It is very annoying when in the most unexpected time the light bulb in your lamp passes out. If you do not have a spare one, you would be left with no choice but take it from other lamp in your house, or go shopping. But what if the lamp's lifetime will be around 200 years? Or let's think of another problem that comes along with light bulbs; its energy consumption. However, imagine that a 200 year lifespan lamp that needs no electricity to run. You probably thought that this is unbelievable and such a bulb does not exist. But it is real!Student from the Virginia Tech University has made an interesting concept that has already won the Greener Gadget award. The LED lamp that uses the most infinite energy source possible - the Earth gravity! The lamp, called Gravia, is about four feet tall, and it looks like a tube made from glass. Ten built-in LEDs are powered up by energy, produced by the movement of weight that slowly lowers. Just as an old grandfathers clock that needs to be rewind to operate, this weight must be raised up every day. Sounds like a hassle, but thinking of its 200-year lifespan and absolutely no electricity drain it seems like a good idea. No wonder that it won the Greener Gadget award, because it is hard to think of any more "green" sources of energy than this one.
If it is ever mass-produced, we will possibly be the observers of a death of usual light bulbs market. Of course, why do you buy a usual lamp that needs to be replaced every half of a year when there is a lamp that will operate more time than you ever live? But the question is will the mechanism endure such challenge?
