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:
First Quantum Entanglement Between Dissimilar Particles Provides A View Inside Atomic Nuclei
We can’t literally see the inside of an atomic nucleus, but a new entanglement of subatomic particles offers unprecedented insight.
https://www.iflscience.com/first-quantum-entanglement-between-dissimilar-particles-provides-a-view-inside-atomic-nuclei-66966
Tomi Engdahl says:
Makeassa vedessä elävän organismin havaittiin syövän viruksia ravinnokseen, ja löytö voi mullistaa käsityksemme hiilen kierrosta
https://tekniikanmaailma.fi/makeassa-vedessa-elavan-organismin-havaittiin-syovan-viruksia-ravinnokseen-ja-loyto-voi-mullistaa-kasityksemme-hiilen-kierrosta/
Ripsieläimiin kuuluva Halteria on ensimmäinen tieteen tuntema virovori eli viruksia ravinnokseen syövä organismi.
Tomi Engdahl says:
TRAVELING FASTER THAN LIGHT WOULD MEAN EXPERIENCING MULTIPLE TIMELINES SIMULTANEOUSLY
https://futurism.com/the-byte/traveling-faster-than-light-physics
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.independent.co.uk/tech/energy-breakthrough-hydrogen-solar-power-panel-b2255981.html#Echobox=1672848717
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://scitechdaily.com/quantum-breakthrough-light-source-produces-two-entangled-light-beams/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://tyopaikat.oikotie.fi/tyontekijalle/artikkelit/kuusi-supervoimaa-nama-ovat-introverttien-vahvuudet-tyontekijoina
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.popsci.com/technology/crab-shaped-micro-robots/
Tomi Engdahl says:
First Fully Complete Human Genome Has Been Published After 20 Years
https://www.iflscience.com/first-fully-complete-human-genome-has-been-published-after-20-years-63148
Tomi Engdahl says:
Record-Breakiпg Experimeпt Qυaпtυm Eпtaпgles Two Αtoms 20 Miles Αpart
https://spacefacts.co/record-breaki%d0%bfg-experime%d0%bft-q%cf%85a%d0%bft%cf%85m-e%d0%bfta%d0%bfgles-two-%ce%b1toms-20-miles-%ce%b1part-felix/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Where 2022’s news was (mostly) good: The year’s top science stories
Better urinals, older pants, and a helicopter on Mars, oh my!
https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/12/where-2022s-news-was-mostly-good-yhe-years-top-science-stories/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Breaking: Researchers at CERN break “The Speed of Light”
https://thedailyworld.net/breaking-researchers-at-cern-break-the-speed-of-light/
Scientists said on Thursday they recorded particles travelling faster than light – a finding that could overturn one of Einstein’s fundamental laws of the universe. Antonio Ereditato, spokesman for the international group of researchers, saidthat measurements taken over three years showed neutrinos pumped from CERN near Geneva to Gran Sasso in Italy had arrived 60 nanoseconds quicker than light would have done.
Tomi Engdahl says:
There is a “Highly Habitable” Planet Just 4 light years from Us, Study Suggests
https://blog.thespaceacademy.org/2023/01/there-is-highly-habitable-planet-just-4.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2023/01/05/the-dawn-of-synthetic-milk-when-milk-becomes-more-like-beer/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2023/01/06/myceliotronics-biodegradable-electronics-substrates-from-fungi/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Tiny Robots That Bring Targeted Drug Delivery And Treatment A Little Bit Closer
https://hackaday.com/2023/01/07/tiny-robots-that-bring-targeted-drug-delivery-and-treatment-a-little-bit-closer/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Why our Screwdriver took 3 YEARS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2K5Gqp1cEcM
CHAPTERS
—————————————————
0:00 – It’s finally here
1:00 – Simple MDM!
1:13 – LTT Intro
1:21 – Why we chose Megapro to partner with
2:49 – Handle design
5:45 – Industrial design and getting some help
6:47 – Kickstarter Syndrome
7:44 – Plastic injection molds
9:24 – Shaft
11:37 – Materials
12:18 – Small flaws
13:39 – Ninja Star & bit storage
15:15 – When things got stupid
17:00 – Ratchet issues and solutions
19:25 – Injection molding
24:08 – Assembling a final driver
27:09 – Thanks
28:06 – Squarespace
28:52 – Outro
Tomi Engdahl says:
Lina Khan: Noncompetes Depress Wages and Kill Innovation
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/09/opinion/linakhan-ftc-noncompete.html
Economic liberty, not just political liberty, is at the heart of the American experiment. You’re not really free if you don’t have the right to switch jobs or choose what to do with your labor. But millions of American workers can’t fully exercise that choice because of a provision that bosses put into their contracts: a noncompete clause.
When you’re subject to a noncompete clause, you lose your right to go work for a competing company or start your own, typically within a certain geographic area and for a certain period of time. Unless you’re willing to move hundreds of miles away or take a huge pay cut to restart your career from scratch, a noncompete can effectively lock you into a job. That’s a clear restriction of individual liberty.
But the aggregate impacts of noncompetes go even further. A body of empirical research shows that they also inflict major harm across the economy. In fact, even if you aren’t personally bound by one, noncompetes may be costing you money.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Difficult We Do Immediately. The Impossible Takes a Little Longer
https://quoteinvestigator.com/2015/06/10/impossible-longer/?amp=1
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://blog.arduino.cc/2023/01/10/this-interactive-art-installation-is-a-study-in-magnetism/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Mysterious Quantum Phenomenon Lets Us Peek Inside an Atom’s Heart
https://www.sciencealert.com/mysterious-quantum-phenomenon-lets-us-peek-inside-an-atoms-heart
Tomi Engdahl says:
“Kun oppiminen kuihtuu ulkokohtaiseksi oppimisen näyttelemiseksi, jotakin on järjestelmässä mennyt perustavaa laatua olevalla tavalla pieleen.”
Kiinalainen koulutusjärjestelmä ei anna tilaa opiskelijoiden omalle ajattelulle, vaan oppilaitokset pyrkivät koulimaan heistä ensisijaisesti kuuliaisia kansalaisia, kirjoittaa Kiinan opiskelukulttuuriin myös omakohtaisesti perehtynyt kirjallisuudentutkija ja suomentaja Tero Tähtinen Särössä:
https://sarolehti.net/lehti/panttaamisen-kultti/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Physicists discover completely new type of quantum entanglement
https://newatlas.com/physics/new-type-quantum-entanglement-particles/
Tomi Engdahl says:
A new look at the strange case of the first gene-edited babies
The new documentary “Make People Better” leans toward a different narrative about gene-editing than we’ve heard before.
https://theconversation.com/did-he-jiankui-make-people-better-documentary-spurs-a-new-look-at-the-case-of-the-first-gene-edited-babies-196714#Echobox=1673292366
Tomi Engdahl says:
New physics? Ultra-precise measurement in particle physics confounds scientists
The difference between predictions and observations of the magnetic properties of muons suggests a mystery for the Standard Model.
https://bigthink.com/hard-science/muons-magnetic-moment-new-physics/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Having A Small Penis And Driving A Sports Car May Be Linked After All
A new preprint study claims to have found psychological evidence to support what we thought we knew all along.
https://www.iflscience.com/having-a-small-penis-and-driving-a-sports-car-may-be-linked-after-all-67026
Tomi Engdahl says:
New Defect Sensor Promises to Keep a Careful Watch on Corrosion Beneath the Surface
Designed for both spot testing and long-term monitoring, these novel sensors are a step beyond current state-of-the-art.
https://www.hackster.io/news/new-defect-sensor-promises-to-keep-a-careful-watch-on-corrosion-beneath-the-surface-eb6b96b59c31
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.hackster.io/news/a-big-breakthrough-in-tiny-batteries-could-help-drive-future-microrobots-further-than-ever-before-afac7c3b32ee
Tomi Engdahl says:
What Is A Time Crystal?
The quantum mechanical oddity is a fascinating and unexpected recent find.
https://www.iflscience.com/what-is-a-time-crystal-67085
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.iflscience.com/uk-meteorite-that-fell-to-earth-contains-building-blocks-for-life-67045
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nuclear reactor mystery solved, with no need for new particles
One piece of evidence for weird sterile neutrinos evaporates
https://www.science.org/content/article/nuclear-reactor-mystery-solved-no-need-new-particles
Tomi Engdahl says:
After Five Centuries, Leonardo Da Vinci’s Bubble Mystery Finally Has An Answer
Air bubbles in water don’t always move in a straight line, and physicists have only now found an explanation as to why.
https://www.iflscience.com/after-five-centuries-leonardo-da-vinci-s-bubble-mystery-finally-has-an-answer-67145
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/genetically-modified-plant-30-air-purifiers
Tomi Engdahl says:
Yksi merkki Alzheimerin taudista voi ilmetä jo 10 vuotta ennen ensioireita – mullistava löytö https://www.is.fi/terveys/art-2000009334068.html
Jos tutkimuksen tulokset varmistuvat lisätutkimuksissa, havainnot voivat aikaistaa Alzheimerin taudin diagnosointia merkittävästi.
TUTKIJAT ovat tunnistaneet merkkiaineproteiinin, jonka avulla Alzheimerin taudin toteaminen saattaa onnistua jopa kymmenen vuotta ennen kuin ensimmäiset sairauden oireet ilmaantuvat. Jos tulokset varmistuvat lisätutkimuksissa, havainnot voivat aikaistaa Alzheimerin taudin diagnosointia merkittävästi.
Tulokset julkaistiin lääketieteellisessä Brain-lehdessä, ja niiden perusteella Alzheimerin tautiin sairastuvien verinäytteistä voidaan havaita useita merkkiaineita, joiden pitoisuuksien suurentuminen ennakoi sairastumista.
Näistä varhaisin on GFAP-proteiini, jonka pitoisuus suurenee jo noin kymmenen vuotta ennen kuin Alzheimerin taudin ensimmäiset oireet ilmaantuvat.
Myös pTau181-proteiinin ja neurofilamentin kevytketjun (NfL) pitoisuudet suurentuvat ennen sairastumista, mutta tämä tapahtuu lähempänä oireiden alkua. pTau181 on tunnettu Alzheimerin taudin merkkiaine ja Nfl kertoo aivosolujen vahingoittumisesta.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Humans learn best when avoiding too much complexity and getting the gist of situations. That means mistakes will be made.
Don’t worry about making a mistake. It’s how we learn.
https://bigthink.com/neuropsych/mistakes-learning/#Echobox=1674134110
A new study at UPenn found that effective learning includes mistakes—just not too many.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Humans learn best when avoiding too much complexity and getting the gist of situations, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania. Instead of remember every detail, we learn by categorizing situations through pattern recognition. We wouldn’t retain much if we considered a high level of complexity with every piece of information.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-have-built-a-macroscopic-tractor-beam-using-laser-light
Tomi Engdahl says:
New crystal produced with gunpowder is stronger than diamond
Scientists created the mineral lonsdaleite in a lab and tested its strength using sound waves — before it was obliterated.
https://bigthink.com/the-future/crystal-lonsdaleite-stronger-diamond/#Echobox=1673500496
Tomi Engdahl says:
Breakthrough Discovery Brings Billion-Qubit Quantum Computing Chips Closer
https://scitechdaily.com/breakthrough-discovery-brings-billion-qubit-quantum-computing-chips-closer/
Discovery of previously unknown effect makes compact, ultra-fast control of spin qubits possible.
Australian engineers have discovered a new way of precisely controlling single electrons nestled in quantum dots that run logic gates. What’s more, the new mechanism is less bulky and requires fewer parts, which could prove essential to making large-scale silicon quantum computers a reality.
The serendipitous discovery, made by engineers at the quantum computing start-up Diraq and UNSW Sydney, is detailed on January 12 in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.
Tomi Engdahl says:
After Five Centuries, Leonardo Da Vinci’s Bubble Mystery Finally Has An Answer
Air bubbles in water don’t always move in a straight line, and physicists have only now found an explanation as to why.
https://www.iflscience.com/after-five-centuries-leonardo-da-vinci-s-bubble-mystery-finally-has-an-answer-67145
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.edn.com/feedback-the-very-very-basics/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.zdnet.com/home-and-office/this-10-plastic-film-gives-me-a-superpower-to-detect-counterfeit-items/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nearly 50-meter laser experiment sets record in university hallway
https://phys.org/news/2023-01-meter-laser-university-hallway.html
Their efforts were to temporarily transfigure thin air into a fiber optic cable—or, more specifically, an air waveguide—that would guide light for tens of meters. Like one of the fiber optic internet cables that provide efficient highways for streams of optical data, an air waveguide prescribes a path for light.
These air waveguides have many potential applications related to collecting or transmitting light, such as detecting light emitted by atmospheric pollution, long-range laser communication or even laser weaponry. With an air waveguide, there is no need to unspool solid cable and be concerned with the constraints of gravity; instead, the cable rapidly forms unsupported in the air.
In a paper accepted for publication in the journal Physical Review X the team described how they set a record by guiding light in 45-meter-long air waveguides and explained the physics behind their method.
The researchers conducted their record-setting atmospheric alchemy at night to avoid inconveniencing (or zapping) colleagues or unsuspecting students during the workday. They had to get their safety procedures approved before they could repurpose the hallway.
“There were major challenges: the huge scale-up to 50 meters forced us to reconsider the fundamental physics of air waveguide generation, plus wanting to send a high-power laser down a 50-meter-long public hallway naturally triggers major safety issues,” Milchberg says. “Fortunately, we got excellent cooperation from both the physics and from the Maryland environmental safety office.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Thermally-Drawn Microelectronic Fibers Can Turn T-Shirts Into Sweat-Sampling Health Monitors
By integrating smart threads into its production, an entire t-shirt can be turned into a sensor with unrivaled coverage.
https://www.hackster.io/news/thermally-drawn-microelectronic-fibers-can-turn-t-shirts-into-sweat-sampling-health-monitors-6993c483ad92
Tomi Engdahl says:
Paper Batteries, Blue Quantum Dots, and Other Enabling Technologies from CES 2023 Innovations from research labs aim to inspire new generations of consumer products
https://spectrum.ieee.org/future-tech-ces-2023
Tomi Engdahl says:
It is now rotating in the opposite direction to the last few decades.
Earth’s Spinning Inner Core Recently Paused Then Flipped Its Direction
Earth’s inner core said: “I put my thang down, flip it, and reverse it.”
https://www.iflscience.com/earth-s-spinning-inner-core-recently-paused-then-flipped-its-direction-67216
The swirling solid ball at the center of Earth’s inner core appears to have recently paused and may even now be rotating in the opposite direction from previous decades, according to a new study.
The data showed that parts of the core that previously showed clear signs of variation suddenly exhibited very little change around 2009, which they say suggests that the inner core rotation paused.
Since the inner core is separated from the rest of the solid Earth by the liquid outer core, it’s able to turn on a different rotation from the Earth’s surface. The spin of the inner core is governed by the magnetic field generated in the liquid metal outer core, as well as the gravitational effects of the mantle.
However, theories about the movement of this inner core are not agreed on. Many researchers previously held that the planet’s innermost geological layer rotates alongside the rest of the planet at a slightly faster rate than the surface, but it’s now believed to be less straightforward.
The strange movements of Earth’s core might seem very distant from us, but its behavior does actually have an influence on life above the surface.
Earth’s core, specifically its outer core, influences the planet’s magnetic field.
Tomi Engdahl says:
These plants can actually count – well, they used to be able to, but not anymore.
Mutant Venus Flytraps Have Lost Their Ability To Count
https://www.iflscience.com/mutant-venus-flytraps-have-lost-their-ability-to-count-67223
You might not think of counting as part of the faunal repertoire, but certain carnivorous plants need it to catch prey, making the discovery of one that can’t count very revealing.
Venus flytraps (Dionaea muscipula) can not only count, they do it better than a great many animals that can’t get past three or four. The evolutionary benefit is well understood, but how a plant achieves this feat is a mystery. Just as mice with a deactivated gene can teach us what that does for other members of their species, the discovery of a mutant D. muscipula lacking mathematical capacities could reveal where other flytraps get their skills.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://etn.fi/index.php/13-news/14517-yksinkertainen-kalvo-soi-suojata-radiolaitteet-kuuntelulta
Tomi Engdahl says:
Americans Will Use Anything But The Metric System
The USA was supposed to adopt the metric system but the ship carrying the standardized meter and kilogram was hijacked by pirates in 1793 and the measurements never made it to the States.
“Banana for reference”
How Pirates Of The Caribbean Hijacked America’s Metric System
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/12/28/574044232/how-pirates-of-the-caribbean-hijacked-americas-metric-system
If the United States were more like the rest of the world, a McDonald’s Quarter Pounder might be known as the McDonald’s 113-Grammer, John Henry’s 9-pound hammer would be 4.08 kilograms, and any 800-pound gorillas in the room would likely weigh 362 kilos.
One reason this country never adopted the metric system might be pirates. Here’s what happened
Tomi Engdahl says:
Terminator 2:n robotti teki leffassa tempun, jota ei pidetty mahdollisena – nyt se tapahtui oikeasti https://www.is.fi/digitoday/art-2000009351992.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Honeybees join humans as the only known animals that can tell the difference between odd and even numbers
https://bigthink.com/neuropsych/bees-parity-tasks/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook#Echobox=1674596608
Parity tasks (such as odd and even categorisation) are considered abstract and high-level numerical concepts in humans.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Device transmits radio waves with almost no power—without violating the laws of physics
https://techxplore.com/news/2023-01-device-transmits-radio-powerwithout-violating.html
Our system, combined with techniques for harvesting energy from the environment, could lead to all manner of devices that transmit data, including tiny sensors and implanted medical devices, without needing batteries or other power sources. These include sensors for smart agriculture, electronics implanted in the body that never need battery changes, better contactless credit cards and maybe even new ways for satellites to communicate.
Apart from the energy needed to flip the switch, no other energy is needed to transmit the information. In our case, the switch is a transistor, an electrically controlled switch with no moving parts that consumes a minuscule amount of power.