February 2010

Read Peter Lloyd’s latest Right Brain Workout discussing the possibility that the invention of cars may have been a Backwards Invention. He explains that not all invention needs to take us in the direction we presume to think of as forward. Sometimes backwards is forward in the same way that less is more.

Take for example the internal combustion engine; sure cars go almost anywhere faster than their predecessors, the horse and carriage. And they do so in quiet comfort. But cars pollute, consume a dwindling resource and put us at deadly odds with others who want to control the same finite resource.

Read more Right Brain Workouts by Peter Lloyd

Frustration often begets creativity and innovation.

I really hate having to get the very last remaining bit of toothpaste that collects up at the bottom of the tube.

Well, this new toothpaste tube (designed by Dominic Wilcox and illustrated by Clare Mallison) solves this problem by putting a cap at both ends.

Now when you (or your partner) keep squeezing from the front or middle of the tube, no need to get angry – you can simply open up the other end to get the rest out! It also does the double duty of fixing the problem of your partner gumming up one side of the tube because you can each have your own end cap.

Ingenious.

A joint venture between French high fashion house Hermes and Wally Yachts formed to create Wally Hermes Yachts (WHY). Their first motor yacht redefines luxury living at sea; the 58 x 38 meters, multi-story floating personal holiday resort features almost an acre of floor space and an ultra-stable Norwegian Ramform hull. Its diesel-electric propulsion is the most efficient motorization to date and was conceived to reduce energy consumption up to 200 tons of diesel per year. Photovoltaic panels cover almost 900 square meters and generate enough energy to supplement most of the boat’s auxiliary system needs. It can cruise at 12 knots in a Force 4 gale and has enough range to cross the Atlantic four times without refueling.

According to gizmag.com “WHY Research and Development plan to optimize this project’s energy consumption by improving the isolation of the yacht and the heat recovery of its engines, and is also investigating the latest wind energy production and wind propulsion system technologies.”

Check out other new inventions or sell your invention.