Coolest Inventions 2004: Fresh Ideas

NO NEED TO SQUEEZE

Judging the ripeness of fruit has always seemed more art than science. Now a firm in New Zealand has developed a sensor that detects when pears are ripe by analyzing the aromas emitted by the fruit. Attached to the inside of the fruit's plastic wrapping, the sensor goes from red to orange to yellow as the fruit ripens. Sensors for avocados, kiwis, melons and mangoes are in the works.

INVENTOR HortResearch

AVAILABILITY December

TO LEARN MORE www.ripesense.com

VISIBLE INK

The label on the Mar de Frades 2003 Albariño, a crisp white wine produced on the northwest coast of Spain (it's great paired with seafood), uses thermosensitive ink to let you know when the contents of the bottle are suitably chilled. When the wine registers 52ºF (its optimal serving temperature) or colder, a little blue ship appears on top of the aqua waves.

INVENTORS William Grant & Sons, importers, the Mar de Frades winery

AVAILABILITY Now, about $16 a bottle

TO LEARN MORE grantusa.com

MINI-MELON

Behold the Bambino. It looks like a watermelon and tastes like one too, but it's not the hulking mass you've had to lug home from the grocery store for the family picnic. And it took only 10 years to breed. The fruit typically weighs 4 lbs. to 6 lbs., about the size of a large cantaloupe. Seedless, it's sweeter than its larger cousin. The competition: Dulcinea Farms of Ladera Ranch, Calif., grows a similar breed called the Pureheart.

INVENTORS Seminis (Bambino), Syngenta (Pureheart)

AVAILABILITY Year-round, $3 to $5 each

TO LEARN MORE seminis.com dulcinea.com