Enter the 2012 Popular Science Invention Awards

The Popular Science Invention Awards John B. Carnett

Do you have an invention you KNOW will someday change the world? Have you been toiling for years in your basement, building prototype after prototype to PROVE that your idea works? If so, tell us about it! Enter the sixth annual PopSci Invention Awards. We’re looking for game-changing products that come from the passionate drive of independent inventors (rather than those born in the R&D labs of universities and corporations). PopSci editors will pick 10 inventions that best represent the spirit of homegrown ingenuity and solve real-world problems in a practical and innovative way. And we’ll show them to our seven million readers in our June 2012 issue. Click here to check out last year's amazing winners.

Submit details on your invention to inventions@popsci.com. Here are a few guidelines:

• Inventions must be physical objects—no processes or concepts.
• There must be a working prototype or something else that demonstrates that the invention actually works.
• Inventions must be the work of independent inventors or small teams; outside funding is fine, but inventions created wholly out of universities or other R&D labs will not be considered.
• Inventions that are intended to become commercial products in the future are acceptable, but they must not already be available for sale.
• Inventions must be something new, not just an incremental improvement on an existing thing.
• Popular Science will not publish an entry online or in print without notifying the inventor first, but we will seek third-party verification of the technology and significance of the invention. All intellectual-property protection is the responsibility of the entrant.
• All entries must be received by February 24, 2012.