Middle Schooler Invents $15 Clean Energy Harvesting Device

I love it when kids don’t suck. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I’m ready to say they are the future or anything like that, but this is a step in the right direction. Max Loughan might only be 13 years old, but he’s already accomplished more in his life than most people ever will. deep in his parent’s boiler room (also known as his lab), Max has been working on “bringing new technologies for social change,” along with his twin brother. The first big invention to come out of their endeavors is a little Frankenstein looking device made from a coffee can, some wire, two coils, and a spoon. The device, which cost less than $15 dollars to make, turns radio waves, static energy, and thermal energy into clean electricity, that can be harvested wirelessly, much like the dreams of his hero, Nikolai Tesla.

The device is small, so it doesn’t generate much power, but the potential is there to scale it up into something larger, or use the idea as a jumping off point for something even great. If there’s a way to do it, Max will probably figure it out. At 13, he’s already taking online classes at MIT.

SOurce: INhabitat