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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Rocket Science

Mike Massee / ATK / XCOR
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It's hard to find a filling station in space, but it's easy to find methane, abundant on many planets and moons. NASA is taking advantage of that with a methane-fueled rocket (above and in tests at right). Future probes could save weight by carrying a little fuel, then gassing up en routeÑjust like any long-distance traveler.
Available: Prototype
nasa.gov

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