A Laboratory of the Future Human Experience
Science experts rank the refrigerator as Invention #1.
The UK’s national academy of science, The Royal Society asked a question: What are the most meaningful innovations in humanity’s culinary history? What mattered more to the development of civilization’s cultivation of food: the oven? The fridge? The plough? The spork?
Continue reading… “Top 20 most important inventions in the history of food and drink”
The electric light bulb was a failure.
In the early 1800’s, the British chemist Humphry Davy invented the light bulb but it was a failure. The light bulb spent almost 80 years being passed from one researcher to another. Finally, in 1879, Thomas Edison figured out to to make a light bulb that people would buy. But the technology wasn’t an immediate success. Another 40 years later the electric utilities were stable and profitable businesses. The light bulb only happened because the utilities created other reasons to use electricity. They found a lot of uses for electric motors and the electric toaster and electric curling iron were invented. They also built Coney Island. And they installed electric streetcars lines in towns. All of these other gadgets gave us the light bulb.
Continue reading… “32 technological innovations that will change your tomorrow”
Futurist Thomas Frey: Working with many early stage inventors, I often have the privilege of seeing some truly remarkable inventions and innovations. A few days ago I was shown a technology that snugly fits into that remarkable category, one that has the potential to radically transform the way cars and other vehicles are powered. In fact, vehicles using this power source will never need to stop and refuel.
Continue reading… “Creating a ‘Ripple in the Force’ of the Power Industry”
Lego
We’ve seen some pretty awesome Lego creations in the past, including a Volkswagen van, Angry Birds, and even the heart of the Large Hadron Collider. But what about Lego inventions that actually work? Here are some of our favorite, fully functional Lego creations. (pics and videos)
Continue reading… “5 cool Lego inventions that really work”
Do you have a million dollar idea?
Many of today’s entrepreneurs are working on products people want, not products people need. A few exist that solve major problems and annoyances, but there are a few pet peeves startups aren’t working to fix.
Continue reading… “14 awesome ideas to invent”
George Davison, founder and chief executive officer of Davison International.
Davison International Inc., a 285-employee company that designs and creates kitchen gadgets, toys and other consumer products, relocated in 2006 to a 61,000-square-foot building in Pittsburgh, Pa. Its interior, which followed a year-long, $5 million renovation, is intended to encourage creativity and a positive attitude among staff. One third of its inventions are its own creations. The remainder are commissioned by third parties. (Pics)
Continue reading… “5 whimsical workspaces in Inventionland”
Ben Kaufman, founder of Quirky
There are a lot of young kids who want to be inventors. But, when most of the young kids grow up they either grow out of wanting to be an inventor or resign themselves to the excuse that it is the work of only dreamers. When we were younger, we had playful, creative lessons in school on famous inventors like Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci, and Walt Disney.
Continue reading… “Quirky – new crowdfunding site may be the next big thing in retail innovation”
Deadline for Exhibiting at the DaVinci Inventor Showcase is Friday, Oct 28th
It all starts with an epiphany. Every invention begins with a single “eureka moment” or some “brilliant revelation” that causes the inventor to take action.
These epiphanies become the idea seeds planted by inventors around the world. But we can only wish the process was as simple as adding water and fertilizer and waiting for the ideas to spring to life.
Inventions are not just patents to be hung on a wall. They are the starting point for a new business enterprise. So, not only does the inventor have to figure out how to create a working product or device, they also have to drive it forward, creating a business model that will enable it to survive. And that’s where the DaVinci Institute comes in.
Continue reading… “Countdown to the Big Event – The DaVinci Inventor Showcase on November 5th”
Companies are filing overly broad patents on obvious ideas in the hope that one day the technology will become feasible.
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development reports that “the quality of patent filings has fallen dramatically over the past two decades. The rush to protect even minor improvements in products or services is overburdening patent offices. This slows the time to market for true innovations and reduces the potential for breakthrough inventions.”
Continue reading… “OECD warns quality of patents ‘falling dramatically’”
High school inventors
These 10 brainy students are refining cancer treatments, cleaning up car exhaust systems, and improving communication between humans and robots and they are doing all of this in between pep rallies and history tests.
USPTO issues 8,000,000th patent on August 17, 2011.
The first patent granted by the USPTO was in 1836 and 175 years later, the government body now has a database that is eight million strong.
Continue reading… “USPTO’s major milestones from one to eight million patents”
Thomas Adams invented chewing gum after a bout of frustration.
From chocolate chips to potato chips, many of today’s most popular products were invented by mistake. They say that necessity is the mother of invention. But sometimes pure chance is.
Continue reading… “Today’s Most Popular Products That Were Invented by Accident”
