Innovation is about finding a better way of doing something. Like many of the new development buzzwords (which many of them are over-used on many business documents), the concept of innovation originates from the world of business. It refers to the generation of new products through the process of creative entrepreneurship, putting it into production, and diffusing it more widely through increased sales. Innovation can be viewed as t he application of better solutions that meet new requirements, in-articulated needs, or existing market needs. This is accomplished through more effective products, processes, services, technologies, or ideas that are readily available to markets, governments and society. The term innovation can be defined as something original and, as a consequence, new, that “breaks into” the market or society.
Innoveracy: Misunderstanding Innovation article points out that there is a form of ignorance which seems to be universal: the inability to understand the concept and role of innovation. The way this is exhibited is in the misuse of the term and the inability to discern the difference between novelty, creation, invention and innovation. The result is a failure to understand the causes of success and failure in business and hence the conditions that lead to economic growth. The definition of innovation is easy to find but it seems to be hard to understand. Here is a simple taxonomy of related activities that put innovation in context:
- Novelty: Something new
- Creation: Something new and valuable
- Invention: Something new, having potential value through utility
- Innovation: Something new and uniquely useful
The taxonomy is illustrated with the following diagram.
The differences are also evident in the mechanisms that exist to protect the works: Novelties are usually not protectable, Creations are protected by copyright or trademark, Inventions can be protected for a limited time through patents (or kept secret) and Innovations can be protected through market competition but are not defensible through legal means.
Innovation is a lot of talked about nowdays as essential to businesses to do. Is innovation essential for development work? article tells that innovation has become central to the way development organisations go about their work. In November 2011, Bill Gates told the G20 that innovation was the key to development. Donors increasingly stress innovation as a key condition for funding, and many civil society organisations emphasise that innovation is central to the work they do.
Some innovation ideas are pretty simple, and some are much more complicated and even sound crazy when heard first. The is place for crazy sounding ideas: venture capitalists are gravely concerned that the tech startups they’re investing in just aren’t crazy enough:
Not all development problems require new solutions, sometimes you just need to use old things in a slightly new way. Development innovations may involve devising technology (such as a nanotech water treatment kit), creating a new approach (such as microfinance), finding a better way of delivering public services (such as one-stop egovernment service centres), identifying ways of working with communities (such as participation), or generating a management technique (such as organisation learning).
Theorists of innovation identify innovation itself as a brief moment of creativity, to be followed by the main routine work of producing and selling the innovation. When it comes to development, things are more complicated. Innovation needs to be viewed as tool, not master. Innovation is a process, not a one time event. Genuine innovation is valuable but rare.
There are many views on the innovation and innvation process. I try to collect together there some views I have found on-line. Hopefully they help you more than confuze. Managing complexity and reducing risk article has this drawing which I think pretty well describes innovation as done in product development:
8 essential practices of successful innovation from The Innovator’s Way shows essential practices in innovation process. Those practices are all integrated into a non-sequential, coherent whole and style in the person of the innovator.
In the IT work there is lots of work where a little thinking can be a source of innovation. Automating IT processes can be a huge time saver or it can fail depending on situation. XKCD comic strip Automation as illustrates this:
System integration is a critical element in project design article has an interesting project cost influence graphic. The recommendation is to involve a system integrator early in project design to help ensure high-quality projects that satisfy project requirements. Of course this article tries to market system integration services, but has also valid points to consider.
Core Contributor Loop (CTTDC) from Art Journal blog posting Blog Is The New Black tries to link inventing an idea to theory of entrepreneurship. It is essential to tune the engine by making improvements in product, marketing, code, design and operations.
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Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.iflscience.com/a-solar-tsunami-could-entirely-wipe-out-the-internet-within-a-decade-suggests-study-60833
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://techxplore.com/news/2022-08-scaling-production-liquid-metal-circuits.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Quantum magnet is billions of times colder than interstellar space
A magnet made out of ytterbium atoms is only a billionth of a degree warmer than absolute zero. Understanding how it works could help physicists build high-temperature superconductors
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2336247-quantum-magnet-is-billions-of-times-colder-than-interstellar-space/
Tomi Engdahl says:
XEROX PARC’S ENGINEERS ON HOW THEY INVENTED THE FUTURE
And how Xerox lost it
https://spectrum.ieee.org/xerox-parc
Tomi Engdahl says:
Scientists Have Finally Discovered Massless Particles, And They Could Revolutionize Electronics
http://blog.sci-nature.com/2022/09/scientists-have-finally-discovered.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Will Moths Inspire a New Kind of Microphone? The structure of their ears offers a simple way to detect sound directionality
https://spectrum.ieee.org/biomemetics-moth-ear-microphone?share_id=7207653
Tomi Engdahl says:
IEEE President’s Note: A Promise Is a Promise Ray Liu on the importance of diversity and inclusivity
https://spectrum.ieee.org/ieee-presidents-note-a-promise-is-a-promise
Tomi Engdahl says:
Extraordinary Phenomenon in Space Captured by Spellbinding New Image
https://www.sciencealert.com/extraordinary-phenomenon-in-space-captured-by-spellbinding-new-image
Tomi Engdahl says:
Computational model could speed development of semiconductors useful in quantum applications
https://techxplore.com/news/2022-09-semiconductors-quantum-applications.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://physicsworld.com/a/anti-laser-enables-near-perfect-light-absorption/
Tomi Engdahl says:
SCIENTISTS SAY THEY FOUND THE GENES THAT MAKES IMMORTAL JELLYFISH IMMORTAL
https://futurism.com/the-byte/scientists-genes-immortal-jellyfish
Tomi Engdahl says:
Peering into mirror nuclei, physicists see unexpected pairings
https://phys.org/news/2022-08-particles-pair-partners-differently-small.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://phys.org/news/2022-08-metasurfaces-possibilities-quantum.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
‘Anti-reflective’ coating allows Wi-Fi to pass through walls
By Steve McCaskill published 23 days ago
Researchers develop method that could transform your Wi-Fi connection
https://www.techradar.com/news/anti-reflective-coating-allows-wi-fi-to-pass-through-walls
Researchers at the Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien) and the University of Rennes have discovered a new method that allows Wi-Fi signals to penetrate walls more effectively, a development that could transform home broadband connectivity – as well as and 6G.
In their paper(opens in new tab), the researchers outlined a successful experiment in which microwaves were sent through a complex, disorderly maze of obstacles designed to replicate a challenging environment such as a living room. A matching anti-reflective structure was then calculated and the reflection of the signals was eliminated almost entirely
Tomi Engdahl says:
New on-chip laser frequency comb is 100 times more efficient than previous versions
https://phys.org/news/2022-09-on-chip-laser-frequency-efficient-previous.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
This Cyborg Cockroach Carries a 3D-Printed Flexible Backpack with Tiny Solar Cell, Wireless Radio
Using a flexible polymer backpack, this electronics system allows for wireless control of the cyborg with solar charging.
https://www.hackster.io/news/this-cyborg-cockroach-carries-a-3d-printed-flexible-backpack-with-tiny-solar-cell-wireless-radio-37dd8e82aec6
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://tieku.fi/teknologia/energia/vihreaa-energiaa-ammennetaan-syvalta
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.sciencealert.com/a-gigantic-solar-eruption-just-emerged-from-the-far-side-of-the-sun
Tomi Engdahl says:
Chinese scientists have created an optoelectronic switch with silicon diodes that could become a key component of new brain-machine interfaces.
Dissolvable Optical Switches Control Neurons With Light How silicon diodes can manipulate neurons without needing to genetically modify cells first
https://spectrum.ieee.org/brain-machine-interface-optogenetics?share_id=7217428&socialux=facebook&utm_campaign=RebelMouse&utm_content=IEEE+Spectrum&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook#toggle-gdpr
Tomi Engdahl says:
New Parkinson’s Test Smells Success
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/14/new-parkinsons-test-smells-success/
Parkinson’s disease affects millions of people all over the world. The degenerative condition causes characteristic tremors, trouble walking, and often comes with complications including dementia, depression, and anxiety.
One of the major challenges around Parkinson’s disease involves diagnosis. There’s no single, commonly-available test that can confirm or rule out the disease. It’s can cause particular frustration as the disease is most treatable in its early stages.
That may soon change, however. One woman identified that she seemingly had the ability to “smell” the disease in those affected, and is now working with scientists to develop a test for the condition.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Reimagined Ramen Comes In Edible Package
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/15/reimagined-ramen-comes-in-edible-package/
Hackers and college students alike reach for ramen when they want to fuel up on a budget, but, if you’re concerned about packaging waste, the plastic film and foil packets start to weigh on your conscience. [Holly Grounds] was sick of this compromise and came up with a way to have your packaging and eat it too.
[Holly] first experimented with different bioplastics until she developed a recipe for “an edible, tasteless starch-based bioplastic, that dissolves in contact with boiling water.” With that accomplished, she next integrated flavoring into the bioplastic wrapper so that there’s no foil packet. She found that herbs and spices worked, but larger solids like shrimp couldn’t be incorporated into the film.
For the finishing touch, she fashioned the noodles into a disk so they fit better in a bowl for cooking. To cook the noodles, you remove a puck from the wax paper sleeve holding multiple servings, add boiling water, stir, and enjoy.
Student Holly Grounds creates edible instant noodle packaging
https://inhabitat.com/student-holly-grounds-creates-edible-instant-noodle-packaging/
Everyone knows that instant ramen is a way of life for college students. Not only is it about the cheapest food on the planet, but it cooks in mere minutes and requires no cooking skills. So it’s no surprise that Holly Grounds, a second-year student at Ravensbourne University, London, was a frequent consumer who was also concerned about the amount of plastic waste involved with this popular food.
Those late night study sessions had her rethinking the traditional packaging of the well-known dehydrated noodles. A passion for sustainable product design drove her to evaluate options for packaging that wouldn’t end up in the landfill for generations after she consumed a three-minute meal. “Convenience has become an inevitable part of everyday life but it often comes at a cost to the environment,” she said.
Working with biobased materials, Grounds went through a trial-and-error process until a combination of potato starch, glycerin and water finally did the trick. Although she said it required multiple iterations, hindsight is 20/20 and now the process seems basic. “I was able to do all the testing and manufacture in my kitchen as the process is very simple.”
The result is a thin, clear wrap that dissolves in hot water, avoiding the need for any plastic. With the dissoluble outer packaging settled, Grounds then looked into how to avoid the smaller packets that typically hold seasonings and found the solution by pressing the herbs right into the biofilm. When cooked, the herb-infused wrapper becomes the seasoned broth.
In addition to providing a sustainable alternative to the original packaging, Grounds also reshaped the noodles. Formed into a circle, the nest of dried noodles fits into a bowl better than the traditional square.
For hygiene purposes, the individual packets are stored in a wax-coated paper sleeve, which is recyclable and biodegradable. This is in contrast to some other products’ greenwashing claims that an item is compostable, only to find it needs to be taken to an industrial composting facility for that to be true.
Tomi Engdahl says:
New phases of water detected
by University of Cambridge
https://phys.org/news/2022-09-phases.html
Scientists at the University of Cambridge have discovered that water in a one-molecule layer acts like neither a liquid nor a solid, and that it becomes highly conductive at high pressures.
Water trapped between membranes or in tiny nanoscale cavities is common—it can be found in everything from membranes in our bodies to geological formations. But this nanoconfined water behaves very differently from the water we drink.
Until now, the challenges of experimentally characterizing the phases of water on the nanoscale have prevented a full understanding of its behavior. But in a paper published in the journal Nature, the Cambridge-led team describe how they have used advances in computational approaches to predict the phase diagram of a one-molecule thick layer of water with unprecedented accuracy.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Satellite Confirms the Principle of Falling
https://physics.aps.org/articles/v15/94
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://m.economictimes.com/magazines/panache/science-reveals-harry-styles-is-one-of-the-most-handsome-people-in-the-world/articleshow/59821212.cms?from=mdr
Tomi Engdahl says:
Domain-Wall Discovery Points Toward Self-Healing Circuits Extraordinarily thin sheets in ferroelectric crystals may lead to flexible, adaptable electronics
https://spectrum.ieee.org/domain-wall
Tomi Engdahl says:
Engineers Make Green Hydrogen From Air Direct-air electrolyzers could produce hydrogen in arid regions
https://spectrum.ieee.org/engineers-make-green-hydrogen-from-air?share_id=7220524
The most sustainable way to make hydrogen fuel is to split water using renewable electricity—but that requires access to freshwater. Now, researchers have reported a way to make hydrogen fuel from just humidity in the air.
Their electrolyzer extracts moisture from air and splits it via renewably powered electrolysis to create hydrogen. It is the first such electrolyzer to produce high purity (99 percent) hydrogen from air that has as little as 4 percent humidity
Tomi Engdahl says:
Warren Buffett: This is your 1 greatest measure of success in life (and if you don’t have it, ‘your life is a disaster’)
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/13/billionaire-warren-buffett-says-this-is-the-only-measure-of-success-that-matters.html#Echobox=1662748354
When you’re nearing your end of life, your only measure of success should be the number of “people you want to have love you actually do love you,” he answered.
Tomi Engdahl says:
A Researcher Accidentally Developed A Battery That Could Last A Lifetime
https://www.iflscience.com/new-battery-can-be-recharged-hundreds-thousands-times-35244
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.tevafinland.fi/itsehoito/artikkelit/pitkittynyt-paansarky-onko-kyseessa-jatkuva-paansarky-vai-krooninen-migreeni/?post_date=20220824132636
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/19/retrotechtacular-the-original-robot-arm/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://tieku.fi/ihminen/aivot/lastenkasvatus-kovat-sanat-nakyvat-aivoissa
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://veryfinnishproblems.com/blogs/news/10-finnish-sayings-about-life-we-all-need-to-hear-right-now
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.iflscience.com/bacteria-that-go-wild-for-plastic-could-help-us-clear-it-from-lakes-64599
Tomi Engdahl says:
Falling objects in orbit show Einstein was right — again
An experiment provides the most precise confirmation yet of a key tenet of general relativity
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/einstein-general-relativity-gravity-microscope-experiment
Tomi Engdahl says:
Newly developed ‘microlattices’ are lighter and 100 times stronger than regular polymers
https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/microlattices-lighter-stronger-polymer
Tomi Engdahl says:
How Steve Sasson Invented the Digital Camera
https://petapixel.com/how-steve-sasson-invented-the-digital-camera/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/22/a-love-letter-to-small-design-teams-and-the-b-52/
Tomi Engdahl says:
MIT’s Passive Cooling System Relies on Evaporation and Radiation to Cool Homes
This system could preserve food crops and supplement conventional building air conditioners, with only a small need for water and no power
https://www.hackster.io/news/mit-s-passive-cooling-system-relies-on-evaporation-and-radiation-to-cool-homes-64c8266a71a2
Scientists at MIT have developed a novel passive cooling system that relies on evaporation and radiation to cool air rather than using conventional coolers that rely on electricity. The researchers state the passive cooler could be used off-grid and cool food crops or supplement traditional air conditioning in buildings. They also explain that the system could resemble existing solar panels and be stationed accordingly, providing up to about 190 F of cooling from the ambient temperature or enough cooling to provide safe food storage for about 40% longer under very humid conditions. It could triple the safe storage time under dryer conditions.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Zero-Energy Tech Heats When Cold and Cools When Hot Dynamic device needs no power to switch between heating and cooling modes, saving energy
https://spectrum.ieee.org/passive-radiative-cooling-device?share_id=7233903
A new heat-management device senses temperature and in response changes its shape to heat up or cool down, all without using any external energy. By supplementing commercial heating and cooling technologies, the zero-energy device could cut down the year-round energy demand of building temperature control, its developers say.
Heating and cooling accounts for nearly half of global energy consumption. To bring down the greenhouse gas emissions from temperature management, researchers have recently sped up the hunt for high-performance technologies that can adjust temperatures without consuming much energy, if any.
Tomi Engdahl says:
In this paper, researchers used an Arduino to demonstrate how logical circuits can be implemented in mycelium bound composites.
Mining logical circuits in fungi
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-20080-3
Living substrates are capable for nontrivial mappings of electrical signals due to the substrate nonlinear electrical characteristics. This property can be used to realise Boolean functions. Input logical values are represented by amplitude or frequency of electrical stimuli. Output logical values are decoded from electrical responses of living substrates. We demonstrate how logical circuits can be implemented in mycelium bound composites. The mycelium bound composites (fungal materials) are getting growing recognition as building, packaging, decoration and clothing materials.
We demonstrate experimental laboratory prototypes of many-input Boolean functions implemented in fungal materials from oyster fungi P. ostreatus.
Hardware was developed that was capable of sending sequences of 4 bit strings to a mycelium substrate. The strings were encoded as step voltage inputs where -5 V denoted a logical 0 and 5 V a logical 1. The hardware was based around an Arduino Mega 2560 (Elegoo, China) and a series of programmable signal generators, AD9833 (Analog, USA). The 4 input electrodes were 1 mm diameter platinum rods inserted to a depth of 50 mm in the substrate in a straight line with a separation of 20 mm. Data acquisition (DAQ) probes were placed in a parallel line 50 mm away separated by 10 mm. The electron sink and source was placed 50 mm on from DAQ probes.
The voltage spiking events occur at the scale of seconds usually during state transitions which happen every hour which is in line with the decay time after a spike. Boolean strings were extracted from the data, where a logic “1” was noted for a channel if it had a peak outside the threshold band for a particular state else, a value of “0” was recorded, the polarity of the peak was not considered.
The strings for each experimental repeat were stored in their respective Boolean table.
Tomi Engdahl says:
YouTuber Builds Wild-Looking Ion Thruster With No Moving Parts, and It Actually Works
Ionic propulsion is typically pretty weak. However, this setup has potential.
https://www.thedrive.com/news/youtuber-builds-wild-looking-ion-thruster-with-no-moving-parts-and-it-actually-works
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nrEBoPYS4ns&feature=emb_logo
Tomi Engdahl says:
A Transistor for Sound Points Toward Whole New Electronics “Topological” acoustic transistor suggests circuits with dissipationless flow of electricity or light
https://spectrum.ieee.org/topological-transistor-acoustic
Model of a honeycomb lattice that serves as the basis for a “transistor” of sound waves—whose design suggests new kinds of transistors of light and electricity, made from so-called topological materials. Electrons in a topological transistor, it is suspected, would flow without any resistance.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2022/09/28/vttlta-uusi-visiopaperi-ja-podcast/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Innovating power module packaging
Power module packaging is a unique differentiator that has enable Vicor to increase power density by more than 500x in 40 years.
https://www.vicorpower.com/resource-library/articles/innovating-power-module-packaging?utm_source=electronicdesign&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=l05_general_prospecting_global&utm_content=article_power_module_packaging_personifai
Tomi Engdahl says:
The First Microcomputer: The Q1
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/28/the-first-microcomputer-the-q1/
Quiz time, what was the first commercially available microcomputer? The Altair 8800? Something obscure like the SCELBI? The Mark-8 kit? According to [The Byte Attic], it was actually the Q1, based on the Intel 8008 processor. The first Q1 microcomputer was delivered in December of 1972, making it the first, as far as he can tell. Later revisions used the Z80 processor, which is the model pictured above that [The Byte Attic] has in his possession. It’s a beautiful little machine, with a striking orange plasma display.
Q1™
https://www.thebyteattic.com/p/q1.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Optisia kuituja perovskiitista
https://www.nanobitteja.fi/uutiset.html?216889
Tomi Engdahl says:
Kerrostusta massamateriaalissa
https://www.nanobitteja.fi/uutiset.html?216531
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://phys.org/news/2022-09-incredible-astronomers-hail-images-asteroid.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
‘Something is seriously wrong’: Room-temperature superconductivity study retracted
After doubts grew, blockbuster Nature paper is withdrawn over objections of study team
https://www.science.org/content/article/something-seriously-wrong-room-temperature-superconductivity-study-retracted
Tomi Engdahl says:
Giant magnon spin wave conductance in ultrathin insulators surprises researchers
https://phys.org/news/2022-09-giant-magnon-ultrathin-insulators.html
When you make conducting wires thinner, their electrical resistance goes up. This is Ohm’s law, and it is generally right. An important exception is at very low temperatures, where the mobility of electrons increases when wires become so thin that they are effectively two-dimensional. Now, University of Groningen physicists, together with colleagues at Brest University have observed that something similar happens with the conductivity of magnons, spin waves that travel through magnetic insulators, much like a wave through a stadium. The increase in conductivity was spectacular, and occurred at ambient room temperature. This observation was published in Nature Materials on September 22.