Before we decide to relay all the asphalt roads, or redo our infrastructure in the US, perhaps you should evaluate the potential for laying a pyroelectric layer so that when those roads heat up they generate electricity and thereby pay for themselves :]-- quantum_flux, Aug 17 2011 I don't know what this has to do with anything... http://www.pyroelectro.com/ [xandram, Aug 17 2011] Piezo Sidewalks http://artfuldodger...c-Energy-HarvestingNot the article I read, but the same thing. A little light on the science, no mention of any implementation. [Alterother, Aug 17 2011] Strain and Spin Makes for Ultralow Energy Computing http://www.machines...ow-energy-computingTraffic driving over strain gauges could also make computers as well, perhaps. [quantum_flux, Aug 19 2011] Or possibly 'pyroelectric'. Or, perhaps, 'thermoelectric', which might even be relevant to the situation [q_f] describes.-- lurch, Aug 17 2011 HOT roads=PyroElectric! (oops, I didn't read [lurch]'s anno) but I found a pyroelectro link.-- xandram, Aug 17 2011 Either PopMech or PopSci floated a proposal a few years back about piezo-sidewalks at busy intersections to power the streetlights and traffic signals. The article said that one city in the US was giving serious thought to the idea; I think it was Philly. I'll link later if I find it.-- Alterother, Aug 17 2011 Spelling Corrected, it's Pyroelectric, sorry-- quantum_flux, Aug 18 2011 No need to apologize, he's dead.-- 8th of 7, Aug 18 2011 In an airplane accident, so maybe he should have had a road take him home.-- baconbrain, Aug 18 2011 Before the name change I was looking forward to all of the street signs rendered in pieroglyphics.
Now it's just...useful.
tsh-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Aug 19 2011 random, halfbakery