Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Theoretical charging bra gets energy from breast motion


This may come as a shock, but apparently breasts tend to bounce around while the person they're attached to is exercising. All juvenile kidding aside, could it be possible to harness this movement to store energy, turning those bouncing bosoms into powerful pillows? (OK, maybe not all juvenile kidding…)

Adrienne So at Slate asked this question to a few experts and got some surprisingly encouraging answers. If some innovator in high-tech fashion were to create a bra that taps into the energy of bouncing breasts, it would go something like this: The design would probably be made of elastic material to allow for more motion than traditional sports bras, which minimize it. On top of that, it would need to be layered so you could insert a special nanowire fabric, which has wires 1/1,000th the width of a human hair that generate electricity from motion. To get more juice, a small piston could be implemented to help capture the energy of up-and-down movement of the breasts.

Downsides: The nanowire fabric can't be washed, so it would have to be removable, hence the layered design. Plus that piston would need a small generator that would most likely increase weight and decrease comfort. And if you're an A or B cup, you'll probably be out of luck. Nonetheless, it's still a much better idea than that wacky solar bra from last month. Yay, kinetic energy!

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