At a time when Congress is considering big cuts to social programs to deal with record budget deficits, it can?t be just my personal aversion to time-sucking high-tech distractions that makes me wonder if spending taxpayer dollars on the development of a shoe-based cell-phone charger is really all that great of an idea. Last week, UW-Madison engineers Tom Krupenkin and J. Ashley Taylor unveiled their “reverse electrowetting” technology and its potential for recharging cellphones and other electronic devices by transferring the energy created by walking into electricity.
Office of Strategic Communication