inventors
Gadgets

Dr NakaMats: The Man Who Claims To Have Invented Everything You Love

It’s tough to think about inventors without remembering dear Dr NakaMats. He claims to have invented over 3000 items – frequently while almost drowning himself – and basically thinks Thomas Edison’s an uneducated wimp who quit at 1093 inventions.

The Long, Unglamorous History Of The Toilet

Nobody is entirely sure who first had the privilege of sitting on a toilet. Evidence of advanced plumbing systems in the ancient world abounds, but it’s a strange, meandering path from antiquity to checking your inbox on the can.

Entertainment

6 Legends Of TV Inventions

There’s not much better than a good infomercial – except maybe a really bad one. But these days there’s no better innovation hotbed than basic cable paid programming. Here we separate product from pitchman, and celebrate the brains behind As-Seen-On-TV.

August 27, 2010
Gadgets

MIT’s Top 35 Innovators Under 35

As we said in the introductory article for our Eureka theme-week, inventors are either white-haired old men like Edison or crackpots from infomercials. MIT’s Technology Review helps debunk these stereotypes with their 2010 list of the top innovators under 35.

Why Ideas Are Expensive

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Intellectual Ventures founder and modern day Merlin Nathan Myhrvold explains why it costs a lot of damn money to create new ideas. Hint: Think Hollywood.

August 26, 2010
Gadgets

How Intellectual Ventures Wants To Reinvent Invention

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“Did aeroplanes come from the R&D department of a train company or a steamship company?” Nathan Myhrvold asks, rhetorically, his voice cracking. He’s explaining how his company, Intellectual Ventures, is going to reinvent the way things are invented.

Gadgets

Eureka: Hello Invention

Once upon a time, “inventor” was an honest-to-god occupation. You could check a box, and tell the US Census Bureau that’s what you were. Now, inventors are as-seen-as-on-TV caricatures and “innovation” is a corporate-speak. We want to celebrate invention. Eureka.

July 11, 2010
Science

Tesla’s 154th Birthday Gift: Tesla Fanboyism

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Today is inventor extraordinaire Nikola Tesla’s 154th birthday. To celebrate, someone made this brief video overview of Tesla’s life, including a lengthy digression on how Thomas Edison was a “jerk”. Is this, I wonder, our very first Tesla fanboy?

Mobile

Father Of Mobile Phones Thinks His Kids Are Growing Up Too Fast

In an interview with CNN, Martin Cooper, the man who invented the mobile phone for Motorola in 1973, says he knew one day the devices would be ubiquitous. But today’s smartphones are more complicated than he ever imagined possible.

March 4, 2010
Gadgets

Dr NakaMats May Have Invented Nearly Everything You Hold Dear

This man says he invented over 3000 things including floppies and springy-shoes – frequently while diving underwater until the point of near-death. He basically thinks Thomas Edison’s an uneducated wimp who quit at 1093 inventions. Sounds ridiculous? Watch this:

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