怪哉！鞋子变成发电机

设想一个场景：大街上走着走着，手机没有电了！但是急切需要联系一个人或者是需要手机功能开启，怎么办？！这是最让人抓耳挠腮的情况之一了。有什么好的办法可以让我随时保持手机充电吗？有没有一个发电机装置在我们的身体上呢？

不要着急！科学家们已经早为你想到了！！他们想了一个办法可以利用我们走路产生的能量给手机供电，甚至可以给笔记本供电。这种应用可以装置在你的鞋子里，这样的话你就可以“随鞋携带”了。

The nightmare of your mobile phone running out of power mid-conversation could be over, for researchers at the University of Wisconsin have invented a device that, placed in a shoe，can harvest the kinetic energy from walking to power a mobile phone。

Scientists have been working for years on trying to harness the energy produced from walking, which theoretically is sufficient to power a light bulb, smart phone or even a laptop。

But until now their solutions have been too cumbersome, or have not produced enough power to be useful。

Now, engineering experts Tom Krupenkin and Ashley Taylor say they have come up with a technology which can produce as much as a hefty 10 watts of power。

After testing various liquids, the researchers chose a metal alloy called Galinstan. Used in thermometers, it is similar to mercury but not poisonous。

Two small pouches, placed in the bottom of a shoe, are filled with the fluid and generate a current whenever they are compressed by the foot’s up and down motion。

Transferring the energy from a device in a foot to a phone in the hand presents an obvious hurdle。

Rather than plugging a cable into a shoe, the Wisconsin researchers suggest installing a wireless transmitter in the heel. This could make radio contact with mobile phone base stations。

Professor Krupenkin said: "Humans were‘very powerful energy-producing machines’ that could produce as much as a kilowatt of power while sprinting."