15-Year-Old Girl from Canada Creates Flashlight Powered by Human Body Heat

What are today's young scientists doing? At least one of them has created a new invention which could help save on electricity and, perhaps, a bit of waste. Ann Makosinski, a 15-year-old girl, has created a flashlight that is powered solely through the heat of a human hand.

Makosinski isn't the only inventor in her age group. She and other finalists are competing in Google's 2013 Science Fair. Students from countries that include Canada, Russia, Singapore, India, Greece, Australia, Turkey and the U.S. are all competing for the top prize--a 10-day trip to the Galapagos Islands with National Geographic and $50,000 in scholarships.

So far, 18 finalists have been chosen from the thousands of submissions from 120 different countries, according to VentureBeat. The projects include everything from Makosinksi's flashlight to managing the impact of infrastructure on endangered species. There's even the idea of using banana peels to replace traditional petroleum-based plastic as a more environmentally friendly alternative.

In the case of the flashlight, the design is somewhat ingenious. The device is created using the idea of Peltier tiles, which create energy when once side is heated while the other is cooled. Combining this with a store-bought circuit, Makosinski created "The Hollow Flashlight." There's nothing inside but air, which acts as the cooling agent. Your hand, in contrast, acts as the heating agent as you hold the device, according to DVice.com.

"I'm really interested in harvesting surplus energy, energy that surrounds but we never really use," said Makosinski in an interview with CBCNews. "This took quite a while 'cause I had to do it during the school year as well and I had homework, plays, whatever that I was also doing."

The materials for the flashlight cost only $26, and Makosinski believes that cost could be lowered further if the light were mass produced. Currently, the girl from Canada is looking forward to presenting her device in the next round of the competition.

The students will present their projects at Google's headquarters in California on September 23.

Want to see the flashlight working for yourself? Check it out in the video below, courtesy of YouTube.