Ever thought about all of the energy that’s expended on soccer fields every day? Well, four female Harvard students did and decided to take that thought one step further. Jessica Lin, Jessica Matthews, Julia Silverman, and Hemali Thakkar have developed a soccer ball that is a portable, energy-storing power source. It’s called sOccket.
sOccket captures the energy from a soccer ball’s impact during the regular course of play. This is energy that is normally lost when you kick, dribble, or throw a ball. The energy is then stored inside the ball for future use. Fifteen minutes of play with sOccket can generate enough power to sustain an LED light for three hours. (more…)
Commentary
Racism in Italian Football Causes Team to Abandon Match
by Clive Longbottom-Fellow, Esq.
With ten minutes remaining in a match, amateur Italian team ASD Nuova Casteltodino recently walked off the pitch after one of its players, Narciso Egwu, was called a ‘dirty Negro’ by an opposing player. Narciso and his brother, Emeka, who also plays for Nuova Casteltodino, are of Nigerian descent, but both born and bred in Italy. According to Club President Maurizio Venturi, Narciso is 200% Italian, which by my calculations (and I’m no mathematician) is 100% more Italian than most Italians. It was supposedly the fourth time this season that the two brothers faced racism on the pitch. Venturi has stated that one of the incidents involved abuse from the match referee.
Nuova Casteltodino Club Secretary Francesco Ribeca invoked an interesting parallel when explaining the club’s decision to walk off the pitch. (more…)
Commentary | Social Change
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