IDEAS 2007

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December 9, 2007

The 7th Annual Year in Ideas

By THE NEW YORK TIMES

For the seventh consecutive December, the magazine looks back on the passing year through a special lens: ideas. Editors and writers trawl the oceans of ingenuity, hoping to snag in our nets the many curious, inspired, perplexing and sometimes outright illegal innovations of the past 12 months. Then we lay them out on the dock, flipping and flopping and gasping for air, and toss back all but those that are fresh enough for our particular cut of intellectual sushi. For better or worse, these are 70 of the ideas that helped make 2007 what it was. Enjoy.

Airborne Wind Turbines

Alzheimer’s Telephone Screening

Ambiguity Promotes Liking

Appendix Rationale, The

Best Way to Deflect an Asteroid, The

Biodegradable Coffins

Biofuel Race, The

Braille Tattoo, The

Cardboard Bridge, The

‘Cat Lady’ Conundrum, The

Climate Conflicts

Community Urinalysis

Craigslist Vengeance

Criminal Recycling

Crowdware

Culinary Orientalism

Death of Checkers, The

Digital Search Parties

Edible Cocktail, The

Electric Hockey Skate, The

Faces Decide Elections

Fake Tilt-Shift Photography

Fish-Flavored Fish

God Effect, The

Handshake Sex Appeal

Height Tax, The

Honeycomb Vase, The

Hope Can Be Worse Than Hopelessness

Iconic-Performance-Network Player, The

Indie-Rock Musicals

Interstellar Ramadan

Jogging Politique

Knot Physics

Lap-Dance Science

Left-Hand-Turn Elimination

Lightning Farms

Lite-Brite Fashion

Marijuana Mansions

Mindful Exercise

Minimal Chair, The

Mob Jurisprudence

Murphy Balcony, The

Neurorealism

Next Violin, The

Office-Chair Exercise (for Men and Women)

Pixelated Stained Glass

Pop Fecundity

Posthumous E-Mail

Postnuptial Agreements

Prison Poker

Quitting Can Be Good for You

Radiohead Payment Model, The

Right to Medical Self-Defense, The

Rock-Paper-Scissors Is Universal

Second-World Solidarity

Self-Righting Object, The

Smog-Eating Cement

Starch Made Us Human

Suing God

Telltale Food Wrapping

24/7 Alibi, The

Two-Birds-With-One-Stone Resistance

Unadapted Theatrical Adaptation, The

Vegansexuality

Wave Energy

Weapon-Proof School Gear

Wikiscanning

Wireless Energy

Youtube (Accidental) Audition, The

Zygotic Social Networking