© The D’Arcy Laboratory in Washington via CNN
Pre-reading questions:
- How do you save energy at home?
- What types of energy are popular in your country?
Vocabulary:
- expert /EK-spurt/
[noun] — a person with a high level of knowledge or skill relating to a particular subject or activity
They claimed that the experts have discovered the vaccine for the novel coronavirus.
- standard /STAN-derd/
[adjective] — usual rather than special, especially when thought of as being correct or acceptable
Could you tell me the standard procedures?
- strength /strengkth/
[noun] — the ability to do things that need a lot of physical or mental effort
The poor animal didn’t even have the strength to stand up.
- conduct /kuhn-DUHKT/
[verb] — to allow electricity or heat to go through
Why do metals conduct electricity?
- perform /per-FAWRM/
[verb] — to do an action or piece of work
The doctors will perform the surgery this afternoon.
Experts found out that standard bricks can be used to become energy storing devices as stated in the scientific journal, Nature Communications, published last August 11. After a series of experiments, they became powerful enough to turn LED Lights in hallways and power sensors installed in walls according to Assistant Professor Julio M. D’Arcy, one of the authors in the study. The bricks can be charged to store energy same to batteries and experts are planning the next step to store more energy so bigger electronic devices like laptops can be charged directly from walls.
Experts capitalized on these bricks’ strength and structure. They pumped a series of gases inside the tiny holes that gave chemical reactions, coating them with a nanoplastic fiber called PEDOT that conducts electricity. These “smart bricks” are supercapacitors; they can store energy but cannot sustain it for a long period of time. More tests are needed to be performed for this technology to be available in the market, but the smart bricks are a hope for another renewable form of energy.
Comprehension Questions:
- Where was the study about the energy-storing bricks published last August 11?
- After performing some tests, the bricks became strong enough to power what devices?
- How are these bricks similar to batteries?
- What are the researchers’ next step according to the article?
- What is “PEDOT” and what does it do?
Discussion Questions:
- If you could choose one alternative energy source to develop, what is it and why?
- How important is electricity?
- What is your opinion on climate change?
- What are the things you do to help save the environment?
- If you can invent anything that can help the environment, what is it and why?
[noun] — a person with a high level of knowledge or skill relating to a particular subject or activity
They claimed that the experts have discovered the vaccine for the novel coronavirus.
[adjective] — usual rather than special, especially when thought of as being correct or acceptable
Could you tell me the standard procedures?
[noun] — the ability to do things that need a lot of physical or mental effort
The poor animal didn’t even have the strength to stand up.
[verb] — to allow electricity or heat to go through
Why do metals conduct electricity?
[verb] — to do an action or piece of work
The doctors will perform the surgery this afternoon.
Experts capitalized on these bricks’ strength and structure. They pumped a series of gases inside the tiny holes that gave chemical reactions, coating them with a nanoplastic fiber called PEDOT that conducts electricity. These “smart bricks” are supercapacitors; they can store energy but cannot sustain it for a long period of time. More tests are needed to be performed for this technology to be available in the market, but the smart bricks are a hope for another renewable form of energy.