A new finger-sized flashlight called Lumen uses body heat to power a beam of light. With a minimalist design and no buttons, the aluminum case is designed to effectively store heat.
The flashlight uses a thermoelectric generator, which is a small ceramic bar that produces an electric current when there's a temperature difference between the external environment and a power source, in this case the user's body heat.
The difference between the temperature of a human body, about 98 °F, and the environment, at least 82 °F, is enough to power up a single LED. When the difference between body heat and the outside temperature is larger, excessive power can be stored in a capacitor to power the flashlight when needed.
Lumen's inventor Rost, from New York, refers to the flashlight as an "everlasting light source that is always with you."
We can be pretty confident that there's a market for this kind of invention. The flashlight's Kickstarter campaign already set its funding goal of $5,000, but the product has raised more than $48,000 — with 24 more days left to raise funds. The product has an estimated delivery of February 2016.
And for those users worried about finding their flashlight in complete darkness, there's an option to order a flashlight with a vial of phosphor and tritium gas inside that, according to Lumen's Kickstarter campaign page, will produce light for over a decade.
It certainly seems like the gadget has all the makings of an "everlasting light."
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