Title:
A Soccer Ball That Gives You Energy -- Really
Description: This is
a VOA Special English Technology Report.
See text below
Text:
Have you ever heard the expression "a ball of
energy"? People often use the term to describe very
active children. But today we tell about an
invention called the sOccket, that is a real ball of
energy. A woman who developed the sOccket calls it,
a cutting-edge, portable generator in the form of a
soccer ball. Julia Silverman developed the sOccket
with Jessica Matthews as part of a group project for
an engineering class at Harvard University. To
better understand what a sOccket is, you first need
to understand how it works. When you play with a
ball, a lot of energy is transferred, or moves, to
the ball. Julia Silverman says the sOccket captures
this energy before it is lost or breaks up into the
environment. Her invention attempts to capture the
energy, and then store it for future use. The
sOccket collects and stores this energy with every
kick, hit or throw of the ball. Julia Silverman says
users can connect small electrical devices, like a
light, directly into the ball. For every fifteen
minutes of game play, the sOccket can provide enough
electricity to power an LED lamp for up to three
hours. The ball can store up to twenty-four hours'
worth of power. The International Energy Association
reported last year that nearly one and a half
billion people did not have access to electricity.
Most of them live in India, other Asian nations and
in Africa, south of the Sahara. Julia Silverman and
Jessica Matthews both had experience in developing
countries before they began the project. They knew
that power shortages are a serious problem in many
areas. Julia Silverman says there is an energy
crisis in the world. She notes that one in every
five people does not have any electricity. And,
there are health issues because those with no
electricity may use devices like kerosene lamps,
which can produce a lot of smoke. Ms. Silverman says
the sOccket is one small solution to a big problem.
Jessica Matthews and Julia Silverman have started a
nonprofit organization called Uncharted Play. They
hope their sOccket ball will shine more light on the
problem of power shortages. It offers people a
chance to put their energy into the world's most
popular sport and get some energy in return. And
that's the VOA Special English Technology Report.
For VOA Special English, I'm Carolyn Presutti.
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Hi. I
personally reviewed this video and found it appropriate for
the news section of English Global Group. This
is a Voice of America video which covers an interesting
topic in Special English. I would appreciate some feedback from both
students and teachers about this video. You can comment in
the window below using any of a number of different services
including Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, and Hotmail.
