100 Best Innovations of the Year, Grand Award Winners include: Waterboxx & iPad | Popular Science
This is a great issue for seeing what works, what's cool, and for just enjoying some all around design awesomeness. Here's two of the Grand Award Winners in Green Technology & Gadgets.
- Green Tech: AquaPro Holland Groasis Waterboxx
- Gadgets: Apple iPad
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The Waterboxx is elegant simplicity. In tests in the Sahara, 88 percent of Waterboxx-sheltered trees survived, versus 10 percent of trees with traditional cultivation.
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Not everyone agrees on the iPad, of course, per the comments. I, however, was more excited to get one vs. jewelry or chocolate or shoes (all close 2nds.) It's been very useful to me for sharing content. --Deb
Excerpted:
The Groasis Waterboxx - Drylands actually have enough water to sustain trees for decades, but it’s several feet beneath the surface. Because rain and irrigation evaporate quickly, many young plants die before their roots can tap that reservoir. The Waterboxx, shaped more like a doughnut than a box, helps plants survive long enough to make it through that layer of dry soil. Place the tub around a freshly planted seedling, and fill the evaporation-proof basin—just once—with four gallons of water. The Best of What's New Innovation of the Year.
The iPad - Apple made what everyone wanted: a sleek device with a gorgeous screen and a dead- simple interface that makes you want to sit back and play. The trick? Rather than shrink a computer, enlarge a phone.
Apple sold three million in the first 80 days (more than the iPod or iPhone); now companies are rushing LCD tablets to market. The iPad, something between phone and computer, is what we always hoped a gadget could be. $500–$830
More about the full story is here: http://www.popsci.com/bown/2010
