News for Inventors

What has inflatable lightweight mirrors and captures the same amount of energy from the sun, as traditional flat panel PV systems, while using 500 times less solar cell material? Cool Earth's cool Solar Balloons do and they're about to expand. read more »

The toy industry held its 105th annual Toy Fair this week in New York City. At the opening ceremonies, The Toy Industry Association (TIA) announced the winners of 2008's, T.O.T.Y's, Toy Of The Year awards. Like the Oscars, the T.O.T.Y's are awarded to toys debuing in the prior year. Twelve T.O.T.Y.'s were awarded in eleven categories, like Best Outdoor Toy, Best Educational Toy, Game of the Year, Most Innovative Toy, Best Boy Toy, and of course, the Best Toy Of The Year! read more »

 

Researchers at McMaster University in Ontario have grown light-absorbing nanowires that can absorb more energy from the sun than the silicon ones. The challenge for the researchers is to improve the nanowires' efficiency without bringing up the cost. Can they do it? read more »

Bragging Rights

We have already seen the cars from Chicago, but what about the Trucks and SUV's? Chicago brought out a handful of very impressive machines and it just wouldn't be right to not show them some love. read more »

Bigger, better, and a lot more complicated than the Information Age, success in the Age of Connectivity depends more on our capacity to learn what is needed for tomorrow, than what we know today. As soon as information is available, our computers, hand-helds, and cell-phones make it accessible. We need to retrieve it and act on it; that is critical to our livelihoods and to our lives. read more »

Remember the Super Soaker water gun (a.k.a Power Drencher)? It was the world's first high-performance, pressurized water gun invented by nuclear engineer Lonnie Johnson.

Mr. Johnson who once worked with the U.S Air Force and NASA has more than 100 patents to his name. His most recent invention today could drastically reduce the cost of solar energy as well as conserve heat, if it works. read more »

The results of the "Dining in 2015" contest hosted by designboom are in and my, oh my, are there some fascinating finds. Over four thousand aspiring designers from ninety-eight countries participated, and I must say we humans really are a creative bunch, especially when it comes to food and the partaking thereof. But don't let me convince you -- check out these noteworthy picks for yourself. read more »

 

The Innovate or Die contest for the most creative, most energy saving, and best design of a bicycle-powered energy saving invention, is over. And the Grand Prize, announced this morning, goes to the invention pictured above.. The Aquaduct, the entry from a team of five California designers, addresses the needs of 1.1 million people in the world who don't have access to clean drinking water.

 

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This week it's my turn to host the Carnival of the Green and I am excited to be the 110th host for the Carnival. read more »

What a great way to reward and inspire creativity!

Wham-O, the company that brought us Hula Hoop, Slip N Slide, Frisbee, SuperBall and Hacky Sack products, is having a big 60th year birthday bash and, to celebrate, Wham-O is inviting all kids between the ages of 6 and 17, U.S. residents only, to submit their unique toy inventions to the Kid Inventor Contest.The winner will receive $2000 and, possibly, three percent of sales! read more »

Every once in awhile, I run into a three-dimensional, walking, talking and, most of all, hard-working soul, who embodies the qualities that make inventors successful. This time it's Robert ("Bobby") Amore who, with his "Toner Belt," made it to the round-of-twelve in season one of American Inventor (ABC, 2006). Bobby just happens to be one of the few contestants from season one and two who has reached the mass market with his product... now being sold as the "Walk n' Burn." read more »

A company in Canada by the name of RabbitHoles has created a new technique of turning regular 2-D images, such as a movie poster, into high quality, full-color 3-D images that can even have animation sequences implemented into the photo. Check out the video of this new technology in action... read more »

Tired of beating back the college kids for that coveted seat in the library? Well, your troubles may be over. The "Take-A-Seat" chair, created by Jelte van Geest of Eindhoven Design Academy, explores the latest in interactive mobile seating, ensuring your derriere has the proper resting spot during all of your intellectual brow furrowing and heavy book lifting. read more »

The Gomboc

They're not the best, not all the most promising .... They're not even the most popular. The ideas are not necessarily good ideas. They are not categorized by science, technology, or other standard classifications -- only alphabetically ordered. But the New York Times Magazine's 7th Annual Year In Ideas has picked 70 ideas just for your interest that have been percolating around the world in 2007. read more »

With 4 days of culture, creativity and innovation, the specialized industry exhibition culminated with corporate and trading deals reaching around $3.8 billion U.S. read more »

The power of the sun is amazing, but what about the power of the moon? Can it be harnessed? London-based artist Laura Williams thinks so and has decided to tap into that lunar power. read more »

On the quest for coolness, it's only fitting to have the dopest coffee table on the block. The DelighTable undoubtedly fits that bill... read more »

Rousing myself gently out of slumber simply doesn't happen. It generally takes a sledgehammer, a blast of some sort, or a shot of cold water thrown on my sleeping body... read more »

Crealev, short for "Creative Levitation Solutions," hopes to meet all of your levitation needs. This Netherlands-based company seeks to introduce anti-gravity technology into the mainstream for the betterment of humanity's creative projects... read more »