The following are some pretty cool inventions and ideas I
stumbled across while searching the latest sources of news and
innovation online.
New Use for Prosthetic Leg
It was reported in April, 2012 that Christopher Greer, of
Uniontown, while spending time in a county jail in Pennsylvania,
was discovered to have hidden a cell phone and a charger for
it inside his prosthetic leg. He faces a preliminary hearing
May 22 on a contraband charge. So far nobody is offering him
a break for creativity in breaking the rules.
Worms and Human Longevity
At the University of Nottingham, researchers have found out
how planarian flatworms stop the aging process to be potentially
immortal. They can apparently regenerate their telomeres. As
a result they have an apparently unlimited ability to replace
aged or damaged tissues and cells, and to grow new muscles, skin,
and even brains. Of course this research will be looked at with
an eye toward applying the knowledge gained to prolonging human
life spans.
KickStarter
This is not exactly new, but kickstarter.com is still a cool
idea that many people don't know about. The basic idea is that
you have an idea for a project that you need funding for, and
KickStarter provides a platform for getting those funds. These
people are not exactly investors. As the website says, your project
will be "supported by friends, fans, and the public in return
for rewards." For example, if you want to travel the world
to do a photo book abut the restaurants of fifty different countries,
you post the details of your plan, the amount you need to make
it happen, and then you might offer contributors exclusive access
to your blog which you update as you travel, or a free copy of
the book once it is done.
Mind Reading iPhone App
Have your friend think of a number or image and then "send"
their thought to to an iPhone. When they turn over the phone
they see their thoughts right there on the screen. This is how
the new app from Richard Wiseman of quirkology.com works. Here
is a video demonstration:
Walkability Website
This is another idea that is now a few years old but for which
the founders website is still relatively unknown. You can visit
the site here:
The basic idea is that you can enter any address in the United
States and get a rating on how "walkable" the area
is. More than that, you also get a map which shows what will
be near you if you choose to live at that address. This site
provided one of the tools that helped my wife and I choose the
condo we bought in Naples, Florida. Sometimes we want to just
leave the car home, and it is great to know what's in the area
even before you look at a property for sale. Personally, I look
for a static score that's above 40 or so, and then focus on what
places are actually nearby. You can check for restaurants, coffee
shops, grocery stores, and bars, among other places.
Psychological Research With Obvious Applications
I love to read about research studies that have immediately
useful applications. These are often reported briefly in magazines
and online blogs, and then forgotten. For example consider this
report from a Natural News article:
Social psychologist Ellen Langer performed an experiment
in which she asked to cut in line to use a copy machine. She
tested three different ways of asking, and recorded the results:
'Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine?'
60% said OK.
'Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine
because I'm in a rush?' 94% said OK.
Using because I'm in a rush yielded a huge approval boost.
Even more impressive was the next trial:
'Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine
because I have to make some copies?' 93% said OK.
Using the word 'because' is more important than the ensuing
reason. It seems that just having a reason is enough, regardless
of what that reason may be, even if it doesn't make much sense
or actually justify the special request.
Now that's a research result which provides something you
or I can apply in everyday life, assuming we have even the little
bit of imagination necessary to invent or state a reason for
a request. Perhaps that's one of the more immediately useful
ideas here.
