Though still in the first stages of development the success of the SCORE (Stove for Cooking, Refrigeration and Electricity) is clearly a score against poverty. Poverty reduction is the main thrust of the SCORE project. However, instead of dealing with it through aid and other making your head twirl by talking about economic factors the project plans to take a small (although very hard and expensive) step towards improving the quality of life of the poor by developing a super appliance that is able to act as a high-efficiency cooking stove, electricity generator, and refrigerator (cool box) in one.

Now I know that the campers out there would be keen on getting their hands on one of these when they go out, especially since it is supposed to be really affordable. However since it is meant not for recreational use but for helping to make the world a better place there is no telling if they’ll release this to the general public or whether they’ll come up with an alternative purchasing scheme just like the “One Laptop Per Child” (OLPC) project. To buy an OLPC laptop you’ll need to purchase it a the price of two so that one can be donated to children who need it. But since this project is still in its very early stages there’s not much point in speculation about it.

Once in a while it just feels good to hear of gadgets and gizmos that are meant for some nobler purpose that to feed the insatiable wants of gadget geeks like me.