Last year, our favorite winner from the Popular Mechanics Breakthrough Awards was a flying dune buggy that could be used to deliver food and supplies to remote areas where no roads go.

This year, our pick is a little more fun. However, the uses of it to benefit the Third World may be just as great.

Jessica Lin, Julia Silverman, and Jessica Matthews, three undergrad Harvard students, designed a soccer ball that, when kicked around for half-an-hour, can generate 3-hours of LED light. The women were thinking of the applicability of their invention in places like sub-Saharan Africa, where less than 1/4 of the population have the luxury of steady electricity.

The ball is designed to harvest the kinetic energy of play. Take that hand-cranked generators!