Using Your Voice to Charge Your Phone
Researchers are well on their way to finding out how users can charge their cellphones by simply talking on it. Nokia has already patented technology that would allow a device to charge through movement, which is the first step to charging a device with sound, Dr. Sang-Woo Kim, who has been developing such technology at the institute of nanotechnology at Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul, South Korea, told the Telegraph. Technically speaking, sound is nothing more than the compression and expansion of gases in the air, which would qualify as movement. London engineers have created a device that could produce 5 volts by using sound. That would be enough to charge a phone if researchers found a way to conveniently integrate this technology with today’s devices.
Sound-Powered Refrigeration
Ice cream giant Ben and Jerry’s recently sponsored research at Penn State University that unlocked the secret to using sound as an energy source for refrigeration. The team deemed the project the thermoacoustic freezer, and it has the ability to pressurize gas inside its cooling chamber and release more than 170 decibels of sound, which generates heat. This newly produced heat is sent into a heat exchanger system and eventually removed from the chamber — forcing all the heat out and keeping all the chilled air in.