Why it’s Breakthrough: It’s a concept vehicle that runs on power conveyed by magnets from underground lines. And this one charges the electric motor on the fly, of course without relying on a drop of gas.

The Story: Magnets. It runs using magnets. Magnets buried under the ground that have a blue line painted on the pavement above, so that when the tram follows that line, the magnets recharge the electric motor located inside the vehicle. A vehicle which just so happens to be a trolley train of three or four …

Why it’s Breakthrough: It’s hardware that stands between your computer and every virus and cyber attack out there in the world, protecting your data from the evil that otherwise lurks.

The Story: At a time of increasing national concern over cyber attacks on government agencies and corporations, a small privately-funded Virginia engineering research firm has created a breakthrough technology for blocking cyber attacks that experts say is foolproof.
The firm, InZero Systems of Herndon, has been successfully demonstrating its new computer-protection technology to the Pentagon and other federal agencies, as well as …

Why it’s Breakthrough: It’s research that bodes favorably on this idea of spraying solar cells onto glass, maintaining the transparency of the glass, but also giving that glass additional and critical productivity.

The Story: “The ability to spray solar coatings directly onto glass follows on the heels of our recent breakthrough which replaced visibility-blocking metal with environmentally-friendly see-thru compounds, and marks an important advance in the development of our see-thru glass windows capable of generating electricity,” announced Mr. Meetesh V. Patel, President and CEO of New Energy Technologies, Inc. (OTCBB: NENE)
“In commercial …

Why it’s Breakthrough: It’s an artificial robotic hand with built-in sensors that can actually enable the user to “feel” objects and sensations.

The Story: Motorized prosthetic hands are not brand new, though they’re still breakthrough. However, the next step in this evolution is focused on creating a hand that gives the user unprecedented sensory feedback, according to researchers of the SmartHand Project, a collaboration between researchers from across Europe.
Fredrik Sebelius, of Lund University, in Sweden, says the SmartHand actually addresses this notion of the “phantom hand.” Sebelius says: ”If you push the skin on …

Why it’s Breakthrough: It’s a thin-film solar panel incorporated into a standard roof shingle. And, it’s not only cheaper and easier to install than standard solar panels, the material costs about 10 – 15% less than conventional panels.

The Story: The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW) unveiled its line of DOW™ POWERHOUSE™ Solar Shingle, revolutionary photovoltaic solar panels in the form of solar shingles that can be integrated into rooftops with standard asphalt shingle materials. The solar shingle systems are expected to be available in limited quantities by mid-2010 and projected …

Why it’s Breakthrough: It’s a wind turbine that could sit on a cell phone tower and generate everything the cell tower needs to operate, replacing the dirty, nasty diesel usually used.

The Story: Helix Wind Corporation (OTCBB: HLXW), a global renewable energy company, has come up with a new way to provide cost-effective renewable energy solutions to telecommunications companies. Specifically, Helix’s wind turbines are ideal ways to lower the costs of operating expenses associated with cell phone towers in remote locations. These solutions are ideal for telecom infrastructure providers worldwide dealing …

Why it’s Breakthrough: It’s a new way to immerse people in virtual reality experiences without covering a person’s entire visual plane and enabling them to take their experience with them anywhere they want to go.

The Story: Brother Industries, Ltd., the same company that offers printers and other consumer electronics, has also been actively developing technologies for a retinal imaging display (RID), an image projection technology that safely focuses light onto the retina and then safely moves the light at high speeds to create movement and “afterimages”. Images projected onto the …

Why it’s Breakthrough: It’s a personal solar capture and storage device that can recharge an iPhone, and iPod and any other device that utilizes USB power.

The Story: The product is called ReNu, and it’s the debut product from Regen Inc., a new company formed by Ammunition LLC, a leading design and development firm based in San Francisco, and Noribachi, a cleantech venture accelerator. All Regen products marry compelling design with patented solar technology to create consumer electronics that both empower and inspire.
“We’re excited to push the boundaries of personal power generation …

Why it’s Breakthrough: It’s a nuclear-powered miniature battery that could revolutionize the whole micro-battery industry, given the fact that the molecules insides these batteries contain vastly more capacity of existing batteries and can allegedly last for hundreds of years.

The Story: Batteries can power anything from small sensors to large systems. While scientists are finding ways to make them smaller but even more powerful, problems can arise when these batteries are much larger and heavier than the devices themselves. University of Missouri researchers are developing a nuclear energy source that is …

Why it’s Breakthrough: It’s a fan that blows air without fan blades. In essence, it revolutionizes the fan.

The Story:  James Dyson, who, for the past 30 years, has continuously revolutionized the vacuum cleaner, turned his attention to addressing the everyday fan. As a result, he has designed the Dyson Air Multiplier™ fan, which has no blades, but instead uses a unique breakthrough technology to multiply air 15x beyond the industry standard, expelling 119 gallons of smooth and uninterrupted air every second using unprecedented advancements in airflow engineering.
 
Until today, conventional electric fans have gone …