as the tire rolls – and even when it's standing still.