Green Daily

I'm a huge fan of mad scientists. Whether they're fictional ones like Victor Von Frankenstein and Henry Jeckyll, or real-life ones like Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla, I can't help but root for the crazy guy out on the fringes, trying to kick-start the next big scientific revolution.

Needless to say, I'm a big fan of James Dyson.

Ever since my wife first showed my one of Dyson's vacuums, three years ago, I was impressed with his amazing ingenuity. To be honest, I also liked the fact that his vacuum looked like the booster rocket on a Soviet-era space probe. Granted, we only had a few small carpets in our house, but I was still half-inspired to shell out a couple hundred dollars to pick up one of Dyson's marvels. Unfortunately, I already had a Eureka vacuum that was both fully-functional and fully paid off.

Recently, I discovered yet another of Dyson's inventions. Some of the men's rooms at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport have installed Dyson "Airblade" hand dryers. Normal hand dryers draw air from the bathroom floor, heat it, and blow it onto the user's hands. In the process, they waste electricity, dry out the user's skin, and deposit bacteria onto the user. The Airblade, on the other hand, runs air through a HEPA filter that removes 99.9% of bacteria. It then propels the air at 400mph through an aperture that is 9 inches wide and .3 millimeters thick, creating an intense air squeegee that literally pushes water off the user's hands. The airblade takes about half the time of a normal dryer, and only runs when the user's hands are brought into it.

Apart from the fact that the Airblade is amazingly cool, it is also very energy conscious. It uses up to 80% less energy than traditional hand dryers and offers operating cost savings of 98% over paper towels. Of course, it is probably quite a bit more expensive at the beginning, but as the price of electricity continues to rise, I imagine that it will seem like a better and better deal.

Regardless of whether or not it catches on, I have to give Dyson some serious credit for his invention. It's energy-efficient, hygienic, and imaginative. Best of all, he's somehow managed to get me excited about a hand dryer!