VOICE ONE:
This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Barbara Klein.
VOICE TWO:
And I'm Bob Doughty. This week, we will tell about a device that makes electrical power from something as simple as walking. We will tell about a common disease many people have never heard of. And, we report on a study linking all blue-eyed people in the world.
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VOICE ONE:
Electrical devices could soon use power made by human energy. Scientists say they have developed an experimental device that produces electricity from the physical movement of a person walking. A report on the device was/published recently in Science magazine.
Max Donelan is an assistant professor of kinesiology at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Colombia. He and other scientists in Canada and the United States developed the device.
Mister Donelan says the goal of the study was to store energy from walking in a way that can get electricity without having to increase effort.
VOICE TWO:
The device connects to a person's knee. As the person walks, the device captures energy each time the person slows down. To do this, the device assists with the slowing down movement of the leg. The movements of the person walking push parts of a small machine that produces electricity.
Using the device, an adult walking quickly could produce thirteen watts of electricity in just a minute. Mister Donelan says walking at that speed could produce enough power to operate a laptop computer for six minutes.
VOICE ONE:
There are several possible uses for the device. Developers say it could help people who work in areas without electricity to operate small computers or wireless telephones. The device could also be used to operate life-saving health devices like heart pacemakers. It could even be used to assist in the movement of robotic arms and legs.
The experimental version of the device currently weighs about one and a half kilograms. It is too costly for most people to buy. But the researchers hope to make a lighter, less costly version.
Mister Donelan says an improved version should be ready in one year. The researchers also hope that soldiers could use the device. The machine could supply power to electronic devices with a battery that would re-gain power as the soldier walked.
VOICE TWO:
The developers also hope the device will one-day help developing countries. Nearly twenty-five percent of people around the world live without electric power.
A similar product was invented in two thousand five by Larry Rome of the University of Pennsylvania. He created a bag carried on a person’s back that also produces power from walking. The knee device does not produce as much electricity as the bag. But the bag requires the walker to carry a load of twenty to thirty kilograms.
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