Winding up inventors

Inventor Trevor Baylis with his clockwork
radio. Photograph: Frank Barron/GuardianTrevor Baylis is enthused. He's been asked to judge a competition to find an energy-saving invention and he's looking forward to seeing what people come up with.

"I say let's go for it, let's encourage people to get involved and let's have some fun as well," he says. Although it would be "super if someone cracks the nut" and invents an amazing energy-efficient device, Baylis seems keen just to see people start thinking - even if that does mean entries from a few classic mad inventors. "I'm sure we're going to get some 'unusual' things, but my attitude is I don't laugh at anything if they've got the guts to go for it".