Gizmodo

CWhite Noise

CPaleofuture

CGizmodo en Español

CLEG GODT

CSploid

Deadspin

Gawker

Gizmodo

io9

Jalopnik

Jezebel

Kotaku

Lifehacker

PO

S

S

Advanced

Include UnpublishedInclude Replies

Include only posts that have...

ImagesVideoMarked as Spam

31

E

j

i

G

eEdit

BPromote

ABusiness

Tech By Design

Architecture - Design - Science - Cities - Tips - Deals - Apple - Google - Microsoft - Sploid - Paleofuture

Gizmodo

Recommended by Robert Sorokanich

Do Regular People Actually Care About CES?

This Electronic Sleep Apnea Cure Is Like Auto-Pilot for Breathing

Credit Card Stolen? Don't Panic. Here's What to Do

This week was all about CES 2014, the annual show where we get wowe...

Rumor has it Windows 9 (codenamed "Threshold") will be re...

Video Gaming's Future, This Week's Ice Age, Michael Bay Freakout, More

The Gear That Got Us Through CES

Beats Music, the brand-heavy audio company's streaming music se...

Uber-Nerd James May Explains How Digital Cameras Work

Now Neiman Marcus Customers' Credit Cards Have Been Hacked

This Super-Tiny Windmill Could Someday Charge Your Phone

This Clever Gravity-Powered Hook Holds Your Coat Like a Robot Butler

This Laser Can Hear Malaria Eating Your Red Blood Cells

Science Makes a Circuit So Thin, It Can Sit On a Contact Lens

A Cheat Sheet For the Next 100 Quintillion Years

What Car Has Made The Biggest Improvement Over Time?

Michael Bay Just Freaked Out at a Samsung Press Conference (Update: Bay Speaks!)

AT&T Brings Global LTE Connectivity to the Car

Wow, Siri Does Not Like Being Asked About Spike Jonze's Her

In 5 seconds, click here to continue reading...

XPlease update your browser for a better experience on Gizmodo.

XWe are updating the Twitter application that you use to connect with Kinja. You will need to re-authorize your account beginning on Jan. 14. More information here.

O

Robert Sorokanich on Gizmodo
research

charging

science

1/11/14 9:00am Today 9:00am

Edit24,725g
31
L
E

Share to Kinja

jFacebook

iTwitter

kTumblr

K

This Super-Tiny Windmill Could Someday Charge Your Phone

S

Researchers at the University of Texas at Arlington have come up with a way to build a nickel alloy windmill so small, 10 of them could be mounted on a grain of rice. And if all goes as planned, hundreds of the little things could end up in a case that charges up your smartphone.

UT Arlington's Smitha Rao and J.-C. Chiao designed the windmill, which at its broadest is just 1.8mm wide. Built from nickel alloy for rigidity, the little fan is self-assembled using wafer-scale semiconductor electroplating principles and a technique the team likens to origami. Rao and Chiao have partnered with WinMEMS Technologies Co., a Taiwanese company researching ways to build micro electro-mechanical systems, to bring the baby windmill to reality.

"Imagine that they can be cheaply made on the surfaces of portable electronics," Chiao said, "so you can place them on a sleeve for your smart phone. When the phone is out of battery power, all you need to do is to put on the sleeve, wave the phone in the air for a few minutes and you can use the phone again." Maybe she could design a case that aims the windmills below the user's chin, so you could charge up your phone simply by talking on it. [University of Texas at Arlington via Engadget]

Image: University of Texas at Arlington

Related

Strap This Wind Turbine To Your Electric Car To Stay Juiced in Park

Electricity-generating windmills churn out free energy as long as the wind is blowing. So strapping one to the roof of your car where there's… Read…

LDiscuss

Preview an update to discussions »

K

Show all discussions

additional replies submitted and awaiting review
Submitted discussions can be approved by the author or users followed by this blog.

About

Help

Terms of Use

Privacy

Advertising

Permissions

Content Guidelines

RSS

Jobs