Skip to Content

Listen to the Joystiq Podcast (because your ears can't read)
AOL Tech

Researchers dream up rain-powered devices

There have certainly been gizmos to surface throughout the years that react in some form or fashion to rain, but Jean-Jacques Chaillout and colleagues at the Atomic Energy Commission in France are fantasizing about using those diminutive droplets of water to actually power useful creations. After using computer models to find out just how much energy could be created by rainfall landing on piezoelectric materials, they determined that between 1 nanojoule and 25 microjoules of energy could be generated per drop. Granted, that won't keep a WoW gamer crankin' through the eve, but it could be used in everyday sensors that just need a smidgen of power in order to beam back results or data to ground control (or Major Tom). So yeah, these may not work so well in Death Valley, but we hear Amazonia could really benefit.

[Via NewScientist, image courtesy of ABC]
Subscribe to these comments

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Follow us on Twitter
Engadget Video


AOL News

Joystiq

Download Squad

TUAW

BloggingStocks

Asylum

Autoblog

Switched.com

FanHouse

Autoblog Green