I Charge Thee with the Power of Zeus

Summary: Have you every been stuck in the middle of nowhere, in a lightning storm, and running out of charge on your phone wishing you could call a friend for help? Probably not, but in case that happens, you may be able to charge your phone with the lightning. The University of Southampton and Nokia collaborated on a proof-of-concept experiment to charge a phone with lightning. Using a transformer, the team shot a recreated lightning bolt of 200,000 volts across a 30cm air gap. Surprisingly, the circuitry of the phone actually stabilized the noisy signal and allowed the phone battery to charge. While this is not a feasible way of charging your phone at home, scientists think it could be useful for a communal charging area somewhere remote like a village in India.



BBC News