A team at the University of Colorado has designed a special ring capable of transforming body heat into electricity: it can power a smartwatch
There is a 100% green, totally renewable source of energy that is always available wherever we go. Even at the North Pole or in the most remote corners of the Amazon rainforest. In fact, you could say that this energy is always ‘inside us’. We are not talking about inner energy or some pseudo-scientific spirit force. We are talking (much more ‘trivially’) about body heat. In fact, the human body develops heat to survive and carry out its normal vital functions. However, much of this energy is ‘wasted’ because it is disposed of by the body through skin perspiration and heat. So a team of scientists at the University of Colorado had the idea of trying to capture human body heat and turn it into electricity. And they really did it! The American researchers have developed a smart device (HERE’S THE ABSTRACT OF THE PROJECT) that can be worn on the finger like a normal ring and produce energy, transforming the wearer’s body into a real “living battery”.
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The ring that produces energy from body heat
The ring developed by scientists at the University of Colorado is a real concentration of wearable technology. The device is made entirely of polyamine, an elastic, hypoallergenic material that is extremely deformable but at the same time very strong. Inside, there are thin thermoelectric chips connected with liquid metal wires. Initial tests have shown that the device is capable of generating one volt per square centimetre of skin. The device has a modular structure and more components can be added to generate more energy. For example, if we ‘formed’ a device the size of a wristband, a five-minute brisk walk would produce enough energy to power a smartwatch (about 5 volts).
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