What if your morning run through a park could generate electricity， which could then charge batteries or maybe even power the phone youre running with？ If youre wearing the right T-shirt， that might be a possibility.

如果你早上在公園晨跑就能發(fā)電，能給電池或者甚至是隨身攜帶的手機(jī)充電，會(huì)怎么樣呢？只要你穿對(duì)了T恤，這是可以實(shí)現(xiàn)的。

Researchers from the University of Málaga in Spain and the Italian Institute of Technology have designed a T-shirt that generates electricity from the temperature difference between the wearers body and their surroundings.

西班牙馬拉加大學(xué)和意大利技術(shù)研究院的研究人員設(shè)計(jì)出了一款T恤，能利用人體和周圍環(huán)境之間的溫差發(fā)電。

That means the body heat coming off you when you run， walk， or play a sport—and the difference between that heat and the colder temperature of the surrounding air—could be transformed into thermal power.

這就意味著可以用你跑步、散步或運(yùn)動(dòng)時(shí)身體散發(fā)的熱量，以及體溫和周圍低溫空氣之間的溫差來(lái)發(fā)電。

There are a lot of examples of thermal energy in our lives—the sun warming our atmosphere， a stove burner heating a pot of water to boil.

我們生活中有很多熱能，如太陽(yáng)加熱大氣、火爐把一壺水燒開(kāi)。

But there are also a lot of examples of wasted warmth， or “waste heat”， which is all the unused heat let out into an environment by machines， electrical processes， or even human activity. All of them could be used as thermal energy.

但也有很多熱能被浪費(fèi)掉了，或者稱為“余熱”，這些沒(méi)有被利用的熱量都被機(jī)器、電力加工過(guò)程，甚至是人類活動(dòng)釋放到環(huán)境中。其實(shí)它們都可以被用作熱能。

You can make use of this heat， though， by using something called the thermoelectric effect， which lets you convert temperature differences into electric voltage.

你可以通過(guò)熱電效應(yīng)利用這種熱量，把溫差轉(zhuǎn)化成電壓。

If two conductors are connected and one side is heated， electrons start to move over to the cooler side， creating a current that flows through the circuit.

連接兩個(gè)導(dǎo)體，在一端加熱，電子開(kāi)始移向較冷的一側(cè)，電路中就會(huì)產(chǎn)生電流。

Some materials act as conductors that can convert that temperature difference into a power source.

一些材料能充當(dāng)導(dǎo)體，將溫差轉(zhuǎn)化成電源。

What this T-shirt does， researchers say， is capture heat coming off of our bodies， which contrasts with the cool air， making electricity.

研究人員說(shuō)這種T恤的功能就是捕捉在周圍空氣溫度較低時(shí)身體散發(fā)的熱量，用來(lái)發(fā)電。

Word Study

generate /'d?en?re?t/ v. 產(chǎn)生;引起

The company， New England Electric， burns coal to generate power.

convert /k?n'v??t/ v. （使）轉(zhuǎn)變，轉(zhuǎn)換，轉(zhuǎn)化

The hotel is going to be converted into a nursing home.

conductor /k?n'd?kt?（r）/ n. 導(dǎo)體（導(dǎo)電或?qū)岬鹊奈镔|(zhì)）

Wood is a poor conductor.