Whirlygig writ large :)

A movie yours truly loves is Ratatouille, a film about art, creativity and chance, something indirectly seen in real life when a really creative guy takes the 20 cent whirlygig and turns it into something that can change healthcare in ways that boggle the mind.

Inspired by the design of a millennia-old toy, the Paperfuge is a hand-powered centrifuge made of paper, string, and plastic that can whip biological samples in circles at up to 125,000 rpm. That’s enough oomph to separate plasma from a blood sample (a standard diagnostic procedure) in 90 seconds. For reference, a StatSpin MP centrifuge—the kind of commercial centrifuge that you’ll find in diagnostic and research labs around the world—tops out at 15,800 rpm and can take up to two minutes to perform a plasma separation.

The best part about this is the fact it's hand driven, no juice required. How cool is that? :)