Backpack generates its own electricity

New design may offer way for relief workers to power crucial equipment

In the days immediately following Hurricane Katrina, radio and phone communication suffered, in part, when rechargeable batteries died and could not be recharged due to widespread power outages. A new backpack design may offer a way for first responders and disaster relief workers to generate their own electricity for communications devices, night vision goggles, water purifiers or other crucial, portable electronics.

All the person wearing the backpack has to do is walk
The new research is published in the Sept. 19 issue of the journal Science published by AAAS, the nonprofit science society.