Robot mall cops, a vaccine for dengue and 98 more of the greatest innovations of the year are highlighted in the November/December issue of Popular Science.
The magazine's annual roundup of "The Best of What's New" provides a snapshot of the latest, coolest, most-cutting-edge products and concepts - or, what the next generation of teens will likely think of as "Oh, that boring stuff?"
Thanks to the tech of 2016, today's kids can experience gee-whiz features from birth. It all starts on the ride home from the maternity ward in a 4moms Self-Installing Car Seat, which "contains 20 sensors, including accelerometers and gyros, that work with motors to level the seat and tighten the straps."
When fever strikes, a concerned dad can check his child's temperature with the no-touch Withings Thermo. It takes "more than 4,000 readings from the temporal artery" with just a simple pass across the forehead. And when boys and girls get that first cavity? Dentists can anesthetize them with a couple of squirts of Kovanaze nasal spray instead of a painful shot.
To unwind, they can rock out with Ossic's X headphones, which "adapt to a listener's anatomy" to create ultrarealistic audio effects. They can fly to Belgium and take a seat on the Mack Rides Pulsar, a roller coaster that splashes into a lake at 60 mph. They can run around on ice without slipping because they're wearing shoes with Vibram Arctic Grip soles, designed to mimic the clawed paws of polar bears.
