The heart is a mysterious object. Not only does it regulate the blood that flows through our bodies, it also has something to do with love or something. Also, there’s some kind of mythic etchings about valentine’s day. In any event, the former option is by far the most important task the heart undertakes. Pumping our blood from to and fro keeps us, well, alive. Without it, why, we’d be no better than the common slug(do they have hearts? I forget.) In any event, there is a race going on to create new technologies that ensure the heart will keep pumping forever more. Here is a new gadget that actually attaches to your heart and uses that heart to, uh, keep that heart going.
A group of Chinese and American scientists have gotten together to create a miniature power plant that attaches to your heart and uses the beats of said heart to keep said heart going. It’s a self-sustaining power source, sorta! This sort of technology is called a piezoelectric power plant, and it’s quite a marvel. The prototype machine generates electricity through the movement of nanoribbons that are tiny enough to be sewn into an organ’s surface. This new kind of efficiency ensures that the power will keep coming, as it is the heart itself that provides the power.
Of course, this is only a prototype design and, since it has to be actually attached to the heart, it still has some kinks to work out. For now, you’ll have to keep your heart healthy the old fashioned way, by refraining from eating cheeseburgers for every meal.
