Bright Ideas

Most Americans use lights all the time. But 1.5 billion people around the world have no access to electricity. So they have no lights. Now, two young inventors hope to solve that problem. Ann Makosinski has a friend who lives in the Philippines. Ann's friend had no light for doing her homework at night. She was failing at school. Ann thought of a solution to her friend's problem. The solution was a special flashlight. The flashlight is hollow. It is not dependent on batteries. Instead, it converts body heat and cool air into energy to make light. Like Ann, Eden Full invented something that helps make light. But Eden's invention uses a different source of energy — the sun. Eden invented a way to make solar panels rotate to follow the sun. They collect more energy than other panels. The energy is used to make light. Both Ann and Eden are helping to light up the world!