A recent article from Brian Bergstein, distributed by the Associate Press, describes how scientists have "developed a way to generate electricity by jostling fabric with unbelievable tiny wires woven inside, raising the prospect of textiles that produce power simply by being stretched, rustled or ruffled by a breeze."

The article also notes, in Japan a retailer has used the same piezoelectric principle with mats, "placed under turnstiles, that translate the pressure" from those walking on them "into usable power."

The February 14, 2008 issue of Nature describes the research of Zhong Lin Wang and his colleagues at the Georgia Institute of Technology. His nano research group created the electric shirt.