Energy harvesting that are able to operate in higher temperature gradients, and that can conduct electricity well without also conducting heat (something that was until recently thought impossible ), will result in increased efficiency. Future work in thermoelectrics could be to convert wasted heat, such as in automobile engine combustion, into electricity. This type of harvesting is based on the changing capacitance of vibration-dependent capacitors. Vibrations separate the plates of a charged variable capacitor, and mechanical energy is converted into electrical energy. Electrostatic energy harvesters need a polarization source to work and to convert mechanical energy from vibrations into electricity. The polarization
Feathers: The Evolution of a Natural Miracle the byways of evolution and the wonderful world of birds." "Scientific American" published an online review of "Feathers" in their blog "Tetrapod Zoology" by Darren Naish. Naish commented that prior to Hanson's book, "it doesn’t seem that any one book has ever been devoted to feathers and feathers alone. ... "Feathers" is thus a rather significant book, and very nice it is too." Naish also stated that ""Feathers" is not the provincial view of someone only interested in ecology or conservation biology; on the contrary, this is a remarkably well-rounded review of the subject." In a review published in the