Invention

For thirty years since the invention of angioplasty, cardiologists have been using stents to repair arteries. First was the balloon stent, then the metal stent, then the drug eluting metal stent. Next it will be the bioabsorbable stent, or should I say now it is the bioabsorbable stent?

Why should you wait until someone breaks the window of your home? Your Vigilant Window can scare the heck out of burglars, so they'll never know what hit them, and probably never think of coming back!

  Recent advances in science and the invention of new artificial materials with unusual properties has given rise to a plethora of new inventions. In particular, a new material called RQS3 shows great potential for use in future products.

What we can do when we put our minds to it! Well, not "we," but a group of environmental engineers at Stanford University's Woods Institute for the Environment. They created an artificial wood, which is just as strong as the real thing, using biocomposites that are completely biodegradable. This faux wood has the potential of saving our forests, reducing green house gases, and actually shrinking landfills. Stay tuned... these researchers are on to their next big breakthrough.

The following are my picks for the best St. Patrick's day ever, with a few post-St. Patrick's day reconciliation-style inventions thrown in for good measure.

Necessity, the saying goes, is the mother of invention. But in the case of Escape, a portable fire escape ladder, Mother was the necessity for the invention.

Don't you ever just wish that the common easy to care for and affordable flowers were beautiful and had vivid coloring? That's were Vivid Illusions comes in. Vivid Illusions comes in a wide variety of hues and promises to be able to radically alter and enhance the color of any flower it's fed to.

When it comes right down to it, wheels are pretty much impossible to improve on. Sure, you can reduce their overall weight or have them specially made to match you project, but for the most part wheels have stayed the same for a very long time. The Dynamically Augmenting Wheel System or DAWS is out to change that.t

You may never have heard of GERD. It's an acronym for gastroesophageal reflux disease; it's also known as acid reflux disease. It means that contents of your stomach re-enter your esophagus after you eat. GERD can cause serious problems in your esophagus, leading to Barrett's Esophagus, and possibly to esophageal cancer. That is why a successful trial of the LINX™ System is important.

Most people have a love-hate relationship with both bugs and waking up on time, with one company combining the two to hopefully inspire more love in their customers than hate.

Ophir Vermesh today became the first winner of the $30,000 Lemelson-Caltech Student Prize for his work in developing the Integrated Blood-Barcode Chip (IBBC), as member of a team of researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Vermesh is a graduate student in chemistry at Caltech.

RealNose, a multi-institutional project sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), hopes it will be able to simulate dog-sniffing ability in an electronic sniffing machine.

Ladies, get your inventive minds in gear; a large company is actually asking you for your ideas! That's right. Today Edison Nation announced a new invention contest sponsored by Bed, Bath, and Beyond (B³) that calls for product ideas to retail in its stores. This 'for women only' invention contest is scheduled concomitant with the recognition of American Women of Invention, this year recognizing the 200th anniversary of the first woman* to receive a patent on her invention.

Yuehua Yu, nicknamed "Tony," arrived at Rensselaer Polytechnical Institute (RPI) in 2004 with a degree in chemistry and an advanced degree in polymer science from Nankai University in China. Today he received the Lemelson-Rensselaer Student Prize of $30,000 for his advancement in the fields of medicine, energy production and storage, water purification, electronics, and many other fields that work with nanoparticles.

Ever been late to an appointment or date because you kept hitting the snooze button on your alarm clock and ended up sleeping in? Wish that you had an added incentive to get up? Well now there is a way to make snoozing become very costly with this clock.

Geoffry von Maltzahn is a man whose inventions are helping to create not one, but several different paths for successfully treating cancer. He is 28 years old, a biomedical engineer in graduate school at MIT, and he has already submitted 8 patent applications, co-authored 19 papers, founded two companies, and mentors aspiring scientists. And in his spare time...

A gooey gel that hardens on impact enough to protect the knees and elbows of motorcycle racers, the thighs and butts of horseback riders, and the toes of ballerinas, has been chosen by the British Ministry of Defence to protect its combat troops from bullets.

Heaven on Earth is finally a reality as you can now wake up every morning to the refreshing smell of freshly cooked bacon.

Light Emitting Diodes have their own competitions now that they are the "hottest" way to present lighting design. The Strategies in Light conference announced the winners of the LED Next Generation Luminaires™ competition this week in Santa Clara, CA.

... The competition is in two phases; the first phase is now until September 11, 2009. But, early registration is definitely wise. It saves you money and it also gives you more exposure to the judges.