Top Innovations 2009
A year ago I listed some favorite top innovations from 2008. They included a global seed vault, retail DNA test kit, and of course the LHC particle accelerator at Cern which was switched on during that year.
This year the science magazines again treat us to an insight of what took place during 2009.
Although medical science is one of the less fascinating ones to me personally, I have to say that both the "wooden bones" and "JaipurKnee" presented by CNN catch my attention. Italian scientists discovered a way to utilize wood in helping the body to regrow broken bones. The woods texture resembles bones own texture, and helps blood vessels to attach themselves while the real bone is growing. The JaipurKnee is the cheapest replacement knee mimics natural joint movements and costs only around 20 USD. Inexpensive limbs make a world of difference to millions of children mutilated in wars.
Solé Power Tile. Image from Popsci
Popsci is again publishing their top 100
One thought comes to mind while flipping through this list: How the human kind is still operating on a rather narrow-minded, inward focused, incremental improvement sort of way. We tend to celebrate new gagdets, new tools, new security features, new cars, or new defense technologies that are only slightly better than their previous versions. Only few of these 100 are attempts to break old habits and totally re-engineer the way things are done. My favorites:
Finally, the Scientist has their own Top 10 list. This year they concentrate on tools in life sciences. As this is an area not familiar to me, I will just pick one example, #3 on that list for how to manipulate cells using light.
I am picking this partly because of the neat video on the Scientist website, and partly because of watching the most endearing documentary last night of Dr. Eric Kandel, a Nobel prize winner who also utilized cell light manipulation to study brain molecules and demonstrate synapse. If you have a chance to watch this documentary, I warmly recommend. It is full of intelligence, warmth and optimism. These are the things world needs 2009 and beyond.
Dr. Kandel. Image from YLE
This year the science magazines again treat us to an insight of what took place during 2009.
Although medical science is one of the less fascinating ones to me personally, I have to say that both the "wooden bones" and "JaipurKnee" presented by CNN catch my attention. Italian scientists discovered a way to utilize wood in helping the body to regrow broken bones. The woods texture resembles bones own texture, and helps blood vessels to attach themselves while the real bone is growing. The JaipurKnee is the cheapest replacement knee mimics natural joint movements and costs only around 20 USD. Inexpensive limbs make a world of difference to millions of children mutilated in wars.
Solé Power Tile. Image from Popsci
Popsci is again publishing their top 100
One thought comes to mind while flipping through this list: How the human kind is still operating on a rather narrow-minded, inward focused, incremental improvement sort of way. We tend to celebrate new gagdets, new tools, new security features, new cars, or new defense technologies that are only slightly better than their previous versions. Only few of these 100 are attempts to break old habits and totally re-engineer the way things are done. My favorites:
- #12: Powergenix 1.6-Volt Nickel-Zinc AA Rechargeable. A rechargeable battery that delivers as much juice as disposables.
- #34: Biobased Composites. Synthetic wood (bacteria-derived biodegradable plastic resin bound to hemp fibers) to build a house frame and pliable enough to carve.
- #35: Diverging Diamond Interchange. A new traffic design to do away with risky left turns can reduce clogging by as much as 60 percent.
- #58: CamelBak All Clear UV Microbiological Water Purifier. Cleaning water using ultraviolet light removes 99.99 percent of viruses, protozoa and other microscopic beasties on the go.
- #61:Ecovative Design EcoCradle. A treeless, biodegradable shipping material that can be molded into as many shapes as polystyrene, a.k.a. Styrofoam, so it can protect objects of any size or weight.
- #62: ECO2 Plastics Environmental System. Recycling processing plants use up to 100,000 gallons of water a day, mostly to wash crusty food and chemicals off containers before they can be ground up. ECO2 is the first waterless recycling process, employing a corn-based, biodegradable liquid solvent that dissolves buildup and is then distilled so it can be reused.
- #83: Wolfram Research WolframAlpha. A new generation search engine, it runs a series of algorithms that use context and probability to interpret what you’re asking, scours more than 10 trillion pieces of data, compiles a series of answers by culling the information, and then presents the answers in text, graphs, tables, charts or maps.
- #92: TLD100 Thermal Leak Detector. A handheld heat detector lets homeowners check for thermal leaks by translating the complicated readouts common in pro devices into three simple colored beams.
- #95: K-Tect Sustainable Building Systems. Homebuilders can ditch the lumber and the expensive labor costs that go with it. These prefabricated, custom-made insulating panels are easier to assemble than conventional wood frames, and more energy-efficient.
- #96: Solé Power Tile. The first curved photovoltaic roofing product replaces add-on solar panels with a new flexible solar laminate bonded to a polymer base that gives tiles the curved shape of regular terra-cotta.
Finally, the Scientist has their own Top 10 list. This year they concentrate on tools in life sciences. As this is an area not familiar to me, I will just pick one example, #3 on that list for how to manipulate cells using light.
I am picking this partly because of the neat video on the Scientist website, and partly because of watching the most endearing documentary last night of Dr. Eric Kandel, a Nobel prize winner who also utilized cell light manipulation to study brain molecules and demonstrate synapse. If you have a chance to watch this documentary, I warmly recommend. It is full of intelligence, warmth and optimism. These are the things world needs 2009 and beyond.
Dr. Kandel. Image from YLE
Thanks for mentioning Remotion Design's JaipurKnee in there Petra. I especially like your reflective comments on technology and needing to go beyond incremental change with the "next new gadget". As an avid technologist and researcher I see a great value in pursuing the abstract - and even the sometimes seemingly useless inventions turn around to change our lives. For example wen the computer mouse was first presented to Xerox they saw this as a useless invention (failing to see its transformational potential) - but it later became one of the most valuable modes of input to a computer - making a significant change in the fabric of our society . So I would say we just have to find the right "balance" between pursuing more abstract (e.g. quantum computing ) and more concrete technology ( e,g, those technologies that we can easily envision how they can affect another human's life, such as prosthetic knees ) . I think the key is keep an awareness of how our technology ultimately creates positive human impact .
More to come from the Jairpuknee Team... Stay tuned.
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Hey Joel, thanks for reading and commenting. I totally agree with your insights, it's all about the balance between "abstract" and "concrete", or long-term, short-term. This should apply both in science as in business.
When you get new info on Jaipurknee, keep me posted. Have a good 2010.
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