Turning Gravity Into Light - Smarter Every Day 146

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THIS IS GENIUS. Why haven't we figured this out before? Whenever I go to Africa and South America I always make sure to pack a ridiculous amount of batteries. People always ask me for them because batteries which you purchase in country are horrible. This blending of an ancient technology with a new technology is a game changer, and as a mechanical engineer, I find it to be super exciting.

For those wondering, the units are just under $10, so the payback for a family in a developing nation should end up being about 3 months. This effectively eliminates the kerosene lighting poverty trap that millions of people fall into. I absolutely love it when engineering innovation solves an economic and environmental issue.

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Warm Regards,

Destin

Psalm 111:2

[DanMDL]

back in the 2019 they thought gravity was infinite... here we are now.. floating around. It all started with this lamp

[pharaoh]

Brilliant!  
The most impressive part is subtle. The LEDs are shunt voltage limiters, so at a certain point they want to draw excessive current. Start to approach that higher current and the extra load makes the motor/generator harder to turn, and that is like pinching the last high speed gear - it wants to stop. A super simple electo-mechanical governor. Love it.

[ambrous]

the light is not exactly powered by gravity. It is powered by your muscle when you raise the weight. The falling weight is just a store of energy that was created by the person

[awaken]

Things like this restore my faith in humanity, but then I turn on the news and it quickly goes away.

[vitor]

We have being turning gravity into light for years in hydro plants...

[JonWrightt]

It's amazing how simple this is, yet only just been developed. Got to love engineering!

[karmakazi]

Great video! But I feel like you failed to explain why/how an LED light can prevent the generator from moving regardless of how much weight is applied. That seems like the most fundamental part of this invention!

[seanpeery]

This is actually along the lines of what people are proposing as a solution to storing solar power on mass.
Because lithium batteries can only hold so energy and they lose energy too fast for large reservoirs. Using solar power to lift an object while its getting energy and letting the object fall when there is no more sun gives you the ability to store energy theoretically until gravity stops working or something physically brakes.
The trick is translating solar energy into lifting energy efficiently.

[tmcmahon]

I love how their faces lit up for a split second when you said "that's genius"

[griplimit]

it's a human powered light... that uses gravity and potential energy as a medium to store the energy, like a windup toy that uses a spring instead.

[doombringers]

Jim had me at 3:22 with the way he held his mug :D

[pineapplepenumbra]

This is very clever, but can you turn light into gravity?

[onenationunderduress]

You mean I can’t use this in space? Please come up with Zero Gravity light, please. Thanks.

[sweetmouse]

turning your cap around to reveal the headlamp cracked me up
it was so slick and so dorky at the same time

[KiddsockTV]

This would be a neat item to even charge your devices.

[balbeersinghnagi]

Wow, what a simple idea and not converted for use by masses. Good on you and keep up the good work.

[Angel_Underscore]

I don't have access to gravity D:

[terryhickman]

Thanks for posting this! I contributed to Gravity Light's Indiegogo campaign early on, got myself a unit and paid for one to go to someone who needed one in Africa. Mine's in my garage, lighting a dim corner. It's fascinating to see how it works!

[Neumah]

Connect a bunch of these to a single weight that travels down a deep well and you can light up an entire small village for a couple of hours.

[hasangarmarudi]

You thought it was gravity, but it was me, muscle power!