Imagine never having to charge your mouse or keyboard again. That's the dream.

Today, MIT engineers have taken another step toward eliminating the bane of power lines with an entirely new way to generate energy. This is not a drill. [because] scientists can generate energy using carbon nanotubes that effectively steal electrons from surrounding polymers. The technology is the result of carbon nanotube research by Michael Strano, the Carbon P. Dabbs Professor of Chemical Engineering at MIT [In 2010, Strano coated carbon nanotubes with a fuel layer to prove that thermopower waves (energy thermal power waves (heat pulses that generate energy) by coating carbon nanotubes with a fuel layer.

Currently, further research is being conducted by Strano and his team and looks quite promising.

This time, the nanotubes were ground into sheets, which were then coated with a Teflon-like polymer to give them "asymmetry. Once cut to the required size and immersed in an electron-hating organic solution such as acetonitrile, they were able to initiate BAM, energy scavenging. [Strano says. 'This is an interesting technique. It allows you to do electrochemistry, but you don't need wires."

The process can only generate 0.7 volts of electricity per particle at the moment. But at least Strano is working on a way to regenerate the necessary polymer coatings using carbon dioxide as a building block through a solar power process similar to photosynthesis.

This new method of energy generation is likely to come in handy throughout the chemical industry, even powering tiny micro-nanobots for government mind control. Or... . like actual science.

In a few years, we may look back in horror at our wire-laden desks, and realize that we're not the only ones who have been there, done that.