What if your morning run through a park could generate electricity, which could then charge batteries or maybe even power the phone you’re running with? If you’re wearing the right T-shirt, that might be a possibility.
想象一下要是你早上在公园晨跑就能发电，能给电池甚至随身携带的手机充电，会怎么样？只要你穿对了T恤，这些都可以实现。

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 wearer’s body and their surroundings.
西班牙马拉加大学和意大利技术研究院的研究人员设计出了一款T恤，能利用人体和周围环境之间的温差发电。

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.
这就意味着用你跑步、散步或运动时身体散发的热量以及体温和周围低温空气之间的温差来发电。

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.
我们生活中有很多热能：如太阳加热大气、火炉把一壶水烧开。

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, that could be used as thermal energy.
但也有很多热能被浪费掉了，或者称为“余热”，这些没有被利用的热量都被机器、电力加工过程、甚至是人类活动释放到了环境中，其实都可以被用作热能。

You can make use of this heat, though, by using something called the thermoelectric effect, which lets you convert temperature differences into electric voltage.
你可以通过热电效应利用这种热量，把温差转化成电压。

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.
连接两个导体，在一端加热，电子开始移向较冷的一侧，电路中就会产生电流。

Some materials act as conductors that can convert that temperature difference into a power source.
一些材料能充当导体，将温差转化成电源。

What this T-shirt does, researchers say, is capture heat coming off of our bodies, which contrasts with the cool air, making electricity.
研究人员说这种T恤的功能就是捕捉在周围空气温度较低时身体散发的热量，用来发电。

 

翻译：菲菲