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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Bacillus pasteurii is one of the more useful bacteria you'll ever meet. Researchers have discovered a way to use it to turn sandy soil, treacherous during earthquakes, into stable ground. Mix urea, soil and calcium, inject a little bit o' bug and voilà! The cementer bug feeds on urea and deposits calcite, which cements the soil together and turns shifting sand into sandstone.
Available In any meadow
sil.ucdavis.edu

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