Scientists are getting closer to making fashion that harvests human energy. This article in the Chicago Tribune describes UC-Berkeley professor Luwei Lin’s project to develop nanofibers that can be woven into clothing and generate electricity from the wearer’s smallest movements. These nanofibers, which make use of piezoelectricity, can be washed multiple times and not lose their energy-harvesting capabilities.

The fibers are so small that a bundle of a billion would be no bigger than a grain of sand. But that bundle could power an iPod.  Lin said, “The more vigorous the motion, the more power can be harvested, making knees and elbows and other joints prime spots for the strands.

As with the heel-strike generator project described in The Human-Powered Home, one organization eager for the outcome of this project is the U.S. Dept. of Defense. Military personnel on the go could use such clothing to charge communications devices on the go or in remote places.