Time magazine has announced its nominees for the coolest new inventions of 2005. They cover a range of fields from medicine to transportation, to food and beyond.

The nominees include:

The Michelin Tweel: A shock-absorbing rubber tread band distributes pressure to dozens of flexible polyurethane spokes. Because the Tweel is airless, it is more rugged than a pneumatic tire and never goes flat.

Smart Rope: Embedded with electrically conductive metal fibers, it can sense the amount of weight it is bearing and alert users to a load that is too great. A handheld receiver relays any problems to the owner with a warning message.

The Topsy-Turvy Planter: Allows you to grow any variety of tomato upside down on your balcony or deck.

ApriAlpha: The ball-shaped robot uses advanced voice-recognition technology to distinguish between voices coming from different locations.

MaxSight Contact Lenses: Filter out blue light to reduce glare and improve the visibility of baseballs, tennis balls, and other moving targets.

ClearRx: Target's new prescription-drug packaging system helps prevent mix-ups, and labels display crucial data, such as drug and dosage, clearly at the top.

Nemo Equipment's Inflatable Tent: It has two supporting beams that are virtually pop-proof and are inflated with a foot pump to give the tent a rigid structure without aluminum poles. The tents can be erected in less than a minute.

The One-Time-Use Video Camcorder: Compact and easy to handle, but with a bright 1.4-inch LCD color screen, and a playback button that lets you view the last bit you captured and delete it if necessary.

Large-Area Sensor Array: An electronic film, made up of bendable, shock-resistant transistors embedded in plastic, which can detect pressure and temperature. It could be used to give robots a sense of touch.

Fukuda's Automatic Door: It opens just enough to match the shape of the person or object passing through, helping to maintain a stable temperature in a room and can prevent dirt and other materials from being swept inside.

The Shift Tricycle: Its rear wheels move closer together as the rider picks up speed, then separate for easier balance at slower speeds or at a standstill.

AntWorks: A new kind of ant farm that replaces dirt or sand with a clear, seaweed-based gel that is packed with all the tasty sugar, water and nutrients that ants need to survive.