Louis Braille was only 15 years old when he invented the Braille alphabet, a tactile writing system named after its creator, which enabled blind people to read. At the age of 12, Benjamin Franklin invented swim fins. Sometimes it takes the carelessness and honesty of a teenager to find a revolutionary idea. And the young heroes of our green compilation are living proof of this.
Electricity Generating Water Purification Unit H2prO by Cynthia Lam
An inspiring example of 17-year old Cynthia Sin Nga Lam proves that the young generation can provide amazing solutions to the eco-crisis we are facing. Her invention was presented before Google Science Fair in 2014. It is a two-in-one device that permits to purify water and generate electricity at the same time. It operates using only titania photocatalyst and light. It takes up to 2 hours to have about 90% of organic compounds in water to decompose. Cynthia claims that this device called H2prO proves to be efficient due to its affordability, especially for the developing countries, where the lack of clean water is the most pronounced. Her invention provides sustainable clean energy and has an immense potential to change the world facing an energy and water pollution crisis.
Self-Sanitizing Door Handle by Sum Ming Wong and Kin Pong Li
When a couple of friends from Hong Kong developed a self-sterilizing door handle in 2015, they had no idea that their invention might gain a lot of interest in the condition of the global pandemic five years later. Their idea was to find a way to kill germs on one of the most touched surfaces, in particular in public spaces. They made a coating for door handles containing titanium dioxide, a mineral known to kill bacteria. It is usually activated by UV light installed in the door. A cherry on the top: UV lightning works from energy generated by opening and closing the door.
Plastic Made of Banana Peel by Elif Bilgin
Scientists agree that plastic made from hydrocarbons is neither ecological nor biodegradable, and produces significant greenhouse gas emissions. From that follows, the need to search for an eco-friendly alternative. It is what motivated a sixteen-year-old schoolgirl Elif Bilgin from Turkey who developed a process to make eco-friendly plastic made from banana peels.
The skin of the fruit contains cellulose, which permits to produce a type of plastic suitable for false nails and eyelashes, prosthetic appliances, and electric cables insulation. For this invention, Elif won a prize of $50 000 distributed by the Science magazine. Materials used are accessible to developing countries such as India, producing more than 20 million tons of bananas each year. These countries could benefit from the production of bioplastic to improve their economic activity while reducing human impact on the environment.
Pancreatic Cancer Early Detection Method by Jack Andraka
Jack Andraka invented a new type of sensor, similar to diabetic test strips, for the detection of pancreatic cancer at an early stage. Jack Andraka explained his interest in this disease following the death of a family friend. He turned to Google and Wikipedia, "a teenager’s two best friends," as he says, and discovered that thousands of proteins could be detected in the blood of cancer patients, including mesothelin, which might be an early symptom. Jack was a 15-year-old high school student at the time when he started working on his big project. Although the validity of his research has not been proved by other scientists yet, he is continuing his search in the hope of coming up with a foolproof and affordable invention. The young researcher continues his work and studies at Stanford University. If his dedication and determination inspired you to look for indispensable solutions for global problems too, you might want to outsource your less relevant task, like writing assignments on some general topics to professionals at https://essayservice.com/order-an-essay and dedicate your free time to what matters most.
Cleaning Ocean Device by Boyan Slat
The concept developed by 18-year old Boyan Slat goes under the title Ocean Cleanup Array. Its goal is to clean ocean and sea waters from garbage, mostly plastics. Not a long time ago, the world was shaken by a photo of a sea horse holding a cotton bud that reflected a troubling reality of ocean pollution. It was when the world understood that nature is drowning in plastic, and Boyan started working on his water cleaning project. Ho constructed a giant floating panel promising to gather 90% of floating ocean plastic. His idea not only became real, but it turned into a project of global importance. Currently, Boyan Slat is the CEO of a non-profit organization working with professional engineers, computer modelers, and researchers. They are already cleaning the waters of the Great Pacific. In September 2020, we can expect the launch of products made from the waste they collected.