he high school student's invention that could charge your phone in 20 seconds

Waiting hours for a cell phone to charge may become a thing of the past, thanks to an 18-year-old high-school student's invention. In 2013, Eesha Khare won a $50,000 prize at an international science fair for creating an energy storage device that can be fully juiced in 20 to 30 seconds. The fast-charging device is a so-called supercapacitor, a gizmo that can pack a lot of energy into a tiny space, charges quickly and holds its charge for a long time. 

What's more, it can last for 10,000 charge-recharge cycles, compared with 1,000 cycles for conventional rechargeable batteries, according to the young inventor, who hails from Saratoga, CA. 

To date, Eesha has used the supercapacitor to power a light-emitting diode, or LED. The invention's future is even brighter. She sees it fitting inside cellphones and the other portable electronic devices that are proliferating in today's world, freeing people and their gadgets for a longer time from reliance on electrical outlets. 

Khare's invention won her the Intel Foundation Young Scientist Award at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, conducted in Phoenix, Ariz.