Invention

I'm going to try to write this with a straight face.... The FridaBaby company, which I have just learned of, markets some very inventive and 'curious' products for babies so far. One is called the Snotsucker, which employs a mom (or dad)  to suck the snot out of their baby's nose.... 

Alarm clocks are a pain in the butt. No one wants to get up in the morning, or they wouldn't need an alarm clock, would they?  That's why we all have snooze buttons on our alarm clocks, because we need one more chance to be late. Ineffective as snooze alarms are for many, engineer Paul Sammut has created a new version of the alarm clock, one that never shuts up!

Good news for all of you who've been sitting on your brilliant inventions! National casting calls have just been announced for the second season of Invention USA which airs on The History Channel.  There are just a few, but important steps, to apply for an interview by the show casting directors and the hosts of Invention USA, Reichart Von Wolfsheild and Garrett Lisi.

Learning to walk again after breaking a leg or hip, having a stroke, prosthetic, or partial paralysis depends on a lot of persistence and an excellent rehabilitation program that can guide you through gait training.  Movement scientist Dr. Melvyn Roerdink from The Netherlands has developed a super smart, oversized treadmill that helps rehab patients gain confidence in their new gaits, with bells, whistles, and even light shows.

For the third year in a row, the Biomimicry Institute, a non-profit organication that promotes the study and imitation of designs found in nature, is sponsoring the Biomimicry Student Design Challenge.  This year the Challenge, which is open to college students world-wide, is to use biomimicry to design a solution that results in more efficient use of energy and ultimately reduces greenhouse gases.  No small feat, but the Institute provides students with plenty of resources on biomimicry....

Skinput, a new technology under development, may soon allow people to dial their phones using a keypad projected onto their arms, or pause and control the volume of their music just by tapping their fingers.

The National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA) has announced the winners of the 2011 BMEidea Competition. Awards have gone to three college groups for the invention of much needed biomedical devices and applications that will aid patients in the future: an internal bleed detector, a new therapy for dry eye disease, and a superior broad spectrum antibacterial dressing for infected wounds.