Piezoelectric

While implanted artificial teeth do offer a longer-term alternative to dentures, they may need to be surgically replaced if gum infections occur. Scientists are thus working on a better implant, that would generate electricity via mouth movements.

A new study has explored the potential of piezoelectric devices, which turn motion into electricity, to treat damaged tendons and found they can act as a "switch" to turn on highly targeted regenerative processes.

Although we've already heard how electrical stimulation can help speed the healing of wounds, electrical devices themselves often can't be implanted in soft tissue. That could soon change, though, thanks to the development of a "piezoelectric wafer."

Although there are implants that gradually release medication at specific sites within the body, it can be difficult to control their rate of release. An experimental new device, however, dispenses drugs when externally activated by a shockwave.

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.

We've already heard about implantable materials with a scaffolding-like microstructure, that help heal broken bones by giving bone cells a place to migrate into. A new one could work even better, though, by also providing electrical stimulation.

A new MIT system is designed for charging batteries to power a network of sensors that would transmit data from the sea floor.

Not only do cockroaches give many people the creeps, but often when you step on one of the critters, it just keeps on scurrying. Such resilience would be a good feature for mini-robots designed to scout disaster sites – among other applications – which is why scientists have created such a device.

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.