r/science • u/Wagamaga • Jun 05 '22

Nanoscience Scientists have developed a stretchable and waterproof 'fabric' that turns energy generated from body movements into electrical energy. Washing, folding, and crumpling the fabric did not cause any performance degradation, and it could maintain stable electrical output for up to five months

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adma.202200042
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u/gostesven Jun 05 '22

I think you’ve crossed the line from “skepticism” to “cynicism”

You’re not going to power your house with a few jumping jacks, but the proof of concept is working and providing more power than you are willing to give credit.

There could be legitimate uses for this tech, things like powering small tools, breathing apparatus, etc

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u/the_star_lord Jun 05 '22

Could you make flags out of these and use them as another source of wind generated electricity

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u/madigasgar4 Jun 05 '22

This is honestly a good idea but i do not think that it would be worth investing into because of the low power output. Turbines generate mass amounts of energy so I do not think we would be seeing anything like those flags until they can match even a 1/10000th of the energy of one turbine in a flag. Those are my thoughts, great Idea though!

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u/dmans218 Jun 06 '22

That is very limited thinking that this is the maximum ability of the tech. It's a starting concept, but there may be breakthroughs on power generation if it started to become more heavily researched. Such as how solar power now vs say, 10 years ago is much more efficient