The Invention Of The Century...

[dlavery]

OK, the century is still young, and there are still a lot of things yet to be invented over the next 94 years, but this is definitely a biggie.

But rather than just let the cat out of the bag, it is time to don your thinking caps and do a little research.

- What has no moving parts, is completely disposable, and requires no power source?
- What will be of immediate use to over four billion people throughout the world?
- What can, for over a year at a time for a typical person, protect people from some of the most prolific killers on the planet?
- What can be manufactured and distributed by the millions, for a unit cost of around $2?
- What is so simple to use that it requires no written instructions, no manual, and no user training (it has been tested by people ranging from 8 months to 88 years old)?
- What was NOT invented by Dean, but gets directly at one of his biggest research topics?

I get to work with some of the most advanced - and frequently complicated - technologies on Earth. But every now and then, something so elegant comes along that it absolutely knocks you over - not with it's amazing complexity, but with pure, purpose-build simplicity. The invention I have just seen is one of those sort of things. It is simple. It is effective. It is affordable. It does exactly what it is supposed to do. I have had one for the last 48 hours, and it is just amazing (I got mine on Wednesday evening while having dinner with Katie Couric, but that is another story...)

Can you figure out what it is?

-dave

[Adam Richards]

Is it a flu shot?

[Joe Matt]

OK, the century is still young, and there are still a lot of things yet to be invented over the next 94 years, but this is definitely a biggie.

But rather than just let the cat out of the bag, it is time to don your thinking caps and do a little research.

- What has no moving parts, is completely disposable, and requires no power source?
- What will be of immediate use to over four billion people throughout the world?
- What can, for over a year at a time for a typical person, protect people from some of the most prolific killers on the planet?
- What can be manufactured and distributed by the millions, for a unit cost of around $2?
- What is so simple to use that it requires no written instructions, no manual, and no user training (it has been tested by people ranging from 8 months to 88 years old)?
- What was NOT invented by Dean, but gets directly at one of his biggest research topics?

I get to work with some of the most advanced - and frequently complicated - technologies on Earth. But every now and then, something so elegant comes along that it absolutely knocks you over - not with it's amazing complexity, but with pure, purpose-build simplicity. The invention I have just seen is one of those sort of things. It is simple. It is effective. It is affordable. It does exactly what it is supposed to do. I have had one for the last 48 hours, and it is just amazing (I got mine on Wednesday evening while having dinner with Katie Couric, but that is another story...)

Can you figure out what it is?

-dave

I'm taking a guess, but is it the life-saving straw, bascially a water purifcation system in a thick straw, that when you suck up water it purifies it for you.

[Cory]

Is it a flu shot?

Flu shots aren't really all that new.

And Dave's comment that it requires no training, from 8 months to 88 years old also probably precludes it from involving needles.

Dave also refers to only having had it for 48 hours, and already it is amazing. Unless he's spent the last two days trying to gett the flu from infected people, it would have to be something that you can actually use, and see the results of.

I have no idea what it could be, but one of Dean's biggest research products is making clean drinking water readily available in 3rd world countries. No idea what this new invention could be, but it might be related to this.

[TheLostRenegade]

Everything in me wants to say its a syringe of some sort, but the thing that gets me is that an 8 month baby can use it!

[Morgan Gillespie]

it
From eBay? You know from the commercial… Honestly that’s my best guess.
Its new, anyone can use it, and it does exactly what it is supposed to do. It can be used as a weapon for protection. It can't cost that much to make. The part about Dean I am unsure.

[Timmyd]

im thinking it is a spoon i dont know why

[mechanicalbrain]

im thinking it is a spoon i dont know why
What can, for over a year at a time for a typical person, protect people from some of the most prolific killers on the planet?
Yeah cause nothing scares off Ebola like a spoon. :D And I would of been a goner when that Kodiak bear attacked me last year but I whipped out my spoon, that bear didn't stand a chance. Actually I'm going with a water filtration device. It fits all the categories, only thing holding me back is that he said it costs $2.... He also hints that its reusable for a year... If so I have to say thats a mighty impressive filter.

[team222badbrad]

I'm gonna hold off on posting a link

:D

[artdutra04]

I'm gonna hold off on posting a link

:D
I found it too! :D

Here's another picture:

[Andrew Blair]

I too agree that a water purifier could be the thing, but mosquito nets do the same things Dave described. Less than 2 dollars, widely available, anyone can use them, and they protect people from some of the most prolific killers. Probably more deaths from malaria, yellow fever, or similar diseases, than from water based pathogens. I think a typical mosquito net is a few dollars, and with pestiside which makes them all the more effective, like 6 bucks. Very effective, very simple.

[KenWittlief]

if its that water purifier straw thing, then I shutter to think what Dave has been doing with his for the last two days :cO

[Cory]

I too agree that a water purifier could be the thing, but mosquito nets do the same things Dave described. Less than 2 dollars, widely available, anyone can use them, and they protect people from some of the most prolific killers. Probably more deaths from malaria, yellow fever, or similar diseases, than from water based pathogens. I think a typical mosquito net is a few dollars, and with pestiside which makes them all the more effective, like 6 bucks. Very effective, very simple.

Mosquito nets aren't exactly revolutionary though :p

[Andrew Blair]

Good point. Maybe they're the new water purifying, ebola repelling, bear beating mosquito nets!

[team222badbrad]

Any field test results yet Dave?

[Bill_Hancoc]

Not to be vulgar or anything else of the sort but a comdem. It protects against HIV and other STD's and needs no manual. can immediatly be in be used on a person of any age.

[ChuckDickerson]

OK, the century is still young, and there are still a lot of things yet to be invented over the next 94 years, but this is definitely a biggie.

But rather than just let the cat out of the bag, it is time to don your thinking caps and do a little research.

- What has no moving parts, is completely disposable, and requires no power source?
- What will be of immediate use to over four billion people throughout the world?
- What can, for over a year at a time for a typical person, protect people from some of the most prolific killers on the planet?
- What can be manufactured and distributed by the millions, for a unit cost of around $2?
- What is so simple to use that it requires no written instructions, no manual, and no user training (it has been tested by people ranging from 8 months to 88 years old)?
- What was NOT invented by Dean, but gets directly at one of his biggest research topics?

I get to work with some of the most advanced - and frequently complicated - technologies on Earth. But every now and then, something so elegant comes along that it absolutely knocks you over - not with it's amazing complexity, but with pure, purpose-build simplicity. The invention I have just seen is one of those sort of things. It is simple. It is effective. It is affordable. It does exactly what it is supposed to do. I have had one for the last 48 hours, and it is just amazing (I got mine on Wednesday evening while having dinner with Katie Couric, but that is another story...)

Can you figure out what it is?

-dave

My guess is the LifeStraw. If correct and Dave has one then I assume they are currently available for sale. One of these should be packaged with every MRE distributed to disaster victims. After going through Katrina these things would have been welcomed. MRE + LifeStraw + Airdrop = Cheap Life Saver.

[Conor Ryan]

Ok so theres almost no doubt in my mind its a LifeStraw, saw one at church the other day and read the pamphlet about it. Its a great invention, thats already getting a lot of usage. Its great, cheap, effective, and its a real life saver. But its not perfect yet, it only has a 1 year life span before the filter wears out. However its a revolutionary idea.

Intresting fact: The life straw can be used as a desalinization tool. But it wears down its filter capacity from about 700 Liters over a year of usage to only 350 Liters.

[phrontist]

What about the WaterCone (http://www.watercone.com/product.html)? The LifeStraw uses Iodine and fabric filters, both of which would wear out quickly. This means it is essentially temporary and disposable. Furthermore, you can't consume iodine treated water long-term if memory serves. The WaterCone is cheaper per liter of water purified, lasts about 5 years, and produces truly pure water.

I'm voting WaterCone.

[ahecht]

Well, WaterCone only does 1.5L per day, which isn't that much in the sort of hot and sunny climate that you would need to use it. Slingshot would probably work longer than 5 years, and doesn't need the sun to be out.

[Joe Matt]

if its that water purifier straw thing, then I shutter to think what Dave has been doing with his for the last two days :cO

So how long before we see a photoshopped pic of Dave with his head in the toilet taking a refreshing drink? :eek:

[EricH]

So how long before we see a photoshopped pic of Dave with his head in the toilet taking a refreshing drink? :eek:
Wrong question!!!! (SOMEONE already has too many altered views of Dave and shouldn't need another...)

I think that it's that straw thing that people are talking about. Dave, could you tell us if we are right or wrong?

(another use: backpackers in the wilderness)

[Adam Richards]

So how long before we see a photoshopped pic of Dave with his head in the toilet taking a refreshing drink? :eek:
Oh Heidi, we've got a new project for you! :D

[Matt Krass]

So how long before we see a photoshopped pic of Dave with his head in the toilet taking a refreshing drink? :eek:

I think the real question is, when will we see a non-photoshopped pic of Dave with his head in the toilet taking a refreshing drink? ;)

Seriously though, I'm going with LifeStraw here...

[Dan Petrovic]

<Comic relief>
A condom! Easy to use, mass produced, protects against the worlds most prolific killers, can be used by anyone (not exactly for it's real purpose), but that reusable for a year thing is kind of... ewww...
</comic relief>

[Pat McCarthy]

I was reading through digg.com, and found something that could fit the bill of what Dave was hinting at.
http://asap.ap.org/stories/240474.s
It is an article about Dean's water purification machine. I'm not sure about the simplicity factor, but it's possible it is that simple.

[Greg Needel]

While i agree that the lifestraw is amazing and will be very beneficial, it can't desalinize water. Since 97% of the earth is covered in salt water that defiantly would be a feature i would want to have in a portable water purification system.

[Jessica Boucher]

I had a lot of time to think driving home from CT this weekend, and the thought smacked me over the head...

...why on earth would Katie Couric be at a dinner about a water purification device?

The only logical explanation would be that the media will be doing a piece on it in the near future. Recent news stories about Katie's Today Show contract coming up and her future plans have shed some light on Katie's changing career preferences: although the offer she is receiving for anchoring the CBS Evening News is much less than Today, it would allow her much more family time, which shows a strong desire for Katie to spend as much time with her daughters as possible. Hand in hand with her extremely focused philanthropic efforts toward cancer research (after losing her husband and sister to different forms of cancer), this leaves very little time for something that was not related to something she already does.

I'm not sure about the lead time concerning news stories, but it's certainly something to think about.

[ggoldman]

I foudn this while checking a gadget blog....

Purifier (http://www.thegadgetblog.com/2005/07/28/exstream-xr-purifier/)

is this what you had in mind Dave??

On a side note.....I have made a purchase at Krispy Cream of about 30 dozen donoughts at one time...filled the back seat of a cavalier...and have the receipt to prove it:)


-Gabe Goldman

[Zach Purser]

- What has no moving parts, is completely disposable, and requires no power source?
- What will be of immediate use to over four billion people throughout the world?
- What can, for over a year at a time for a typical person, protect people from some of the most prolific killers on the planet?
- What can be manufactured and distributed by the millions, for a unit cost of around $2?
- What is so simple to use that it requires no written instructions, no manual, and no user training (it has been tested by people ranging from 8 months to 88 years old)?
- What was NOT invented by Dean, but gets directly at one of his biggest research topics?

I get to work with some of the most advanced - and frequently complicated - technologies on Earth. But every now and then, something so elegant comes along that it absolutely knocks you over - not with it's amazing complexity, but with pure, purpose-build simplicity. The invention I have just seen is one of those sort of things. It is simple. It is effective. It is affordable. It does exactly what it is supposed to do. I have had one for the last 48 hours, and it is just amazing (I got mine on Wednesday evening while having dinner with Katie Couric, but that is another story...)

Can you figure out what it is?

-dave

Did someone finally give Dave a bar of soap?