For years, scientists have wondered whether the heart and adjacent vessels might have evolved to be piezoelectric, meaning that the tissue can generate an electrical charge when squeezed. They thought that perhaps the heart takes advantage of this electromechanical relationship to power decades of continuous beating. While some studies have supported the idea that the walls of the aorta are piezoelectric or even ferroelectric, where permanent electric dipoles can be switched by an electric field, the most recent research finds no evidence of these properties.