ME and Ophelia

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DESERT REFRIGERATOR
Runs without electricity

This is Mohammed Bah Abba's Pot-in-Pot invention. In northern Nigeria, where Mohammed is from, over 90% of the villages have no electricity. His invention, which he won a Rolex Award for (and $100,000), is a refrigerator that runs without electricity.

Here's how it works. You take a smaller pot and put it inside a larger pot. Fill the space in between them with wet sand, and cover the top with a wet cloth. When the water evaporates, it pulls the heat out with it, making the inside cold. It's a natural, cheap, easy-to-make refrigerator.

So, instead of perishable foods rotting after only three days, they can last up to three weeks. Obviously, this has the potential to change their lives. And it already has -- there are more girls attending school, for example, as their families no longer need them to sell food in the market.

[With thanks to Sebastien Paquet]
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THE COOLGARDIE SAFE
For food storage

Larry at Blogicity left this neat comment at Seb's re the Pot-on-Pot project:

"This idea reminds me of the Coolgardie Safe, invented in the late 1800s."