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

—By Jeremy Caplan, Kristina Dell, Andrea Dorfman, Laura Fitzpatrick, Justin Fox, Sean Gregory, Lev Grossman, Barbara Kiviat, Jeffrey Kluger, Richard Lacayo, Michael Lemonick, Lisa McLaughlin, Jay Newton-Small, Alice Park, Mark Thompson, Bryan Walsh and Rebecca Winters Keegan

41. The Peraves MonoTracer

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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).

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