A British invention, the Real-Time Anti-Poaching Intelligence Device (RAPID), hopes to help halt the dreadful predation of rhinoceroses by poachers. To satisfy the deluded belief that there is some magical medicinal power to be found in rhino horn (made of keratin, like my fingernails) it is estimated that an African rhino is killed every six hours. At current rates they will be extinct by 2035. Madness! Rhino horn is literally worth its weight in gold – hence the high inci

A spin-off company from Tel Aviv University, Unispectral Technologies, promises to unveil their prototype ‘Tricorder’ this month. They claim to have developed very powerful optical lens and image processing software that can transform a smartphone into a hyperspectral sensor. The system works by vastly improving the resolution, not only to give better images but also allowing the camera to break down the chemical composition of objects – from a distance! As well as the head

The British Female Inventor and Innovator the Year (BFIIN) is now in its 13th year. Entry is now open and nominations are sought. Closing date for entries is 1st July. These prestigious awards will be presented at a glitzy ceremony in London on 14th October 2015. This is an open competition bringing together and putting the spotlight on incredible top inventive and innovative women from across Britain. The emphasis is on exceptionally creative items, inventions and innovat

Alan Dower Blumlein was one of the great inventors you may well have never heard of. His inventive genius was compared to that of both Edison and Faraday and in his tragically short career he amassed 128 patents. These included the first stereophonic recordings, microphones, television and radar. His expertise as an electronics engineer was un-paralleled and, to honour his many achievements, a commemorative 'Milestone Plaque' is to be unveiled in his honour. On April 1st,

Over the years I’ve met many inventors who have proudly shown me their safety inventions and then uttered the dread words: “All we have to do is get the law changed!” It is the earnest belief of such inventors that their invention is so important that it must become compulsory for all others to use it. I’m not suggesting for one moment that there is also the scent of commercial advantage in the air – heaven forfend – but legislation, as a route to market, is a long and exce

If you, like me, are fascinated by the stories of inventors and their wonderful inventions then you're in for a treat on BBC2 (and BBC iPlayer) at present. 'How We Got to Now' is airing on BBC2, Saturday evenings, 7.35pm. Conceived and presented by innovation expert and best-selling author, Steven Johnson, this series of six programmes explores and explains how inventions have shaped and changed our world - sometimes in the most unexpected of ways. Johnson is an amiable and

My hat’s off to the European Patent Office for managing to do ‘cool’! Who would have thought that a fusty old Patent Office had it in them? - "Where do we stand today when "change is the new status quo”? One of today's most appreciated and Emmy-nominated futurists, Jason Silva, shares his view on innovation and change" says the EPO blurb about this film. This piece particularly resonated with me as twenty years ago I wrote my first editorial for Inventor’s World Magazine. I

“One of the reasons that the QEPrize was founded was to make clear the contribution of engineering to everybody’s lives… He[Dr Robert Langer], as an engineer, developed an engineering solution to a medical problem.” So says Professor Brian Cox who was one of the judges for the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering. Chemical Engineer, Dr Robert Langer, of MIT, USA, has changed the lives of millions by inventing methods of drug delivery on a molecular scale. His pioneering wo

A thirteen year old California schoolboy has invented a low cost braille printer using components sourced from his toybox. Shubham Banerjee learned that current braille printers were not only cumbersome – weighing in at a hefty 9kg – but also cost some £1,300. Armed with this knowledge he adopted the classic inventor’s mindset – “There’s got to be a better way to do that!” As part of a school science project he set about designing a low cost solution and utilised his 'Lego

Are you the next Dyson? Do you have the next invention to set the world on fire? The Gadget Show Live, now in its 7th year, is seeking entries for the British Inventors’ Project. The brief reads as follows: “We are looking for 20 of the very best inventions and innovations to be included in the specially created Gadget Show Live British Inventors’ at the 2015 show. So, if you design devices that are set to shape our future or have innovative technological solutions to som