Tired of reaching into a purse or pocket for your cell phone, only to find it has enough juice for just one call?

Well, scientists may have found something to end that power shortage: body heat.

Researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy and the University of California at Berkeley say recent findings point to a way of making silicon into a better thermal conductor for turning even small amounts of heat into electricity.

The secret, they say, lies in nanowires, or microscopic strands of silicon. Arranged and bent in a particular way, they channel heat energy far more efficiently than current designs for thermoconductors.

With improved efficiency comes better energy conversion, to the point that even the temperatures generated by body heat could produce enough electricity to charge the batteries in small technology.

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