Never buy camera batteries again!

Ok, so I just got out of my chemistry class and we were talking about piezoelectricity. I will attach a short explanation from Wikipedia, but essentially it is created by pushing two poles (same energy sides, like in a magnet) together. When the weight is lifted off, the poles will push away from one another since they repel naturally, and create electricity! They were talking about using them in cell phones because they can be small or anything else where movemet or sound vibrations will actually cause the battery to charge. For example, if you have this piezoelectricity in your camera, and you move around to take pictures... the movement will charge the battery! Or if you have a digital camera, you will never have to recharge the battery again. I know chemistry and photography is interrelated, but I just thought this was really cool. Sadly, it's really expensive and the government is fooling around with it, so it's kindof off limits to everyone else. Here's hoping for the future thought!

Wikipedia excerpt:
Piezoelectricity is the ability of some materials (notably crystals and certain ceramics, including bone) to generate an electric potential[1] in response to applied mechanical stress. This may take the form of a separation of electric charge across the crystal lattice. If the material is not short-circuited, the applied charge induces a voltage across the material. The word is derived from the Greek piezein, which means to squeeze or press.

The piezoelectric effect is reversible in that materials exhibiting the direct piezoelectric effect (the production of electricity when stress is applied) also exhibit the converse piezoelectric effect (the production of stress and/or strain when an electric field is applied). For example, lead zirconate titanate crystals will exhibit a maximum shape change of about 0.1% of the original dimension.

The effect finds useful applications such as the production and detection of sound, generation of high voltages, electronic frequency generation, microbalances, and ultra fine focusing of optical assemblies. It is also the basis of a number of scientific instrumental techniques with atomic resolution, the scanning probe microscopies such as STM, AFM, MTA, SNOM etc, and everyday uses such as acting as the ignition source for cigarette lighters and push-start propane barbecues.

Megasonic cleaning uses the piezoelectric effect to enable removal of submicrometre particles from substrates. A ceramic piezoelectric crystal is excited by high-frequency AC voltage, causing it to vibrate. This vibration generates an acoustic wave that is transmitted through a cleaning fluid, producing controlled cavitation. As the wave passes across the surface of an object, it causes particles to be removed from the materials being cleaned. The technology was originally developed by the U.S. Navy as an element in anti-submarine warfare.[2