The 100 fastest, biggest, safest, greenest and most powerful innovations of the year

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Bahrain World Trade Center: The wind-power towers

The first skyscraper to integrate large-scale wind turbines suspends three 1,200-megawatt units between its matching 787-foot office towers. The turbines, which were completed in April, supply 15 percent of the electricity for the two buildings—roughly the same amount used by 300 homes. To maximize energy output, the tapered towers funnel wind between them, creating a negative pressure zone behind the buildings that draws more air through the gap. This suction effect increases wind speeds by up to 30 percent at each of the 95-foot-long rotors to boost electricity production. It also redirects wind gusts hitting the tower by up to 45 degrees off center so that they hit the turbines at a nearly perpendicular angle for optimal electricity generation. atkinsglobal.com

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Intel Core 2 Duo Small Form Factor: A mini chip for thinner laptops

Thank Intel for this year's super-slim notebooks—the Apple MacBook Air, Lenovo X300 and VooDoo Envy 133 each measure about three quarters of an inch thick. These svelte laptops all contain a 60-percent-smaller version of Intel's Core 2 Duo that, at 0.76 square inch, fits in even the tightest spaces. Instead of shrinking the processor itself, Intel trimmed the metal-and-plastic package that surrounds it, bunching power wires closer together and developing a tidier epoxy to hold the chip with less goop. intel.com

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Hillman Composite Beam: A super-strong bridge beam

When John Hillman subjected his bridge beam to load tests, it handled a hydraulic press's 145 tons of maximum force with ease. The Hillman Composite Beam (a winner of our 2008 Invention Awards) weighs one third as much as concrete competitors—saving 20 percent on shipping and installation costs—and can hold 50 percent more weight. The beam gets its strength from within. A concrete arch supports the weight above it, and a steel plate running lengthwise prevents the arch from collapsing. A plastic shell wards off corrosion. The first bridge built with the beams opened in August in Illinois. Next up: a 540-foot bridge in Maine, and licensing deals in Canada and Europe. hcbridge.net

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Agroplast All-in-One: Plastic from pig pee

Agroplast makes urea, a chemical for plastics, that's identical to millions of tons sold every year. The one difference: This urea comes from pig urine instead of fossil fuels. The All-in-One collector sits under grates in farms, robotically strains out the urine before it turns into stinky ammonia, and filters out urea. Equipping pens nationwide could meet all the U.S.'s urea needs. agroplast.info

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Envirofit Clean Cookstove: Safer kitchens in the developing world

More than half the world's population cooks over open fires or small charcoal or biomass stoves. These burn fuel incompletely, producing carbon monoxide and smoke that cause 1.5 million deaths a year. Envirofit's Cookstove burns the same easily found wood but does so more completely to cut emissions by more than 80 percent and use half as much fuel. The can-shaped stove has a precisely measured opening that lets in enough air to fan the flames, yet not enough to cool it and slow down combustion. A chimney-like tube inside helps funnel in fresh air, and a ceramic lining insulates the stove to keep the fire hot and burning efficiently. From $15; envirofit.org

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more...

http://www.popsci.com/gear-amp-gadgets/gal...ovations-2008-0

[SpiritAlight 1]

Terrific thread!!

So many electric vehicles created, all good, like:

ZENN Canadian company wheeeee!!

Pheonix Motocars will be in Maui in the new year

and more...

and this one is the coolest:

(oops I couldn't find my bookmark, however I found this one)

http://gas2.org/2008/10/01/ssc-to-produce-...tween-charging/

top speed of 256 mph

Yeah baby!!!!!!!!!!!!

There are more super fast electric car options just for fun...not the practical kind, but what the H.

Can you tell I like to race??

Oh and looky here what I just found.

A video of a funny looking fast compact:

And do check out this innovative display that I saw in a Vancouver art gallery a few years ago. There were things like tape that was light, solar paint, car seats made from coconuts (Mercedes), and more...

explore here: http://www.massivechange.com/exhibition

It was an awesome exhibit.

P.S. IMHO the biodegradable doogy poop bag is the best practical invention of the year! I hope people use them.

[mkg265 2]

As someone whose had their gallbladder out, the mini pill camera would have been better than what I went through for photos of my stomach!

The pocket printer, the self healing car paint!!

All cool stuff!!

[Scott & Lai 12]

[one...two...tree 2,762]

INVOcell: Test-tube babies without the test-tube

The plastic INVOcell capsule allows artificial fertilization to happen in a woman's body instead of in a lab. Eggs and sperm are mixed inside the INVOcell, then inserted into the mother for three days so she can serve as a natural incubator during conception and early embryo development. bioxcell.com

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Speedo LZR: The fastest swimsuit in the world

At the Beijing Olympic pool, perhaps the only star bigger than Michael Phelps was his swimsuit. The Speedo LZR (pronounced "laser"), like Phelps, didn't disappoint: 16 of the 32 gold-medal winners wore the full-body suit, and another 13 wore LZR pants. The suit was so effective, in fact, that some swimmers claimed it was illegally buoyant. Polyurethane planks replace woven fabric at key locations such as the upper legs, lowering drag by 24 percent over previous versions. And although the LZR proved to be worth its weight in gold at the Olympics, it can make just about any swimmer feel like Phelps. $550; speedo.com

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Serious Materials EcoRock: The cleanest walls

Drywall, plasterboard, wallboard—whatever you call it, the substance that covers billions of square feet of American homes hasn't changed since its invention in 1917. Drywall factories still roast ground-up gypsum rock in 500°F kilns, spewing out 20 billion pounds of greenhouse gases a year. So Serious Materials created EcoRock: a drywall that congeals without heat, uses recycled materials that don't require mining, and holds up even better.

The company's chemists tested 5,000 recipes before they came up with EcoRock's stew of 20 materials. The fly ash, slag, kiln dust and fillers—85 percent of which are industrial by-products—react chemically when mixed with water and bind together into a paste that's poured into sheets. The oven-free process uses just 20 percent of the energy of the typical method. And without the starch and cellulose that's mixed into ordinary gypsum boards, EcoRock is impervious to termites and mold. It costs about the same as high-end drywall, so it may find a home in houses both green and mainstream. $14–$20 per 4x8-ft. sheet; seriousmaterials.com