TRANSPORTATION INVENTIONS Hydrogen Bomber It may be years before you can buy a Chevy powered by hydrogen fuel cells. Tired of waiting, Shanghai-based Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies decided to design and market the H-racer, a 6-in.-long toy car that does what Detroit still can't. It runs on hydrogen extracted from plain tap water using the solar-powered Hydrogen Station, below, and can travel more than 300 ft. in a single fuel-up. The car's miniature scale gives it one advantage over full-size prototypes: since it uses only a trace amount of flammable hydrogen, there's no risk of it pulling a Hindenburg in your living room. Inventor: Horizon Fuel Cell Availability: Now; $115 Batteries Included What goes from zero to 60 in 4 sec., tops out at more than 130 m.p.h. and appears to be missing a gas tank? The Tesla Roadster 100. It's pure California: a hot sports car that doubles as a statement against pollution and oil dependence. Its massive lithium-ion-battery array can power it for up to 250 miles of highway travel, and even though it will fatten your electricity bill, the Roadster is still twice as efficient as a Toyota Prius. Inventor: Tesla Motors Availability: Now; $100,000 To learn more visit teslamotors.com HOME INVENTIONS A Great Pair of Legs You've scorched your last dress shirt. When you let go of the Oliso steam iron, it automatically lifts itself to stand about an inch above the board. To resume ironing, just touch it again, and the legs gently retract. This little trick is triggered by sensors located in the patented "smart touch" handle. Leave the iron facedown for longer than eight minutes, and it shuts itself off. Inventor: Oliso Availability: Now; $90   TOYS INVENTIONS In The Driver's Seat NASCAR fans who made it to the track this year got to kick the action up a notch with a new gadget that shows even more live, in-car video than the couch potatoes get back home on TV. Dedicated racegoers have long used handheld scanners to listen in on conversations between drivers and their pit crews, but FanView adds audio and video to the mix, using feeds from seven different cameras and microphones inside selected cars. Inventor: Sprint Nextel, NASCAR and Kangaroo.TV Availability: Now; $50 a day or $70 for the weekend To learn more www.nextel.com/nextelcup CLOTHING INVENTIONS Drip Patrol Umbrellas are supposed to keep the water out, but those $5 throwaway models will soak through in a downpour, and even the best umbrellas drip annoyingly when you bring them indoors. Here's a dryer, albeit pricier, alternative. The NanoNuno umbrella dries after a quick shake, so you don't have to park it outside the door on rainy days. The canopy's nanotech polyester surface is designed to repel water droplets, so they don't end up on you or your floor. Its inventors were inspired by the way moisture and dirt roll off the leaves of a lotus plant. Inventor: Pro-Idee Availability: Now; $95 To learn more visit proidee.co.uk Amazing Embrace Remember when PDA stood for something other than personal digital assistant? It can again with the Hug Shirt, a high-tech garment that simulates the experience of being embraced by a loved one. When a friend sends you a virtual hug, your cell phone notifies the shirt wirelessly, via Bluetooth. The shirt then re-creates that person's distinctive cuddle, replicating his or her warmth, pressure, duration and even heartbeat. And, yes, the Hug Shirt is fully washable. Inventor: CuteCircuit Availability: Not yet for sale To learn more visit cutecircuit.com     MEAL INVENTIONS Clean Machine In the wake of the spinach scare, even the friendliest food can seem like a biological hazard, and scrubbing alone won't necessarily wipe out pesticides or bacteria. The Lotus Sanitizing System turns ordinary tap water into superoxygenated water that kills microbes and removes toxins. The machine uses an electrical charge to infuse the tap water with ozone, which sounds scarier than it is, it just means the water carries a form of oxygen that acts as a natural sanitizer. Inventor: Tersano Availability Now; $200 To learn more, visit tersano.com Just Claws You already drink organic milk, buy free-range chicken and shun foie gras. But have you assessed your seafood eating habits? After watching a lobster thrash about as it was boiled alive at a grocery store, a British barrister devised a kinder way to kill crustaceans. His CrustaStun electrocutes them with a 110-volt shock, dispatching them in about five seconds, vs. the two minutes it takes in hot water. A commercial version is already being used by a pair of seafood wholesalers in Britain. A smaller, home version measuring about 1.5 feet in width and depth will be out by year's end. Inventor: Simon Buckhaven Availability: December; $4,740 To learn more visit crustastun.com MEDICINE INVENTIONS Bright Idea Identifying drunk drivers could get a lot quicker and easier after a new infrared alcohol test--developed by an Albuquerque, N.M., start-up is launched next year. Using the fact that body tissue with alcohol in it absorbs more light than normal tissue, the device detects alcohol levels by shining infrared light on the subject's skin and analyzing tissue based on how it reflects that light. The test (which doesn't have an official name yet takes 60 sec. to produce results, vs. 20 min. for a Breathalyzer test and days for a standard blood test. Inventor: TruTouch Technologies Availability: January 2007 To learn more, visit trutouchtechnologies.com Meow "no achoo" Love cats but your nose doesn't? A San Diego company is breeding felines that are naturally hypoallergenic. Most cats produce a protein in their saliva that can trigger an allergic reaction in humans; some breeds, like the Siamese, produce less of it than others. But in Allerca's mixed-breed (not genetically engineered) cats, the protein is virtually undetectable. Allerca tests each cat and offers a one-year money-back guarantee. Demand is high: there's already a 15-month wait for the sniffle-proof kitties. Inventor: Allerca Availability: 2007; $3,950 SAFETY INVENTIONS Lifeline After two New York City firefighters jumped to their deaths from a burning building in January 2005, the FDNY set out to design a safety device to keep that from ever happening again. Result: a compact, lightweight (6 lbs. including harness) personal safety system that's easy to carry and made for a quick escape. The unit's forged-steel hook can penetrate brick, if necessary, to allow a firefighter to anchor himself before heading out the window. The 50-ft. rope is fire resistant up to 1100°F, but the real innovation is the patented lever mechanism that allows the user to control the speed of descent. Inventor: FDNY Availability: Now     BRIGHT IDEAS Power Flower Can a lamp change the way you live? This elegant flower-shaped light harbors an eco-friendly secret: it monitors the overall energy usage in your household. When it senses that power consumption is low, it rewards you by blooming - its metal petals unfold attractively. If you start draining too much electricity, it closes up again. The flower lamp was created by a Swedish consortium called Static! that explores ways of using design to increase energy awareness and promote greener lifestyles. Inventor: Static! Availability: Not for sale To learn more, see www.tii.se/static.