human sweat

Engineers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a flexible, paper-like battery that can function in temperatures up to 300 degrees Fahrenheit and derive power from human sweat...and blood. While this might sound strange, the idea is that you could use them to power small implanted devices, like pacemakers, and the electrolytes found in blood, urine or sweat could be used to activate the battery.

But the coolest feature may be the battery's structure. It's 90 percent cellulose, which means it's basically a piece of paper. The difference is that this paper is laced with a carbon nanotube skeleton. The nanotubes conduct electricity through the device, and allow it to be bent and twisted without breaking. Best of all, in the when-does-this-thing-get-into-our-gadgets sense, is the fact that it may end up being cheap to produce, since the materials are inexpensive.—Gregory Mone

Researchers at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York have created a nano-engineered battery that is lightweight, ultra thin, and completely flexible. What sounds like a fantasy wish list for a stripper could actually be the power supply for a future iPhone model…or, for that matter, any other outlandish futuristic gadget.

These diminutive dynamos are formed from paper and a solid electrolyte. The benefit of a solid electrolyte is an ability to perform well under wild temperature extremes. Not willing to leave well enough alone, though, these researchers went on to further demonstrate that naturally occurring electrolytes in human sweat, blood, and urine can be used to activate the battery device. OK, maybe ‘blood, sweat, and tears, but whos going to buy a battery that smells like wee-wee? Not me-me.

(Image: RPI)

Perspiration, however odiferous and uncomfortable, is good. Scientists at Germany's Tuebingen University have discovered an antimicrobial peptide -- a protein that protects the body against attacks from germs -- in human sweat. The new one, Dermcidin, is, according to co-discoverer Birgit Schittek,"the first one known to be produced continuously in the skin." Other types are produced only after injury or infection.