Anna Hunt, Contributing Writer Can you imagine being able to
charge your cell phone just by walking, or power your iPod by
eating and moving your jaw? No longer a matter of science
fiction, scientists have discovered how to harness the energy
that the human ear creates during movements, paving the way for
the creation of walking human batteries. An auditory
neuroscientist at Harvard University Medical School in Boston,
Tina Stankovic, has developed a technique that may allow the
human ear to power electronic implants in the brain and inner
ear, or cochlea. Stankovic was able to insert a prototype into
an ear of a guinea pig, which was able to power a small radio
transmitter. “Nerve cells use the movement of positively charged
sodium ions and negatively charged potassium ions across a
membrane to create an electrochemical gradient that drives
neural signals. Some cells in the cochlear have the same kind of
gradient, which is used to convert the mechanical force of the
vibrating eardrum into electrical signals