June 2011: The 5th Annual Invention Awards

June 2011

Features

The 2011 Invention Awards

• A Better Mechanical Prosthetic Hand By Lauren Aaronson
• A Crime-Fighting Armored Glove By Brooke Borel
• A Printer You Wave Like a Magic Wand By Rena Marie Pacella
• A Safer Landing Pad for Snowboarders By Ryan Bradley
• A Glare-Blocking LCD Sunglass Lens By Elizabeth Svoboda
• A More Effective Bedbug Detector By Brooke Borel
• A Low-Cost Test for Pre-Natal Diseases By Corey Binns
• An Efficient Way to Treat Boat Waste By Bjorn Carey
• A Light, Motorized Body-Board By Jacob Ward
• A Mirror That Measures Vital Signs By Gregory Mone

It's Alive!

Inspired by Science, Guillermo del Toro's Hollywood Monsters Come to Life By Steve Daly

Future Shocks

Predictions From Blade Runner's Visionary, the World's Foremost Film Prognosticator By Steve Daly

Critical Matter

How 29 Long-Ignored Elements Could Make or Break the Clean-Energy Revolution By Seth Fletcher

The Summer Movie Science Smackdown

Separating science from science fiction in five of this summer's biggest blockbusters By Gregory Mone

What's New

• The Goods: June 2011's Hottest Gadgets
• Gaze-Controlled Laptop Prototype Tracks Your Eyes With Cameras, 3-D Modelling
• Mazda Unveils Minagi Crossover Concept, Reinvents Itself as Purveyor of Extreme Efficiency
• Industrial-Grade Demolition Machine Fit for Your Home
• Portable Fuel Cells Charge Gadgets On the Go
• Stop Rummaging for Your Phone: Check Texts, Emails on Cell-Connected Watches

Headlines

• Stem-Cell Therapy Works Wonders for Race Horses; Are Human Treatments Next?
• Darpa's Tiny Robotic Hummingbird Hovers and Films
• How Fungi Launch Spores is No Longer a Mystery
• Bedbugs Are Harder Than Ever to Kill
• Firefighter's Flame-Throwing Toolkits Keep Wildfires in Check
• Robo-Nurses Replace People, Deliver Pills

How 2.0

• Retired Engineer Crafts Colossal Gliding Model of 1935 Airship
• Gray Matter: Calcium Carbide Reactions Can Light Up a Room--or Fill it With Noise
• iPhone Controlled Cannon Tosses Beer From the Fridge
• Marshall's Plans: Getting Started With Microcontroller Projects
• Ask a Geek: What Electronic Gear Will Become Obsolete Next?

FYI

• FYI: What Would Happen if I Ate Nothing but Meat?
• FYI: Why Are Escalators So Dangerous?
• FYI: Can Humans Survive in a Completely Self-Sufficient Closed Environment?

Megapixels

• On Their Way Home From Space, Astronauts Stop in a Kazakh Field
• Ink Spill From UPS Truck Paints a Highway Rainbow