Tag: INVENTIONS

Putting together a list of the best or worst of anything is always an arduous task. Some will agree, most won't, and many will be downright enraged with your selection. But that's also kind of the point. With this in mind, then, Time recently took it upon itself to put together an unranked list of the 50 worst inventions of all time, ranging "from the zany, to the dangerous, to the just plain ...

We all take it for granted now, but there once was a time, not too long ago, when withdrawing cash from your bank account meant waiting in lengthy lines at your local bank. Everything radically changed, of course, with the birth of the ATM. On Saturday, John Shepherd-Barron, the man widely acknowledged as responsible for creating the cash dispenser, passed away in Scotland at the age of 84. ...

NASA frequently receives headlines for awesome, and ridiculous, tech developments, but some of its scientific contributions integrate seamlessly into the consumer landscape with very little, or no, fanfare. Radar Online recently compiled a list of 13 NASA developments that were originally intended for space travel, but also became mainstream products. One of the selections is well-known, like ...

Every year Time Magazine wraps up the year in science and technology with its list of the top inventions of the year. Last year it was the iPhone that topped the list, beating out host of more useful and, arguably, more important innovations. This year, the Retail DNA Test (pictured above) beat out several electric cars (the Tesla Roadster, Chevy Volt, and Aptera Electric Car) as well as many ...

Believe it or not there there are some nuts out there who when they see crazy cartoon gadgets say to themselves "I could make that!" Why? Well, that's something for researchers of psychological diseases to figure out. Cracked has collected five of its favorite ridiculous cartoon devices that have been brought to life by careless or seriously disturbed inventors. Included are the wearable suction ...

New Scientist is always bringing us fun new inventions and advances in technology. The latest batch of inventions promises to make exercising easier for the morbidly obese, clear atmospheric disturbance from satellite images, and create energy from human motion. The treadmill bed attaches a treadmill (surprise, surprise!) to the foot of an adjustable hospital bed. The bed slowly tips the ...

The Guardian has a great slide show of images from Geneva, Switzerland, where the 36th International Exhibition of Invention is taking place. It's the world's largest expo devoted to innovation, with more than 700 exhibitors from 45 countries showing off their ideas. They range from a self-balancing electric unicycle from Slovenia, to a hula-hoop shaped invention for viewing one's head and ...

The Invention Blog at New Scientist scours the web, or more specifically the United States Patent Office web site, for new and interesting ideas and then shares them with the world, or, with geeks like us. As part of the endless deluge of year-end round ups, New Scientist has collected the most popular patents from its Invention blog in the standard top 10 list format. Entries run the gamut from ...

The flying car is finally approaching reality -- maybe -- but inventors around the world are still working to combine other vehicle types to come up with a more efficient (and fun) means to get from point A to point B. Such is the case with Rudy Heeman, an inventor in New Zealand who has created a device called a hoverwing. Like other similar craft we found on YouTube, Rudy's hoverwing is a ...

Here's an amazing fact: Some wide-eyed dreamer designing sneakers for Pony didn't invent Velcro in the '80s -- it was actually invented by some Swiss guy in 1941. Here's another amazing fact: Someone has bothered to reinvent it. Eight years ago, Vermont-native Leonard Duffy set out to reinvent the zipper. Forty thousand dollars later, the 66-year-old is now showing off his Slidingly Engaging ...