US researchers have created a nanofiber textile that harvests energy from movement, paving the way for clothing that could one day power an iPod or other wearable electronic devices, a study published on Wednesday said.
Using the same mechanical principle as a self-winding watch, but on scale measured in billionths of a meter, tiny nanogenerators can scavenge "wasted" energy from sound waves, vibrations, or even the human heart beat.
The fibers, developed by a team of scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology led by Zhong Lin Wang, are covered with pairs of zinc oxide nanowires that produce tiny pulses of electricity in response to friction.
"The two fibers scrub together just like two bottle brushes with their bristles touching," converting the mechanical motion into electrical energy, Wang said.
"Many of the devices could be put together to produce a higher output," he said.
This method of generating energy from friction is called the "piezoelectric effect."
The fibers could also be woven into curtains, tents or other structures to capture energy from wind motion, sound vibrations or other mechanical energy, said the study published in the UK journal Nature.
The human body contains many sources of energy that could drive nanogenerators, including blood flow pumped by the heart, exhalation from the lungs and walking.
Even the act of typing on a computer is a potential source of nano-scale energy.
Wang and his colleagues have made more than 200 of the mircroscopic nanogenerators. The fiber assemblies were each tested for 30 minutes to check durability and power production.
Other kinds of nanogenerators driven by scavenged energy aim to power biosensors to monitor a patient's glucose levels, strain sensors for bridges and environmental sensors to detect toxins.
There remains at least one significant problem before the nanofibers can become part of our daily wardrobes. Zinc oxide is sensitive to water, which means that clothes made from these fibers could never be washed, the study said.
The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee yesterday approved proposed amendments to the Amusement Tax Act (娛樂稅法) that would abolish taxes on films, cultural activities and competitive sporting events, retaining the fee only for dance halls and golf courses. The proposed changes would set the maximum tax rate for dance halls and golf courses at 50 and 20 percent respectively, with local governments authorized to suspend the levies. Article 2 of the act says that “amusement tax shall be levied on tickets sold or fees charged by amusement places, facilities or activities” in six categories: “Cinema; professional singing, story-telling, dancing, circus, magic show, acrobatics
Tainan, Taipei and New Taipei City recorded the highest fines nationwide for illegal accommodations in the first quarter of this year, with fines issued in the three cities each exceeding NT$7 million (US$220,639), Tourism Administration data showed. Among them, Taipei had the highest number of illegal short-term rental units, with 410. There were 3,280 legally registered hotels nationwide in the first quarter, down by 14 properties, or 0.43 percent, from a year earlier, likely indicating operators exiting the market, the agency said. However, the number of unregistered properties rose to 1,174, including 314 illegal hotels and 860 illegal short-term rental
INFLATION UP? The IMF said CPI would increase to 1.5 percent this year, while the DGBAS projected it would rise to 1.68 percent, with GDP per capita of US$44,181 The IMF projected Taiwan’s real GDP would grow 5.2 percent this year, up from its 2.1 percent outlook in January, despite fears of global economic disruptions sparked by the US-Iran conflict. Taiwan’s consumer price index (CPI) is projected to increase to 1.5 percent, while unemployment would be 3.4 percent, roughly in line with estimates for Asia as a whole, the international body wrote in its Global Economic Outlook Report published in the US on Monday. The figures are comparatively better than the IMF outlook for the rest of the world, which pegged real GDP growth at 3.1 percent, down from 3.3 percent
ECONOMIC COERCION: Such actions are often inconsistently applied, sometimes resumed, and sometimes just halted, the Presidential Office spokeswoman said The government backs healthy and orderly cross-strait exchanges, but such arrangements should not be made with political conditions attached and never be used as leverage for political maneuvering or partisan agendas, Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said yesterday. Kuo made the remarks after China earlier in the day announced 10 new “incentive measures” for Taiwan, following a landmark meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) in Beijing on Friday. The measures, unveiled by China’s Xinhua news agency, include plans to resume individual travel by residents of Shanghai and China’s Fujian
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