International

Schick's Slick New Quattro 5 Titanium Razor Is A Cut Above

The new Schick® Quattro® Titanium razor adds a fifth titanium-coated blade to the current cutting quartet. Maybe the real question here isn't why Schick Japan decided on a blade upgrade, but why the result isn't being called Quintro.

Superior Design: Win €50,000 Via 2014 Prix Émile Hermès International Design Award!

Create comforting products to win 50,000 Euros!

by Invention Ideas

This international, and open-ended contest is a fantastic opportunity to get recognition for your personal reimagining of nearly any sort of care-related object, while pushing for a chance to win a whole bunch of cash!

Chinese Man Needs New Nose, Gets A Head Start

by China.new

It's as plain as the nose on your... forehead? Doctors treating a young Chinese man whose nose suffered irreversible damage following an auto accident are growing him a replacement. Since it seems a mouse wasn't available, they're growing Xiaolian's new honker just above his left eye.

2013 James Dyson Award Update: America Vs. The World!

Which of the 18 nations will produce the James Dyson Award Winner?

by Invention Ideas

The judges of the 2013 James Dyson Award have selected the best inventions from each of the 18 nations participating in the competition, and although I’m pulling for team USA, they’ve got some serious competition for the grand prize!

Hello Kitty Beer Looks Cute, Tastes Like Fruit

by China.new

Call it a case of Sanrio Meets Sangria but Hello Kitty Beer is not only real, it'll get you real drunk in a real hurry. The officially licensed wobbly pop comes in a half-dozen different tropical fruit flavors, is rated at 2.3% alcohol by volume, and is only available in Taiwan and mainland China.

British Airways Pits Tweet-Fueled Plane Against Its Own Aircraft

by Ron Callari

On the heels of a promoted tweet purchased to criticize British Airways' luggage handling processes, the airline rallies back with an unprecedented social media marketing initiative to mark the launch of two of its newest aircraft. By converting a hypothetical into an actionable challenge, BA begs the question: Who would win in a race between a Tweetliner and a Dreamliner?

Pot Stinkers: The Top 10 Weird & Bizarre Japanese Toilet Brushes

by Steve Levenstein

A filthy toilet bowl is disgusting and dishonorable anywhere in the world but Japan seems to take the issue extra-seriously, if the country's plethora of overly cute, overtly complex and over-engineered toilet brushes is any indication. These 10 weird & bizarre Japanese toilet brushes bristle with innovations designed to turn every bathroom in the nation into a cause for water-closet celebration.

Hello Kitty Color Contact Lenses Give You Cute Cat Eyes

by Steve Levenstein

Hello Kitty Color Contact Lenses are the next best thing to getting Japan's most popular anime character tattooed on your corneas. Actually ANYTHING is the next best thing to having one's corneas tattooed but we digress.

Design Stellar Seafood Dining Set & Win €10,000 Via ArtZept 2013 Contest!

by Invention Ideas

If you’re a cutlery or kitchenware designer and a seafood gourmand, then I’ve got the perfect international contest for you!

The New Perspective: Art is Everywhere

by Art Outside The...

Albert Einstein once said, "There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle." Turkish artist Sakir Gokcebag tweaks that slightly with his common object art installations, clearly stating that there are two other ways to live your life, as though nothing is art, or as though everything is art. You can probably guess which perspective he holds.

Coders Have Russia To Thank For A Thankless Programmers' Day

by Ron Callari

Well, Friday the 13th came and passed uneventfully this year. Internationally, there were no earth-shaking calamities. In fact, quite the contrary. Russia, America's on-again-off-again ally was instrumental in sealing the day for chemical disarmament in Syria. And unbeknownst to a lot of us folks, Russia is the only country in the world to officially recognize "Programmers Day."

Beauty And Brains: Science Award Winner Creates Bioplastic From Banana Peels

by Laurie Kay Olson

Proof that beauty and brains are not mutually exclusive recently came in the form of a 16-year-old Turkish woman, Elif Bilgin. Over the summer she won the 2013 Science in Action award, part of the third annual Google Science Fair. The invention that garnered the resident of Istanbul, Turkey, the $50,000 prize was a method for turning banana peels into bioplastic.

We Are Plastic People: Bizarre Living Sculptures

by Art Outside The...

The next time a trendy hipster next to you says that they are "really into art", ask them if they would like to be inside some art. If so, they might be the perfect model for Marie-Lou Desmeules' fascinating and slightly disturbing Living Sculptures, which take a shot at society and our standards of 'beauty' with their plastic facades of celebrities on top of actual people.

Japanese Prison Introduces New Cute & Cuddly Mascot

by Steve Levenstein

Meet Katakkuri-chan, the official mascot of Japan's far-northern Asahikawa Prison! The cute, cheerful, smiling character is spearheading the jail's efforts to warm up their chill and forbidding image. Maybe this is an idea other prisons can try, such as designing a canary wearing a striped jumpsuit to represent Alcatraz.

New Litmus-Paper Test Identifies Poached Marine Mammal Meat In Mere Minutes

by China.new

Whale meat again? Don't know where, don't know when... until now! Thanks to a new litmus-paper test developed in Taiwan, the question of whether the catch of the day had fins or flippers can be resolved conclusively in just 10 minutes.

Women-Only Pink Taxis Make Travel In Puebla A Shade More Pleasant

by Motors.new

Women in Puebla, Mexico's fourth-largest city, are tickled pink over the city's new fleet of woman-operated, women-only taxi cabs. The rose-tinted taxis have the approval of the city's governing authorities and are intended to provide women with the option of secure personal travel 24 hours a day.

Percy Shelley's 'Ozymandias' Breaks Bad Again In The 21st Century

by Ron Callari

For all those 'Breaking Bad' fans who've held fast in weathering the perfect storm of the first five episodes of Season 5's final eight, the 6th installment is being promoted as the best of the baddest. But who would make such a claim? Vince Gilligan, the director - that's who!

Google+'s Long History Of Suspensions In Search Of Remedies

by Ron Callari

For those who have recently been chastised with the swift judgemental hand of a Google+ suspension, you are not alone. Google+ has had a long history of not only suspending accounts, but also deleting them. Dating all the way back to July, 2011 (only one month after its inception), Google + was deleting what they thought were a large number of fake accounts, only to restore them when users proved their legitimacy.

Design Emergency Urinal, Win €1,000 Via Public Urinal Systems Design Contest

Will you help millions with your potty product design?

by Invention Ideas

The Emergency Sanitation team at WASTE are looking to creative inventors from around the world to develop a sanitary public urinal system to be installed in emergency situations. Do you have a golden design to share?

Follow Internet Investor Yuri Milner's Lead To Invest In Small Social Media Businesses

by Ron Callari

Hindsight is 20/20. Had we known to follow Yuri Milner's lead back in 2009 when he and his company Digital Sky Technologies (DST) invested $200 million in what was a small busines at the time called, Facebook, for a 1.95% stake -- we may all have been a lot wealthier today. That early bet made this previously-unknown Russian investor, a billionaire.

Please Join Us!