Take a hike with energy-harvesting rubber films

This is something right out of a scifi story: rubber films that can generate electricity just from being compressed or bent. Your shoes should charge your iPod. To me, though, the much more interesting bit is that things work the other way, too. If you apply electricity, this stuff bends. They don't mention it in the article, but (depending on how the heat generation is) this stuff could be a step toward viable artificial muscle.