Bioplastic from banana peels
 

Elif Bilgin

I thought this was pretty interesting, not just for the eco-friendly aspect, but also because this girl is only 16. Pretty amazing.

Elif Bilgin has developed a way to turn historically thrown away banana peels into plastic. If we could only do this with our other wasted resources. (Cough cough, corn)

Very interesting. I also liked the peltier flashlight, although I think that would be expensive.

Yeah, that one is a pretty cool idea, too. I think I've seen that one before, on Colbert Report or Daily Show or something.

I once used a flashlight a that I powered by squeezing a trigger. After that, I was happy to purchase batteries. I even knew where to recycle them!

Even here in Arizona, if you need a flashlight, there should almost always be a nine-degree differential between ambient temperature and my hand.

She used Celsius. I don't. :)

Or you could just buy rechargable batteries. As for flashlights, why? Unless you're a cop/cop wannabe for whom it doubles as a club, the LED lights on a headband are SO much handier. And for Peltier effect, your head does give off more heat than your hands.

This was in Afghanistan. :D

I have bought one or two... head...lights...

I could not have replaced the alternator in my Accord without one. It was weird, it had one giant LED. Where I spent most of my deployment, we needed flashlights just to walk around at night. Ones for the head were popular, I just did not have one, while we were issued Mag Lites, I just would not purchase the batteries. I remember seeing a Sergeant talk to a Captain at night and he still had his light on. I thought that it must have been irritating for the Officer.

I have bought a few battery chargers. Rechargeables might not work as well as a constant stream of new batteries, but it costs less and is better for the environment.

As for the peltier effect, the head needs to maintain heat much more than the head needs hands, and if you are dressed for the cold, I do not know how much heat your gloves would give off, while I would want to integrate my light into my hat.

Great aiming point ...

Heh. We were supposed to use colored lights. I do not know how much of a difference that would make.

Look at me! I am back on-topic! :D

So, this forum is populated almost exclusively by men, seventeen and up. Wasn't that article about three girls and zero boys? (I cannot get it to load anymore...)

HydroJim, be a role model! :D