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Google Science Fair Finalist Invents Peltier-Powered Flashlight
GTRacer writes "Ann Makosinski, a Canadian student competing in Google's Science Fair, submitted a flashlight which uses temperature differentials to power its LEDs. Her long-time interest is alternative energy because, '[she's] really interested in harvesting surplus energy, energy that surrounds but we never really use.' Using Peltier tiles and custom circuitry, her design currently runs for 20 minutes or so and costs $26. A win at the September finals in Mountain View and/or outside investment could fund further development."
The last time I needed a flashlight I really only needed it for a few minutes to find candles and such. The time before that I was just looking for something in my trunk at night. 20 minutes is more than enough for either of those circumstances. The last time I needed a flashlight to last longer than 20 minutes was probably spelunking over a decade ago.
In most cases ambient temp was decently lower than my body temp just because it's usually evening/night time when it's needed. I used to have one of the shake-style flashlights, but it seems to have vanished. You pretty much had to shake it constantly for it to work, which made actually looking for things with it quite difficult. In any case, having a flashlight around that I know will work regardless of battery quality is a good thing.
In short: I would absolutely buy one of these.
I can not believe the comments I am reading here. There are initiatives all over the world to get more females into STEM stuff and everyone here seems to quibble about the technical details! She's a teenager. I first learned about the Peltier effect in my 4th year at University, yes that was 40 years ago. My kids didn't learn about it in their High Schools either. So much for the U.S. education system. Give the kid a break!