clipped from: www.abc.net.au   
Will Dunham

Scientists have developed a strap-on gadget that generates electricity as you bend your knees and walk.

knee brace

The knee brace generates enough power to charge up 10 mobile phones at once, the US and Canadian scientists report today in the journal Science.

Researchers have been working on ways to harness the motion of the human body to create power.

A shoe-mounted device was nice and light, but did not generate much electricity.

A backpack device that generated power as it bounced up and down while a person walks generated a lot of electricity, but was heavy to lug.

The new energy-capturing knee brace, its inventors say, seems to find a happy medium, generating decent amounts of power while still being relatively light.

The scientists envisioned numerous applications for such a device. It could be of value to hikers
who may not have access to electricity, they say.
It also could be built into prosthetic knees or other implantable devices whose users must
surgery to replaceme
the batteries.