Guest Thinkers — February 22, 2011

The ten most brilliant innovations of 2007

The current issue of Popular Mechanics has assembled a great list of the 10 Most Brilliant Innovations of 2007. At the top of the list, of course, is the new surface computing interface from Microsoft:

(1) Microsoft Surface

(2) Dow Safe-Touch Fiberglass-free insulation

(3) Samsung Solid State Drive

(4) Ford Sync

(5) Zonbu Zonbox

(6) Two-mode hybrid engine for automobiles

(7) Nintendo Wii Fit

(8) Hitachi Power Tools CR13VBY

(9) Apple iPhone

(10) LG Super Blu Player

While the innovations from Microsoft and Apple may get all the headlines, it’s perhaps more interesting to check out what companies like Dow Chemical are up to. The new fiberglass-free insulation from Dow, for example, may end up having a greater impact on everyday life than the latest tech gadget.

[image: Microsoft Surface]

a computer generated image of a human brain.

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The great free will debate featuring Michio Kaku and Steven Pinker

Who — or what — really controls your mind?

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The Past

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More than a century ago, Halifax suffered an accidental blast one-fifth the size of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

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7 min

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with

Laurie Santos

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