We’ve turned water, oil, trees, wind, sun and sound into electricity and we’ve now come to the point where we don’t know how to most effectively store it, apparently. The most common power storage device is of course the battery and we’ve all pretty much at some point used them to it’s full potential. But, did you ever think that we would try and create alternate power storage devices? Let alone ourselves?
Scientists and researchers at Stanford University are hard at work. They have successfully managed to store electricity in paper, and ink and now they are trying several other things. At the agenda are clothes, or more specifically, cotton t-shirts and polyester pants. Yup, that’s right. They are incorporating nanotech tubing into the fabric to be able to store electricity right into your vintage Star Wars t-shirt from back in 1985. As if that wasn’t enough they are trying to add the nanotubes to several different products and there is no telling where they’ll stop.
I mean, it’s an awesome idea and the implementation could be profound. For example, imagine you’re off to meet some friends at a cafe. You’re a bit late and you want to call your friends to tell them you’re on your way. Batteries are out and the clock is ticking. With the newly invented wireless charging presented at the CES in Las Vegas this year you would never have that problem. Why? Well, because your pants, where you have your phone, is treated with the battery nanotubes and in them you have plenty of electricity. By just having your phone in your pocket it will charge itself. Problems solved.
But, there is one little issue here. We have all heard of static electricity and sometimes if we’ve walked on a carpet with our rubber shoes we give off a small bolt of electricity whenever we shake hands with someone. Imagine what it will do to you and the one you shake hands with if your clothes are fully charged and ready to go. Hmm, maybe with insulators it would be better…as a matter of fact I have no clue how this will work. The idea is awesome but I am not a scientist so I wouldn’t know the edges and blunts of this technology. Simply put, we’ll all be walking batteries in the future.
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