Every move you make is another ten watts you waste. Which is why researchers at InStep NanoPower are working towards taking that spring in your step, and turning it into juice for your gadgets. Flipping the process of electrowetting on its head, whereby mechanical energy is converted into electricity via a microfluid transfer, the team was able to pound some pavement-generated milliwatts out of mercury and galinstan. The tech is far from a real world debut, with its practical, portable device-powering merits achievable only in theory. So, until this device manages to get off the ground, we’re going to lump it in with past piezoelectric efforts , and call it like it is — pics, or it didn’t happen. Electrowetted insoles charge your strut, The Police stand by for music licensing deal originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 27 Aug 2011 05:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink