TIME Coolest Inventions 2004: Mini-Watermelon

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MINI-MELON
Miniature Watermelons

Inventors: Seminis (Bambino), Syngenta (Pureheart)
Availability: Year-round, $3 to $5 each
To Learn More: seminis.com, dulcinea.com
Behold the Bambino. It looks like a watermelon and tastes like one too, but it's not the hulking mass you've had to lug home from the grocery store for the family picnic. And it took only 10 years to breed. The fruit typically weighs 4 lbs. to 6 lbs., about the size of a large cantaloupe. Seedless, it's sweeter than its larger cousin. The competition: Dulcinea Farms of Ladera Ranch, Calif., grows a similar breed called the Pureheart.

Next: Lock n' Bake Pan

BY ANITA HAMILTON, MARYANNE MURRAY BUECHNER, LEV GROSSMAN, SIMON CRITTLE AND SORA SONG / WITH REPORTING BY HANNA KITE AND YUKI ODA/TOKYO

PHOTOGRAPH FOR TIME BY DAVID WAITZ