View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-to-squeeze-electricity-out-of-crystals-ashwini-bharathula

It might sound like science fiction, but if you press on a crystal of sugar, it will actually generate its own electricity. This simple crystal can act like a tiny power source because sugar happens to be piezoelectric. Ashwini Bharathula explains how piezoelectric materials turn mechanical stress, like pressure, sound waves and other vibrations into electricity, and vice versa.

Lesson by Ashwini Bharathula, animation by Karrot Animation.