Power You Can Wear

It's no surprise that the Defense Department is interested in power in many different forms. But it may come as some surprise that one of those forms is "wearable power." In fact, the department is sponsoring a competition for wearable power systems, defined as those that can "power military equipment for 96 hours, but that weigh less than half the current battery load." The contest will take place next September and October at the Marine Corps Air-Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, Calif., and the winner will take home a $1 million prize. But competition is stiff -- 169 teams already have registered for the contest.