VOA慢速英語：智利學(xué)生研發(fā)植物充電設(shè)備——花草也可做電源

Three university students in Santiago, Chile have developed a plant-powered device to charge their mobile phones.

在智利首都圣地亞哥, 3名智利大學(xué)生已經(jīng)研發(fā)一種植物充電設(shè)備來為他們的手機(jī)充電。

The three engineering students got the idea for the device while sitting in their school's courtyard. Their invention is a small biological circuit they call E-Kaia. It captures the energy plants produce during photosynthesis.

As free as they make us, mobile phones still need to stay close to a power source. Soon that may change with “green” power. VOA’s Jessica Berman reports.

這三名工程專業(yè)的學(xué)生在間歇坐在學(xué)校的戶外庭院休息時(shí)萌發(fā)出用植物為手機(jī)充電的創(chuàng)意。這3位在校學(xué)生的發(fā)明是一種名為E-Kaia的生物充電器，原理是利用植物在光合作用中產(chǎn)生的能量。

A plant uses only a small part of the energy produced by that process. The rest goes into the soil. E-Kaia collects that energy. The device plugs into the ground and then into a mobile phone.

植物只會(huì)用掉一小部分—而E-Kaia則會(huì)收集其余進(jìn)入土壤的能量。將這種設(shè)備埋入土壤之中,然后與你的手機(jī)相連接。

The E-Kaia solved two problems for the engineering students. They needed an idea for a class project. They also needed an outlet to plug in their phones. visit the website www.chinavoa.com to get more information!

E-Kaia為工程系的學(xué)生們解決了兩個(gè)難題,首先完成了他們的課程項(xiàng)目,其次是手機(jī)也有了充電設(shè)備。

One of the student inventors, Camila Rupcich, says the device changes the energy released from the plant into low-level power to charge phones.

其中一個(gè)學(xué)生發(fā)明者，卡米拉聲稱該設(shè)備將植物釋放的能量轉(zhuǎn)化為低功耗電力以供手機(jī)充電。

The E-Kaia is able to fully recharge a mobile phone in less than two hours.

E-Kaia足以在不到2個(gè)小時(shí)內(nèi)為手機(jī)充滿電力。

I'm Jonathan Evans.

我是喬納森·埃文斯。

VOA's Jessica Berman reported this story from Washington. Jonathan Evans adapted it for Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor.

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Words in This Story

courtyard – n. an open space that is surrounded completely or partly by a building or group of buildings

circuit – n. the complete path that an electric current travels along

photosynthesis – n. the process by which a green plant turns water and carbon dioxide into food when the plant is exposed to light