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As an undergraduate at Cornell University, Lyle Small annoyed his housemates by spending days on end painting their Ping-Pong table in rainbow shades of ink. He brewed chemicals to create inks that changed hue when exposed to light and heat.

“I got obsessed,” says Small, now 41. “I thought all printing inks should change color.”

Two decades later his passion is paying dividends. Small’s Colorado Springs company, Chromatic Technologies Inc. (CTI), is booming while rivals in the ink industry are cutting back. Music distributors, foodmakers and the beer giant MillerCoors are using Small’s color-changing ink to make their packaging stand out. CTI landed 120 new customers in 2008. Small expects sales to double this year, to $10 million.

Thanks to CTI’s ink, the mountains on Coors Light cans turn blue when the beer reaches optimal drinking temperature (roughly 43°-50°F). Coors (TAP, Fortune 500) already used color-changing ink on paper labels for bottles, but the brewer had struggled to find a contractor that could create the same effect on cans. “CTI is the only one that delivered,” says Ray Toms, a MillerCoors scientist who worked on the project. MillerCoors signed a two-year contract to buy all of its ink for cans from CTI. The beer company will account for 40% of Small’s revenue this year.

The deal took persistence. When CTI first approached Coors in 2001, Small couldn’t guarantee that the ink would work in high-volume production. Coors printed 20 million cans of Coors Light every day; any downtime would be costly. So Small arranged painstaking tests in canning factories in eight countries. Three years later he was ready to ink a deal.

The brewer’s faith has paid off. Amid flat beer industry sales, Coors Light saw 3% growth this year. The color-changing artwork is prominently featured in the company’s TV ads.

cnn.com

Behind Coors’ color-changing beer cans is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

The James Dyson Awards, a sprawling event that garners thousands of entries from design students the world over, is a pretty phenomenal wellspring of ideas–the short list runs into the hundreds. Treehugger points us to one concept we hadn’t seen: A collapsible milk jug that makes the milk last longer.

The designer–who has to remain anonymous for now, since the contest isn’t over–points out that plastic milk jugs basically foment milk spoilage, because they trap air in the container. And that’s what the concept, Fresh, fixes. As the milk level gets lower, you collapse the container bit by bit, to prevent undue air exposure. The designer claims that experiments show that the milk lasts a week longer as a result.

A product like this could be a huge boon to other countries: To save plastic, Canada and parts of Europe require offer milk sold in plastic bags, which the users take home dump into permanent containers. And that, apparently, makes the milk go bad even faster than it would in a plastic container.

fastcompany.com

Collapsable Milk Jug Makes Milk Last Longer is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Fairways International LLC is a licensing and distribution company that will sign all the right documents to insure that your invention is protected from theft when you allow the company to review your idea. Its staff
and consultants are intimately familiar with the world of golf from every angle and, if they think they can market your product they’ll do all the legwork from assisting you with filing patents to getting your product on golf courses all over the world.

What does Fairways International charge you, the golf inventor? Nothing. And that’s the way it should be.

inventorspot.com

One Company Exists Just To Market Your Golf Inventions is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

The invention, created with less than $400 in equipment, can heat to 113 degrees and is big enough to slide a mattress or dresser into.

The heat destroys the bed bugs, but doesn’t damage the furniture.

A study of the device’s effectiveness appears in the June issue of Journal of Economic Entomology.

“You’re very limited in what you can do to fight bedbugs,” said urban entomologist and UF professor Phil Koehler in a Tuesday press release.

Current treatments for bed bugs include massive fumigations, where entire buildings are tented. A more recent patent, according to UF, was awarded to a private company that developed a way to heat treat an entire building. But for universities, which have thousands of students living in close quarters, large-scale treatments can be burdensome and unnecessary.

“It’s somewhat like cooking a turkey,” Koehler said of the bed bug banishing process, which includes putting probes in some infested items to monitor temperatures.

UF researchers note that while it is can be effective to put clothes and sheets in a standard dryer on high heat to eliminate bed bugs, no one should attempt to build their own heat treatment device for furnishings.

palmbeachpost.com

Turning up the heat: Dorm room bedbugs have enemy in UF invention is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Wein approached a team of industrial design students at Swinburne University, who spent eight months developing the concept into a workable prototype. The resultant product, “Down to Earth Lighting,” won the People’s Choice Awards on Australia’s New Inventors program.

How does the device work? Check out the video here.

Down to Earth Lighting is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

According to the patent’s abstract, the Jackson-devised system relies on “a hitch member movably projectable through a stage surface. The shoes have a specially designed heel slot which can be detachably engaged with the hitch member by simply sliding the shoe wearer’s foot forward, thereby engaging with the hitch member.” Jackson co-developed the technique as an improvement upon a previous method in which he and his dancers were rigged up with harnesses and cables.

mediabistro.com

Michael Jackson’s Design Legacy: Patented Anti-Gravity Shoes is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Jay Leno’s The Sluggie is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

According to Camille Landau, the CEO of ReferMe, Inc., the company behind ReferQuest.com and this Facebook application, users of the Facebook app benefit in multiple ways:

1. It allows users to specify the exact amount of money that they are willing to pay for goods or services.
2. It allows users to leverage the power of social networking to get their needs met, quickly.
3. It gives users the opportunity to make extra money by helping others to get their needs met.

webwire.com

Make Money with Facebook Application ReferQuest is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

It’s not your average science fair when the 16-year-old winner manages to solve a global waste crisis. But such was the case at last month’s May’s Canadian Science Fair in Waterloo, Ontario, where Daniel Burd, a high school student at Waterloo Collegiate Institute, presented his research on microorganisms that can rapidly biodegrade plastic.

High school girl discovers styrofoam-eating bacterium.

Daniel had a thought it seems even the most esteemed PhDs hadn’t considered. Plastic, one of the most indestructible of manufactured materials, does in fact eventually decompose. It takes 1,000 years but decompose it does, which means there must be microorganisms out there to do the decomposing.

Could those microorganisms be bred to do the job faster?

That was Daniel’s question which he put to the test by a very simple and clever process of immersing ground plastic in a yeast solution that encourages microbial growth, and then isolating the most productive organisms.

The preliminary results were encouraging, so he kept at it, selecting out the most effective strains and interbreeding them. After several weeks of tweaking and optimizing temperatures Burd was achieved a 43 % degradation of plastic in six weeks, an almost inconceivable accomplishment.

mnn.com

Boy discovers microbe that eats plastic is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

So starting in 2005, Griffin, a longtime commercial real estate broker and mother of three boys and a girl, brainstormed with a partner on how to create an inexpensive home-based test that could predict gender. Working with a Dallas chemist, she began testing for her product, and IntelliGender Gender Prediction Test was born in November 2006.

The 10-minute test, which can be used as early as the 10th week of pregnancy, is available in the family planning section at most Walgreens and CVS stores for $29.99.

The kit tests a pregnant woman’s urine for gender-specific hormones (patent is pending). A yellow to orange color will represent a girl; a smoky green color indicates a boy. If multiples or fraternal twins are expected, girl results indicate that all babies are females. A boy result means that at least one of the multiples is male.

So far, the makers say, the test is 82 percent accurate when taken in the home, while lab results top 90 percent.

newsday.com

A home-based test to predict gender is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Incuby is an online community designed for inventors who want to get the word out about their inventions. Once you sign up, the site asks you to input information about yourself. After that, it asks for pertinent information about your invention. You can give it a title, describe it, choose a category, and let the community know if your invention is patented yet.

You can then start searching for other inventions. The site’s listings include some good information on the creations, including product photos, videos, and prices. Soon, Incuby will enable users to buy those products on the site. Incuby is designed well, and its community, while small, is quite active. It’s worth joining.

InventBay enables inventors to list their products to target investors who might want to bring those products to store shelves. InventBay itself even does some investing.

When you sign up for InventBay and list your product, the company requires a seven-day period to review your invention before it’s placed on the site. In that time, InventBay decides if it wants to invest in your creation. If it does, you’ll receive notice and work out an investment plan with the company. If not, it’s listed on the site for other investors to check out. It’s a neat idea. And since it’s free to list a product, it’s worth trying out.

InventNow is a really great idea. The site is an outlet for child inventors to show off their inventions. They can list their product, describe how it works, explain the problem it solves, and (hopefully) be seen by an investor. The site’s message board is active and a great place for kids to share their ideas. And some of the inventions I saw on this site were much better than the inventions created by adults on other sites. Definitely check it out, if you have a budding inventor in your home.

InvenTube is a place where inventors and investors can work together to make a product a success. After you sign up for the site, you need to input information about your product, including whether it is patented, what you plan to do with it, and more. You then describe the product you want to sell and place it on the site.

United States Patent and Trademark Office is a handy tool for any inventor. It is filled with how-to articles on inventing a product, checking to make sure that your creation isn’t patented by someone else, and patenting your inventions. The site also has a variety of search tools and software downloads to help inventors and attorneys determine if a product or something similar has already been patented. It’s a helpful resource for any inventor.

cnet.com

Inventive online resources for inventors is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Critics of this practice are often large companies which become targets of entities known as “patent trolls.”

Sneaky Strategy

A patent troll acquires one or more patents in a portfolio that provide broad protection for a given technology. The trolls then begin a systematic process of asserting the patents to obtain licensing revenue, usually against large companies with deep pockets.

In some cases, the cost of defending the patent lawsuit is more expensive than simply giving in and paying the requested licensing fees. In many cases, the large companies often pay up.

While some may liken this ability to extortion, if the current proposed legislation is passed and weakens the patent system by devaluing patents owned by entities that do not make, use or sell the product or process covered by the patent, the legislation might do more harm than good.

As an example, independent inventors often do not have the means to make, use or sell an invention, and are only able to make money from an idea by getting a patent and licensing it to large companies. The ability to think up an invention, patent it and subsequently make money off the idea is central to continued innovation.

There are many instances where people are good at inventing but have no means to manufacture the product they invent. The present patent system allows these people to capitalize on their ideas and promotes innovation.

Should the proposed legislation pass, if someone wanted to derive maximum revenue for their patented idea, they will also have to make the invention covered by the patent. The result of such legislation, as currently proposed, will actually stifle innovation and diminish creativity and entrepreneurship.

Many credit the U.S. patent system with the technological boom that has transpired over the last 50 years. Such a powerful tool has provided unprecedented economic growth. While the system may not be perfect, it is still a viable and credible system that awards innovation. Instead of reforming the patent system as proposed, legislation should be restricted to punish the bad actors that utilize the system as it was not intended.

wbjournal.com

Patent Legislation Will Stifle Innovation is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Vale says “People letting gas is quite hilarious in my opinion. I think most people think it’s funny.”

You can find Vale’s hand-held whoopie cushions in “As Seen on TV” stores. They run $9.95. Gene Haaheim, the store manager in Redding says they’re a gas. “It’s one of our best items. People come in and stand for hours watching the TV and laughing and they bring their friends in. It’s really a very successful item.”

Now Vale is taking his Pooter to new levels. He and his family are leaving the North State for Southern California. He’ll take part in a new gag TV show on MTV. Vale says “There’s going to be Pooter segments based on the product. And I’m just going to walk around and just get reactions from people.”

The product itself will soon expand to other store chains. Vale also appears on NBC’s “Most Outrageous Moments.” He’s posted some of his videos on Youtube.

khsltv.com

Redding Man Hits It Big With His Invention “The Pooter” is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Showing off his invention for the first time at the Queensland Safety Show in Brisbane today, Russell Hughes had the opportunity to gauge the response of safety professionals and the construction industry to the deceptively simple HeightGuard. “Everyone is saying ‘Why didn’t I think of that?” he said.

The warm reception of Queensland Safety Show visitors hinted at the possibility of a new life for Mr Hughes and his partners, Tracey Ryan and Myles Giess. Ahead of the show and tonight’s screening of The New Inventors, the three built a website, printed stationery and simple brochures after-hours.

“Tracey and I are moonlighting from our day jobs to be here and Myles, whose steel fabrication business here in Queensland will make the HeightGuard, is on secondment,” Mr Hughes laughed.

HeightGuard is an elegant solution to a long-standing problem. Falls from height are the construction industry’s biggest killer and scaffolders are particularly vulnerable. As they put the frameworks in place that protect other construction workers, scaffolders have nothing in front of them to break a fall.

The only solution had been to wear safety harnesses and lines but because they slowed work and were difficult to use, these were generally rejected by scaffolders. Not only that, dangling in a safety harness brings its own risks. Suspension trauma sets in when the body is suspended motionlessly, affecting blood circulation. Reduced oxygen to vital organs can cause the suspended worker to lapse into unconsciousness. If the worker is not rescued promptly, the outcome could be fatal.

Instead, HeightGuard works to prevent the fall in the first place. Scaffolders simply hook the lowest point of the triangular frame onto the closest rail to provide a freestanding handrail on the new level above them.

“There are no moving parts, you can build the scaffold in the traditional fashion and there’s no need for a harness,” Mr Hughes said.

ferret.com.au

New invention prevents scaffolding deaths is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

“I’m passionate that this is something that will save babies lives”
Chris Ebejer

Chris Ebejer, 42, who runs the Melford Inn, said he had a eureka moment six years ago in an unusual place when he woke up on the couch one morning following a party. In a flash of inspiration the father of one decided he would design a baby suit that changed colour when the baby’s temperature went up. And now the pint pulling part-time scientist will see his ‘Babyglow’ invention flying out of production plants around the world at more than a million a month

‘Babyglow’ took six years and more than £700,000 of investment to get to the manufacturing stage.

The £20 garments, which come in pink, blue and green change to white when a baby’s temperature rises above 98F (37C).

With a £12.5 million deal already signed with manufacturers Quality Workwear 4U in Milton Keynes, Chris is working on deals in the U.S. and is in negotiations with major High Street stores.

dailymail.co.uk

Pub landlord signs multi-million pound deal for baby suit invention is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

This breakthrough technology promises to generate huge savings for the cost of live fish shipment where it will eliminate the use of water which consists of 75% of the weight, improve the survival and appearance of fishes in tanks, save on fresh fish shipment (50% on weight of ice), better fish meat quality in taste and appearance and minimize stress and prevent onset of Rigor Mortis or stiffening of the flesh.

This world-class inventor from Siquijor province even successfully tested the waterless live fish technology on salmon (10 to 12 hours of transport time), abalone (14 to 18 hours) and yellowfin tuna in his research works in Australia.

As president of Buhi Marine Worldwide Suply, Inc., his list of clients in the country includes Saranggani Farms, Vitarich and Century PG. His company provides service for live fish transport without water.

BFAR National Director Malcolm I. Sarmiento, Jr, said that this technology is a major breakthrough for the fisheries sector having witnessed it with his own eyes although he said that continuous tests will be conducted to ensure that no harmful residues are found. The initial laboratory tests of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) in validating this technology including necropsy and hispathology showed no traces of toxins or abnormalities on the fishes.

Moreover, BFAR Regional Director Dennis del Socorro intends to tie-up with Mr. Comandante’s technological innovations to be tested and introduced in Bicol Region. They made this agreement when they met recently when the latter presented his technology with Bicolano researchers and fisherfolk in Albay and Camarines Sur respectively.

Comandante is an Agricultural Engineer (2nd placer in the Licensure Exam) from University of the Philippines and holds Masters Degree in Economics from Asian Social Institute(ASI) and Costal Resources Management from Siliman University. He is also a candidate for PhD in Marine Biology and currently taking up PhD in Applied Cosmic Anthropology.

Among the awards he reaped for his innovations are: Finalist in the World Bank Development Market Place in Washington D.C., USA (2007); Winner at the Philippine Emerging Start-ups Open Biz Plan Challenge (2007); Winner at the World Bank Development Panibagong Paraan in Manila (2006); Pillar of Agricultural Development Award by the Department of Agriculture (2006); Inventor’s Award by the Galing Pilipino Movement (2006); Best International Business Award by the University of San Francisco USA (2005); Outstanding Creative Research Award by the Department of Science and Technology (2005); and Innovations Award by the Department of Trade and Industry (2005). He was also featured in the Go Negosyo Book of 2007 as one of the 50 Successful Filipino Entrepreneurs with inspiring stories. On June 6-9, 2009 he will participate as contestant on a research paper competition at the International Institute on Food Technologists in Anaheim, California, USA with his research work on Innovations for Philippine Hand Line Tuna Fishermen and the Sashimi Trade.

bfar.da.gov.ph

Filipino invention lets fish live without water is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

The museum has invited the public to vote for the breakthrough, which has had the greatest impact on the past, present and future to mark the London attraction’s 100th anniversary.

Curators have selected ten items from past centuries, which will form a special Centenary Journey trail at the museum to enable visitors to find out more about them.

The list includes the V2 rocket engine, Model T Ford motorcar and Crick & Watson’s model of the structure of DNA.

The Centenary Journey will be launched on June 26, 100 years after the museum became an independent organisation, and people who want to cast their votes can do it via the museum’s website, with the results to be Announced in October.

The Centenary Journey objects are:

1. Thompson’s Atmospheric Engine
2. V2 rocket engine
3. Cooke & Wheatstone’s five-needle telegraph
4. Stephenson’s Rocket
5. Reynolds’ X-ray set
6. Model T Ford motorcar
7. Penicillin
8. Pilot ACE (Automatic Computing Engine)
9. Crick & Watson’s DNA model
10. Apollo 10 module (ANI)

newspostonline.com

Search for the greatest ever invention launched in London is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Sam Houghton, of Buxton, Derbyshire, was just three when he came up with a double-headed broom to collect large debris and fine dust simultaneously.

Sam, who was inspired by animated inventors Wallace and Gromit and Archie the Inventor from TV series Balamory, said: “I saw my Daddy brushing up and made it. There are two brushes because one gets the big bits and one gets the little bits left behind.

“I don’t know if I want to be an inventor when I grow up but this was fun.”

Sam had been watching his father at work in the back yard, swapping between a large broom, for leaves and twigs, and a small one, for finer particles, when he came up with his idea.

BBC UK

Youngest inventor patents broom is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

The Geminoid was created by Professor Hiroshi Ishiguro using a model of his body and hair actually from his head.

When you poke its face, the robot even frowns like a real human, as it has 50 sensors implanted beneath its skin.

The robot also looks like it can breathe because compressed air is pumped around its body!

BBC

Inventor Creates Robot Double is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

1. iPhone – which consumers camped out for prior to its June debut, is the obvious choice for any “Best of 2007″ list. Much more than a phone, it also features an iPod, a camera and the internet, all in one. The multi-touch display allows you to control everything with your fingertips. Zoom in and zoom out on maps to determine your driving route and use the Visual Voicemail to listen to your messages in any order you choose.
2. Kindle – Since it became available in November, Amazon.com has struggled to keep this new electronic reading device in stock. The revolutionary portable reader downloads books, blogs, magazines and newspapers. The Kindle features a high-resolution electronic paper display that looks like real paper. Readers can choose from more than 90,000 books available in the Kindle store, including new releases and New York Times bestsellers. Aside from the cost of books, which run around $9.99, there are no monthly wireless bills or service commitments.
3. ZPrinter 450 – This device can transform electronic 3D data into colorful, handheld physical models. It can be used to create architectural concepts, landscapes, engineering product designs, electronic entertainment objects and medical information. The ZPrinter 450 is the third 3D printer made by Z Corp. and is touted as the most compatible with contemporary office environments. The ZPrinter 450 breaks down 3D printing into seven easy steps. It also includes automatic setup, power loading and self-monitoring of materials and print status.
4. iRobot Looj Gutter Cleaning Robot – iRobot, maker of the Roomba, says it’s the first product designed to make gutter cleaning faster, easier and safer. The robot is controlled by a wireless remote that’s also a detachable handle. The Looj can clean a 60-foot section of gutter in just 10 minutes. It drives under gutter straps while dislodging and eliminating dirt, leaves and debris. The robot works with standard K-style, aluminum, copper, metal or vinyl gutters.
5. QwikGrip – After eight years of development, inventor Leonard Duffy has created the Velcro of the future–a fastening technology that snaps into place and slides into full engagement. His “slidingly engaging” systems are applicable to many industries, including apparel, sports, health care, safety and military. Duffy says his invention can bind a new plastic cast or even take the place of shoe laces. Right now, the fastening technology is on the market as a business-to-business licensing opportunity, though it’ll be available for consumer purchase in 2008.
6. GreenSwitch – Originally, the GreenSwitch system was designed for controlling energy use in hospitals and hotels. After reducing energy costs by 25 to 45 percent in those industries, the technology has now entered the consumer market. The wireless system can reduce home energy consumption by turning off all designated light switches, wall plugs and air conditioning with the flip of a switch. After flipping the switch back on, all plugs and systems return to normal modes. The system can be retrofitted in an existing home or added to a new home during construction.

Entrepreneur Dot Com

Revolutionary Inventions of 2007 is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Most mainstream solutions on the market only address adult mosquitoes, he says. So, he focused on reducing the number of eggs, larvae and pupae.

Dancy’s trap is designed to be an ideal breeding spot for the Asian tiger and other container- or tree-hole-breeders. When the eggs hatch, the larvae and pupae will not escape. The trap itself is small, unobtrusive and easy to manage.

The trap requires a little water each week and the addition of a few dead leaves occasionally, and homeowners must be cognizant of other breeding areas around the home. Dancy’s trap has a patent pending and sells online at MosquitoSwallow.com. It will be released in some Austin-area garden centers in the coming months. The Web site also offers helpful information for homeowners to minimize the mosquito swarms this summer.

American-Statesman

Inventor Tells Mosquitos To Buzz Off is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is working with the Advertising Council and the National Inventors Hall of Fame in launching the new initiative InventNow.

The program targets kids between 8 and 11 years old. On the program’s website, children can upload their design ideas and share inventions with peers through message boards.

The site also encourages young inventors to protect their ideas by learning about copyrights, trademarks and patents.

Entrepreneur Daily

It’s Never Too Early to Invent is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Jonathan Kaplan, CEO of San Francisco-based Pure Digital, said the company hopes to make it easier for people to record and share video online. To that end, the camcorder comes with built-in software that makes it easy for people to upload their videos onto Google-owned YouTube or Grouper, an online video site owned by Sony.

Pure Digital is selling two versions of Flip Video, one that can hold about 30 minutes of video and another that stores an hour. The 30-minute version will cost about $119 while the 60-minute version will sell for around $149. Both devices run on standard AA batteries.

CNN Money

Pure Digital, cheap camcorder that syncs easily with YouTube. is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Khosla’s idea was simple: he thought he could build a gizmo that would allow an ordinary air conditioner to take a room’s temperature down as low as 32 degrees. Not all of his prototypes blew up, but neither did any of his early models last long enough to get the job done.

You could find Khosla juggling about a dozen small boxes at the New Paltz post office, sending his patent-pending CoolBot to farmers like himself. With next to no publicity or marketing, the CoolBot is becoming a very hot item. And it’s poised to go more places than the farm. He’s sold about 80 units at $250 a pop and has placed material orders that will allow him to build another 500.

It’s all a marvel to Khosla, who calls himself a “reluctant capitalist” who never intended to sell his invention. He’d thought initially to explain the process to other farmers and let them build their own. That idea didn’t work out, but the Khoslas don’t seem too broken up about it.

Times Herald-Record

Farmer’s Cool Invention Turns Profitable is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Meet Zlatko Zadro, president of Zadro Products in Huntington Beach.

After careers selling large computers and refurbishing real estate, Zadro decided in 1983 to try marketing one of his inventions.

The result is an international company that makes 350 products, many of them patented. It has 40 employees in Huntington Beach and 800 in China. Many inventors can learn from Zadro’s practical approach that focuses on customer needs, not his own desires.

Start with a problem. The whole thing started when Zadro thought about the difficulty men had shaving in the shower. The hot water supposedly softened the skin and whiskers for a more comfortable shave, but men couldn’t see to shave because a regular mirror fogged up.

Zadro attached a thin tube behind the mirror, dispersing hot water to keep the mirror the same temperature as the air to avoid fogging.

He hired people to help with the design because he’s not an engineer, but he built the prototype himself in his garage.

Zadro started selling the mirrors whenever he spoke to college business classes and broke onto store shelves through the Los Angeles Gift Show.

OC Register

Inventor Has 350 Ideas On Market is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

1. Viagra – Men being treated for erectile dysfunction should salute the working stiffs of Merthyr Tydfil, the Welsh hamlet where, in 1992 trials, the gravity-defying side effects of a new angina drug first popped up. Previously, the blue-collar town was known for producing a different kind of iron.
2. LSD – Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann took the world’s first acid hit in 1943, when he touched a smidge of lysergic acid diethylamide, a chemical he had researched for inducing childbirth. He later tried a bigger dose and made another discovery: the bad trip.
3. X-rays – Several 19th-century scientists toyed with the penetrating rays emitted when electrons strike a metal target. But the x-ray wasn’t discovered until 1895, when German egghead Wilhelm Röntgen tried sticking various objects in front of the radiation – and saw the bones of his hand projected on a wall.
4. Penicillin – Scottish scientist Alexander Fleming was researching the flu in 1928 when he noticed that a blue-green mold had infected one of his petri dishes – and killed the staphylococcus bacteria growing in it. All hail sloppy lab wo

rk!

5. Artificial sweeteners – Speaking of botched lab jobs, three leading pseudo-sugars reached human lips only because scientists forgot to wash their hands. Cyclamate (1937) and aspartame (1965) are byproducts of medical research, and saccharin (1879) appeared during a project on coal tar derivatives. Yummy.
6. Microwave ovens – Microwave emitters (or magnetrons) powered Allied radar in WWII. The leap from detecting Nazis to nuking nachos came in 1946, after a magnetron melted a candy bar in Raytheon engineer Percy Spencer’s pocket.
7. Brandy – Medieval wine merchants used to boil the H20 out of wine so their delicate cargo would keep better and take up less space at sea. Before long, some intrepid soul – our money’s on a sailor – decided to bypass the reconstitution stage, and brandy was born. Pass the Courvoisier!
8. Vulcanized rubber - Rubber rots badly and smells worse, unless it’s vulcanized. Ancient Mesoamericans had their own version of the process, but Charles Goodyear rediscovered it in 1839 when he unintentionally (well, at least according to most accounts) dropped a rubber-sulfur compound onto a hot stove.
9. Silly Putty – In the early 1940s, General Electric scientist James Wright was working on artificial rubber for the war effort when he mixed boric acid and silicon oil. V-J Day didn’t come any sooner, but comic strip image-stretching practically became a national pastime.
10. Potato chips – Chef George Crum concocted the perfect sandwich complement in 1853 when – to spite a customer who complained that his fries were cut too thick – he sliced a potato paper-thin and fried it to a crisp. Needless to say, the diner couldn’t eat just one.

wired.com

Accidental Inventions is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Dellamura searched stores and websites for a product to protect her children, but came up empty-handed. That’s when Dellamura invented Gotta Go Mitts.

Her survey of more than 100 mothers — friends, family, even strangers in bathrooms — showed two out of three said they would buy disposable mittens for their children. The information she collected helped guide the development of Gotta Go Mitts, such as making a small package to fit in a purse or pocket.

A bookstore clerk suggested Tara Monosoff’s “The Mom Inventors Handbook.” It gives readers advice for conducting market research, developing a prototype, manufacturing and marketing a product. Dellamura found the guide practical and inspiring. She followed every step and enjoyed reading about several mom inventors who turned inspiration into action.

Dellamura made the first prototype on her kitchen table. Her mother-in-law and a friend helped cut and sew plastic sandwich bags into child-sized mittens.

Now the finished products, 2.5 million mitts in 125,000 packages, sit in her basement. Dellamura invested more than $17,000 to bring her idea to market, but she expects to start making a profit in fewer than two years — $5 at a time.

Frederick News Post

Necessity The Mother Of Invention is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

After leaving NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 1982, Johnson built the prototype for what would become the Super Soaker in his basement workshop. He had several false starts, but “a good challenge keeps me going,” he says. Although he applied for his first patent on the water-gun design in 1983, it wasn’t issued until 1987. About that time, he decided to leave the Air Force and work on several private projects, “any one of which might have made it,” says Johnson. But when he left the Air Force, they all fell apart. “There I was with no home, no job and a family of five to support.”

He returned to JPL and began shopping his water gun to toy companies. After two frustrating years, he hit the jackpot with Larami Corp. By that time, he had already sunk close to $15,000 into the project, and his licensing check was only $5,000. But Larami’s goal was to produce 100,000 water guns the following year. In 1990, despite little advertising, the gun — first christened Drencher — became a sellout. Renamed the Super Soaker in 1991, Johnson’s invention became the number-one toy in the country.

Larami has since been sold to Hasbro, but Johnson, who lives in Atlanta, still works with the company on updating the Super Soaker. His quarterly royalties have made him a millionaire, giving him the wherewithal to start his own research-and-development company, which is currently working on energy technology. Before his invention took off, “I had days when I’d stop and think, Why is it taking so long?” says Johnson. “But I never thought about giving up.”

Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine

Lonnie Johnson and the Super Soaker is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

www.fastcompany.com

Your cell phone, the mobile remote control is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

But his early urge to push the envelope has served Cairns well in later life. He went on to found Ocean Design Inc., and to invent electric and fiber-optic connectors that have led to more than 50 patents.

Now, Cairns has written a book, “The Inventor’s Pathfinder: A Practical Guide to Successful Inventing,” which encourages people to invent and gives them the steps to follow.

If necessity is the mother of invention, Cairn’s book is no exception. He discovered most books about inventions were written by lawyers and focused on obtaining patents. “There was nothing to walk someone through the process,” Cairns said. “I wanted to provide a road map, a path to follow. Anyone who wants to spend the time to do it right, can.”

Cairns said when he talks to groups, he asks for a show of hands from those who’ve had ideas for inventions. Almost everyone raises a hand. Then, he asks how many did anything with their ideas, and no hands come up. “The beginning inventor’s biggest problem doesn’t seem to be getting interesting ideas; it’s knowing what to do next,” Cairns said.

news-journalonline.com

The Inventor’s Pathfinder: A Practical Guide to Successful Inventing is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

How much money could you make from a technology that replaces electrical wires? A startup called Powercast, along with the more than 100 companies that have inked agreements with it, is about to start finding out. Powercast and its first major partner, electronics giant Philips, are set to launch their first device powered by electricity broadcast through the air.

It may sound futuristic, but Powercast’s platform uses nothing more complex than a radio–and is cheap enough for just about any company to incorporate into a product. A transmitter plugs into the wall, and a dime-size receiver (the real innovation, costing about $5 to make) can be embedded into any low-voltage device. The receiver turns radio waves into DC electricity, recharging the device’s battery at a distance of up to 3 feet.

Picture your cell phone charging up the second you sit down at your desk, and you start to get a sense of the opportunity. How big can it get? “The sky’s the limit,” says John Shearer, Powercast’s founder and CEO. He estimates shipping “many millions of units” by the end of 2008.

For years, electricity experts said this kind of thing couldn’t be done. “If you had asked me seven months ago if this was possible, I would have said, ‘Are you dreaming? Have you been smoking something?’” says Govi Rao, vice president and general manager of solid-state lighting at Philips (Charts). “But to see it work is just amazing. It could revolutionize what we know about power.”

money.cnn.com

Death of the cell phone charger is a post from: Top Business Opportunities