Designers from Singapore have come up with a concept mouse that can use the heat generated by a laptop to power itself.

The DORmino mouse works by placing an oversize mousepad under a laptop which then collects the extra heat and turns it into electricity using silicon nanowires. The electricity is then sent to the mouse, resting on a different part of the pad, via an induction coil. This mousepad can be rolled up when not in use for easy transportation.

The mouse itself is an ordinary wireless mouse with the exception that it doesn’t ever need to be recharged. One of the more interesting features is a “touch screen scroller” which lets you scroll by moving your finger up and down a sensor on the mouse where an ordinary scroll wheel might be.

DORmino is pretty far-fetched, but is certainly feasible with today’s technology. However, it would probably be a bit expensive as all of this technology isn’t cheap. Either way, we love to see new eco-friendly innovations such as this. Diagram of how the DORmino works after the jump. Read more »

A team of US researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have demonstrated a material that generates electricity as it moves around. This nanowire fabric can be used in t-shirts and other clothes in the future to serve as a power-plant for our gadgets.

The fabric is created by coating kevlar strands with zinc oxide nanowires, protecting the bushy wires with a polymer, and adding gold to other fibers to act as a conductor. The piezoelectric power-generating action comes when the nanowires bend as two fibers rub together, creating electricity which flows along the gold fibers. Read more »

Researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy and the University of California at Berkeley have recently discovered a new way of making silicon into a better thermal conductor for turning even small amounts of heat into electricity. Unfortunately, they don’t quite know why it works. No matter, though, as the finding could one day free up power outlets all over our homes by getting rid of the need for chargers.

The scientists found a way to arrange and bend silicon nanowires in a particular fashion that lets them channel heat energy far more efficiently than current thermoconductors. They believe that the new method might be efficient enough to be able to charge the batteries in small technology.

Imagine a cell phone or iPod which will always work, simply because it’s stored in your pocket. This might even be an end to battery meters.