Popular Science is one of my favorite magazines, and I've been subscribing to it since 1968. They've given out their Best of What's New awards to the best innovative technologies of 2005. Here are their awards for general innovation.
Ascadia Zubbles were the grand prize winner. Zubbles are the first truly colored bubbles -- nearly opaque, with a single vibrant hue.
The problem, which took Minnesota toy inventor Tim Kehoe more than 10 years to solve, was to create a dye that could not only tint the thin wall of a soap bubble but that wouldn't leave a stain when the bubble broke. His solution: invent an entirely new dye that simply disappears. The temporary washable color may soon show up in other products as well.
Other nominees include:
IBM/SONY/TOSHIBA Cell Chip
Supercomputing power on a single chip. This is the chip for the new Sony Playstation 3 that will be coming out in 2006.
Laminar Technologies TurboTap
A smoother pour in half the time
Intelligent Energy
Emissions neutral vehicle (ENV)
Blastgard International Blastwrap
Bomb-Proof Bubble Wrap
