The best of the new stuff in 2015
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Version 0 of 1. If it’s December, it must be time for Popular Science magazine to put out its annual list of the “100 greatest innovations of the year.” You might quibble with some of the choices, but there’s no question there are some amazing inventions out there. A sampling: Care about cars? Pop Sci likes BMW’s 7 Series, the first car with gesture control, which lets you control navigation tools, audio and so on with a wave of your hand. (It also has massage seats for rear passengers, LEDs that look like stars in the moon roof and programmable scents freshening the air. ) For other kinds of travel, Albedo 100 has a reflective spray paint for bike parts and clothes that’s invisible in daylight but shines like a highway sign in the glow of headlights. The TriFan600 is a civilian aircraft that flies like an airplane but takes off vertically like a helicopter. On the medical front, Teixobactin, from NovoBiotic, is the first new antibiotic in decades; it targets the bacteria that cause tuberculosis and MRSA. Kolibree has a toothbrush with motion sensors that connect to your smartphone to see how effectively you’re brushing and to highlight problem areas. Thinking small: Need to recharge your phone on a camping trip? With Stower’s Candle Charger, you fill a little pot with water, boil it over a fuel-canister candle and connect the pot to a charging cable. To open your house without a key, there’s August Smart Lock — a three-inch cylinder that fastens to an existing deadbolt and responds to a wireless signal from your smartphone. You can lock and unlock the door, buzz guests in remotely or give plumbers or house cleaners access during specific hours. And to wear your tool kit like a watch, try Leatherman’s Tread, a metallic circlet that reassembles into 29 tools, including Allen wrenches, screwdrivers and a bottle opener. Thinking big: In Britain’s North Wales, Wavegarden is an artificial lagoon whose indoor waves travel 490 feet without losing power or their 6 1/2 -foot curls; it can give a surfer an 18-second ride. And the magazine salutes NASA, Johns Hopkins and Southwest Research Institute for the mission to Pluto, everybody’s favorite former planet. |