A new invention may be paving the way for you to switch out your smartphone battery for a work-out session.
Researchers at the UC San Diego Center for Wearable Sensors have developed a small biofuel patch that can use sweat to power wearable gadgets with a Bluetooth connection, NBC4's media partner KPCC reports.
The patch, which is only a few centimeters wide, attaches to a person's skin and uses energy from the lactic acid and glucose in their sweat in place of a battery.
Patrick Mercier, co-director of the Center for Wearable Sensors, told KPCC that the patch may stop devices like Fitbits from winding up "in the sock drawer" because people don't want to keep recharging them.
The scientists who created the patch are working to improve the technology so it's able to power smartphones, monitor health conditions like diabetes and track athletes' glucose and lactic acid levels.
