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 home technology.
Timber Treatment Technologies' TimbersSIL was the grand prize winner. Until TimberSIL came along this year, pressure-treated lumber hasn't been very human-friendly. In 2002 the Environmental Protection Agency started phasing out the longtime standard additive, green chromated copper arsenate, for residential use because it leached arsenic into the ground.
Its replacement, alkaline copper quaternary, was less toxic but had a bad habit of eating away at metal fasteners, like nails. TimberSIL employs sodium silicate, a mixture of sand and soda ash used since the 1800s in detergents and as an egg preservative. Lumber soaks in it under pressure, then bakes until an insoluble matrix of amorphous glass hardens throughout the wood.
Other nominees included:
Grancrete LLC
Sprayable "concrete" builds shelters fast
GE Profile Dishwasher
Smartdispense doles out detergent for you
irobot Scooba
The robotic vacuum learns to mop
Panasonic EY7202GQW
The smartest impact driver in the drawer
360 Electrical Duplex Outlet
A twisting socket for unruly plugs
EGP Thermique Hot Glass
The first transparent adjustable heater
First Alert Onelink Alarm
Smoke alarms that trigger each other
