A Soccer Ball That Can Generate Electricity

Most of us take electricity for granted, but 95 percent of the population in Africa lives with little to no access to it. In fact, more than 1.5 billion people -- one quarter of the world's population -- live in areas with no access to electricity. But a group of Harvard University students thought up an innovative answer to this problem. They developed the "sOccket" -- a soccer ball that creates usable energy from every kick. 

 

Kids play soccer all the time and all over the world, but the majority of these children do not have homes with dependable electricity. Hence this "portable energy-harvesting device" which has a magnet inside that activates a capacitor when the ball is kicked. So the sOccket is part soccer ball, part portable generator, part community builder and part global health tool.

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Small Businesses Explore Exporting Options

The federal government is hoping more companies get into exporting. Last year, President Obama set a goal to double the nation's exports by 2015 as a way to increase U.S. jobs. In California, exports of merchandise climbed 19.3% in 2010 to $143.3 billion, according to a recent U.S. Commerce Department report. That is almost back to pre-recession levels and accounts for about 11.2% of merchandise exports nationwide, according to Beacon Economics.

Some small businesses have had significant success in expanding to overseas markets. Orly International Inc., which makes nail care products, is a 105-employee firm in Van Nuys. Its foreign sales growth now outpaces the annual increases in domestic sales.

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Fuel Prices Soar, Farmers Revert to Oxen

As diesel prices skyrocket, some farmers who have rejected many of the past century’s advances in agriculture have found a renewed logic in draft power. They argue, animals can be cheaper to board and feed than any tractor. They also run on the ultimate renewable resource: grass.

“Ox don’t need spare parts, and they don’t run on fossil fuels,” Mr. Ciotola said. Animals are lighter on the land than machines.

“A tractor would have left ruts a foot deep in this road,” Mr. Ciotola noted.

In contrast, oxen or horses aerate the soil with their hooves as they go, preserving its fertile microbial layers. And as an added benefit, animals leave behind free fertilizer.

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