Thermoelectricity
-
A new device from scientists at the University of Colorado explores the everyday potential of thermoelectric technology, demonstrating a ring that harvests energy from the human body and can even repair itself when damaged.
-
By putting a new spin on decades-old thermoelectric technology, scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) have developed a tiny microscopic cooling device they describe as the "world’s smallest refrigerator."
-
A new prototype device works like a kind of reverse solar panel, harvesting energy from the cold night sky to passively power an LED.
-
There’s no shortage of portable lighting options out there for campers or people living in developing countries. But the Lumir K lamp is aiming to be the right mix of inexpensive, safe, bright, portable and efficient, using any old cooking oil as a fuel source to light up an array of LEDs.
-
Engineers from the University of California San Diego have developed a proof-of-concept armband that can keep the wearer's skin at a constant temperature, even when the ambient temperature is raised or lowered. And the technology is being scaled up to vest size.
-
Energy is all around us – we just need to work out how to tap into it. Now a team from MIT has developed a device called a thermal resonator, which could essentially pull electricity out of thin air by taking advantage of gradual ambient temperature changes over the course of the day.
-
Created by Norwegian waste-heat reclamation company ThermTech, the Luminiser Lantern that's currently the subject of a crowdfunding campaign uses a tea candle to power an array of LEDs for up to six hours.
-
Wearable electronic devices are starting to save some battery power by harvesting an energy source that’s right underneath them: human body heat. Now a team from North Carolina State University has developed a system using liquid metal components, making it flexible, efficient and self-healing.
-
Researchers at the University of Utah have developed a new thermoelectric material that doesn’t use the toxic chemicals common in others, but is still efficient and affordable enough for use in everyday products, meaning the day a phone can be charged by a cooking pot may not be far away.
-
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.
-
Scientists at the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology have created a thermoelectric coating that can be directly painted onto almost any surface to capture waste heat and turn it directly into electricity.
-
A silicon valley startup wants you to have one less charger in your life thanks to its exercise-tracking smartwatch design that allows a wearable device to be powered via the user's own body heat.