Holy shit that’s actually really big news even if any practical applications are very far off. As someone said in a comment below, this is essentially Maxwell’s Demon, which as I understand it violates the second law of thermodynamics-- that entropy must always increase. In other words, “waste heat” is no longer truly a waste; we can extract energy from heat without a temperature gradient! I’ll be watching for more news on this (both for confirmation and dispute) in the future. If this does turn out to be true, it’s almost certainly Nobel Prize worthy.