33 Great Ideas From Around The World

Why didn’t I think of that?

By Maryanne Murray Buechner

From Reader's Digest

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We scoured the globe to find the latest, greatest ideas and inventions, and here’s what we found: 33 inspired new ways to make your life easier, safer—better. Read on to learn about a firefighting robot and snow socks for your car, smog-clearing concrete and retractable heels, even wireless electricity. A brighter tomorrow is here today. Field of Dreams
Quick, name your least favorite household chore. If you picked yard work, then Scotts Miracle-Gro feels your pain. The company is developing a low-maintenance grass that would grow half as fast as your average fescue or Kentucky bluegrass, letting you go two or even three weeks between mows. Although these fantasy lawns are years away, there’s a more immediate solution from Italy: the Ambrogio robotic lawn mower, a self-guided, battery-powered blade-on-wheels that’ll take care of business while you relax in your hammock.
-- U.S. and Italy

No-Stick Salt
Ask a salt aficionado what’s shakin’ in the gourmet market and he’ll probably mention SaltWorks’ sea salt smoked with alder wood or Chardonnay oak. But we’d gladly trade the fancy stuff for plain old salt that’ll sprinkle free and easy on a hot summer day. Regular salt crystals are shaped like cubes; when they get even just a little moist, their edges dissolve and the grains bind together. Researchers in India have found that by mixing a tiny bit of glycine, an amino acid, with sodium chloride, they can create 12-sided, nearly spherical crystals that’ll roll off one another like marbles, even in humid conditions. Now that’s a breakthrough we’d like to put on the table.
-- India

Biodegradable Plastic
A new material called Plantic offers an earth-friendly alternative to the petrochemical plastic used in food packaging. Plantic looks and feels like its synthetic cousin, only it’s made from starch, so you can toss it into the compost bin or bury it in the garden. Want to get rid of it even quicker? Pour water on it and watch it dissolve.
-- Australia

Cutting the Cord
Forgot to recharge your cell phone? Someday it may be able to recharge itself. Scientists at MIT have figured out a way to beam electricity across a room and run electronic devices without wires. To produce wireless electricity, or WiTricity, a transmitter creates an electromagnetic field, powering up anything from a TV to a lightbulb within a 7-foot range. What a bright idea!
-- U.S.