Popular Mechanic's third annual Breakthrough Awards honors the boldest inventors and best cutting-edge products. Introducing the people changing the present to make it look more like the future we always wanted:
- Amory Lovins: Lovin's "think and do" tank, the Rocky Mountain Institute looks for cost-cutting and energy-saving alternatives.
- Hop Lipson and Team: Imagine a printer that can print any object—chocolate, cell phones, glasses—and you have the Fab at Home.
- Jeff Han: The multitouch Media Wall allows multiple people to work on a digital screen 8X3 feet long simultaneously by touch.
- Farhan Gandhi: Length-morphing helicopter blades allow for both heavy lifting and high speeds.
- Shawn Frayne: The Windbelt, a small-scale wind energy generator, replaces costly gears with a slender oscillating string and magnets and is 10 to 30 times as efficient as the best microturbines.
- Stuart Harshbarger: The Proto 2 prosthetic arm not only allows for 27 different kinds of nerve-generated movement—it can feel.
- Ashok Gadgil, Christina Galitsky: Their high-efficiency cookstove may not be high-tech, but it will mean less life-endangering fuel forays for Darfur refugees.
- Kelydra Welcker: This college freshman's DIY water chemical detector and cleaner will make clean water easy and affordable.
For the award-winning products, visit the link below. (More
Breakthrough Awards stories.)
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