More than just idea, researchers have already created a pacemaker smaller than a single grain of rice that you can charge by holding a small power source above it. While wireless charging isn't anything new, the ability to send power deep below the skin safely is – and could mean big things for medicine. The availability of such tiny and easily-powered devices could mean that doctors could start prescribing electronics as treatments more often for diseases and chronic pain rather than drugs. Have frequent migraines? You might be able to ditch the Advil for an implant. The group has run a few trials on small animals, and plans to test-drive it on humans soon. However, we're still a long way from actually using the implants. Assuming those tests are a success, the project has quite a few federal evaluations and hoops to jump through before the technology is readily available to the public.

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