London: Scientists claim to have developed a unique
technique to harness electricity from a bacteria eating virus to power
your mobile phones.
A team at the University of California, Berkeley are using the virus
known as M13 bacteriophage to replace toxic elements used to charge the
cell phones.
The virus possesses a property known as piezoelectricity, which means
it can translate mechanical energy into electrical energy, the
Daily Mail reported.
Researchers believe the discovery could pave way for mobile phones
that can be charged while you walk and replace the toxic piezoelectric
elements already used in mobile phones.
Most mobile phone microphones are piezoelectric because they need to
convert energy from sound waves into electrical output that can be
transmitted and then translated back into sound waves at the other end
of the line.