Radio-frequency identification chips, which have found a home in applications ranging from toll road passes to smart retail shelves, may be close to taking up residence in the human body. A Florida-based company has introduced a passive RFID chip that is compatible with human tissue, and the developer is proposing the chip for use on implantable pacemakers, defibrillators and artificial joints.

After years of upping the technological ante, suppliers of micro fuel cells may finally be preparing to make a bid for the $10 billion-a-year rechargeable-battery market.