• Los Angeles Times, Thursday, May 20, 2010 10:52 AM

Researchers at UC Berkeley are perfecting microscopic fibers that can produce electricity from simple body motions such as bending, stretching and twisting and convert it into energy that could power personal devices such as iPods, digital cameras and cell phones, Tiffany Hsu reports.

The filaments would be woven into clothing and "will have very significant implications," according to Mihail Roco, senior advisor for nanotechnology with the National Science Foundation. In addition to reduce electricity demands, he says new industries could spring up to manufacture the tiny generators.

The "smart power suit" is still a lab experiment, admits UC Berkeley mechanical engineering professor Liwei Lin, who is overseeing the research. "It will be determined by economics -- if the nanofibers cost $10,000, nobody will buy them," Roco says. "But if they're $2, everyone will buy. People will use nanotechnology not because it's fancy but because it's economical."

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