Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have imagined a future where you can charge your cell phone while you walk. Safely, I’m sure. According to phys.org, the technology they’ve discovered could be used for little tiny personal electrical generators, attached to our shoes, that “harvest electrical energy from the vibrations of everyday tasks such as shutting a door or climbing stairs.” It works using “harmless viruses that convert mechanical energy into electricity.”
Sounds cool. So why does the idea of viruses “harvesting” energy make me so uneasy?
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