Each year, the James Dyson Award celebrates the most creative inventions from around the world. This year's UK winner is a bizarre pinecone-shaped device which has been hailed as 'wonderful'. The oddly-shaped block has no moving parts, almost no metal, and is mainly made of charcoal and wax.
And did this 'invention' spring fully formed from the mind of the creator?
While it might be hard to tell based on appearances, the Pyri device is designed to help prevent forest fires by providing an early warning system to local communities. Pyri's design was inspired by 'pyriscencent' pine trees which only drop their seeds when wildfires melt their resinous outer casings. Just like those pinecones, the device's outer casing is made of a wax which melts as the heat of a fire approaches 80°C (176°F). As the outer shell melts away it releases a saltwater solution whose electrolytes produce a small electrical current which powers a radio transmitter.That radio signal is strong enough to be detected by towers which can triangulate Pyri's signal over 50km (31 miles).That data can then be sent to local communities and firefighting services to provide an early warning against wildfires.
So that's a 'No'. All they've done is add the WIFI - so shouldn't mother nature get the award?
The young inventors of Pyri are Richard Alexandre, Karina Gunadi, Blake Goodwyn and Tanghao Yu, who met while studying at Imperial College and the Royal College of Art in London.
They will be dubbed 'inventors' when really they are plagiarists.
