The Best Inventions Of The Year

From the phone that has changed phones forever, to futuristic cars, to a building made of water, to a remote-controlled dragonfly—a dazzling display of ingenuity

By Maryanne Murray Buechner, Kristina Dell, Andrea Dorfman, Lev Grossman, Anita Hamilton, Rebecca Winters Keegan, Jeffrey Kluger, Michael D. Lemonick, Coco Masters, Lisa McLaughlin, Alice Park, Julie Rawe and Deirdre van Dyk

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Drawing on its aviation roots — Saab was founded by aircraft engineers — the two-seater Saab Aero X is a concept car that might make the future a little cleaner. Styled like a jet, with a cockpit canopy instead of doors, and fueled by a bioethanol V-6 engine, the car suggests a future without conventional dials, instead displaying information in 3-D graphics on its clear acrylic dashboard screen.
Available: Sometime down the road
saabusa.com/aerox

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