Pop-sci Innovations Of The Year

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

Home Tech:

Bostitch HurriQuake Nail (Also Grand Winner... a nail that will save lives)

Automotive:

Bugatti Veyron 16.4

Computing:

One Laptop Per Child XO ($150 Laptop)

Engineering:

The Water Cube (official swimming facility of the 2008 Olympics)

There are other catagories... but these are the ones that really caught my eye.

[phee]

Interesting stuff

[HipsterDufus]

That pool is amazing...

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

The Nail thingy is really impressive... you should pick up a copy of Pop-SCi and read the article... I never thought a nail would impress me.

[HipsterDufus]

That nail is pretty sweet. For those wondering:

Hurricane winds rip apart nailed-together walls, and earthquakes shake houses so violently that a nailhead can pull straight through a piece of plywood. Since we can’t stop natural disasters, Bostitch engineer Ed Sutt has dedicated his career to designing a better nail. The result is the HurriQuake, and it has the perfect combination of features to withstand nature’s darker moods. The bottom section is circled with angled barbs that resist pulling out in wind gusts up to 170 mph. This “ring shank” stops halfway up to leave the middle of the nail, which endures the most punishment during an earthquake, at its maximum thickness and strength. The blade-like facets of the nail’s twisted top—the spiral shank—keep planks from wobbling, which weakens a joint. And the HurriQuake’s head is 25 percent larger than average to better resist counter-sinking and pulling through. The best part: It costs only about $15 more to build a house using HurriQuakes. $45 per 4,000;