TIME's Best Inventions of 2008
From a genetic testing service to an invisibility cloak to an ingenious public bike system to the world's first moving skyscraper — here are TIME's picks for the top innovations of 2008
41. The Peraves MonoTracer
You really need the mind of a Swiss engineer to come up with a vehicle that combines the lithe maneuverability of a motorcycle with the not-getting-rained-on-ability of a conventional automobile. In addition to looking as though it just fell out of a time machine from a distant and much cooler future, the MonoTracer furnishes its driver (and one passenger) with such luxuries as air-conditioning and windshield wipers, plus the safety of a cockpit made from Kevlar and carbon fiber and reinforced with an aluminum roll cage. The MonoTracer is also energy-efficient: its BMW engine, which goes from zero to 62 m.p.h. in 4.8 sec. (100 km/h), gets about 65 m.p.g. (28 km/L).
View the full list for "TIME's Best Inventions of 2008"Latest Lists
Most Popular »
- The '00s: Goodbye (at Last) to the Decade From Hell
- The Growing Backlash Against Overparenting
- Obama's 'Mistakes': Way Too Early to Judge
- One Year After the Mumbai Massacre, a Trial Plods On
- Ahmadinejad in Brazil: Why Lula Defies the U.S.
- In His Cave, a Palestinian Farmer Makes a Stand
- Me and Orson Welles: Zac Efron Takes the Stage
- California Judge Challenging Obama on Gay Rights
- The Fall of Greg Craig, Obama's Top Lawyer
- Zhu Zhu Mania: Hamster Toys Are Ruling Christmas
- The Growing Backlash Against Overparenting
- The '00s: Goodbye (at Last) to the Decade From Hell
- Five Things the U.S. Can Learn from China
- Obama's 'Mistakes': Way Too Early to Judge
- Will Private Equity Be the Next Meltdown?
- Zhu Zhu Mania: Hamster Toys Are Ruling Christmas
- Think Big with an African Ocean Safari
- The Dark Side of Darwin's Legacy
- Ahmadinejad in Brazil: Why Lula Defies the U.S.
- California Judge Challenging Obama on Gay Rights
RSS