The 50 Best Inventions of 2010

Amtrak's Beef-Powered Train

Compared with its ultramodern counterparts in Europe and Japan, Amtrak is not a font of innovation. But on its Heartland Flyer — a daily service between Oklahoma City and Fort Worth, Texas — Amtrak is taking tentative steps toward a greener, low-carbon future. Since spring, the Heartland Flyer has been running on 20% biodiesel rather than the carbon-heavy diesel fuel on which Amtrak's other trains — with the exception of the electric Acela Express — currently operate. The biodiesel reduces air pollution and helps cash-strapped Amtrak save on fuel. And appropriately for a train in cow country, the biodiesel is made from rendered cattle fat. Biodiesel from beef burns cleaner than plant biodiesel, though it may not be scalable outside the beef belt.

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Google's Driver less Car

Is it an autoautomobile? An aut2.0mobile? Whatever you call it, Google's new Prius — tricked out with radar sensors, video cameras and a laser range finder — has driven itself 140,000 miles without an unscheduled meeting with a light pole. Other geek squads have been running driverless vehicles in the California desert for years, partly at the behest of the U.S. Department of Defense. But only Google can rev the petabyte-sucking mapping technology that guides its car along busy streets and highways. The goal is safety — an admirable one given the world's million-plus auto fatalities each year. Driverless technology is logical and efficient, and in the near future, it could transform your commute into stress-free transport on a motorized sofa. The sad part for road hogs: if Google is successful in marketing its technology to automakers, you may never get to flip the bird at another driver again.

• Transportation
 

Martin Jet-pack

Every depiction of future transport since Buck Rogers includes a jet pack, so who are we to mess with invention convention? The Martin Jetpack positions itself as the planet's first practical jet pack — as if it were some kind of airborne Swiffer. New Zealand inventor Glenn Martin spent nearly 30 years developing a successor to the proven but impractical Bell Rocket Belt, which first flew in 1961.

Martin's version doesn't look practical: he appears to have welded two enormous leaf blowers together and thrown on a harness. But the carbon-fiber composite frame houses a gasoline-fueled, 200-horsepower engine — more power than a Honda Accord — that turns a pair of carbon-Kevlar rotors. Theoretically, the Martin Jetpack could take its operator up 8,000 ft. Since it holds only 30 minutes' worth of fuel, though, you won't want to linger. The commercial application may be more for first responders than for early adopters. The Jetpack will sell for about

• Transportation
 

Edison2

Perhaps the easiest way to make a car more fuel-efficient is to make it lighter. The designers of the Edison2 concept vehicle have taken auto dieting to the extreme. The car — as aerodynamic as it is anorexic — weighs less than 800 lb., which helps it get 102.5 m.p.g. That was good enough to share the Progressive Insurance Automotive X-Prize, an award set up to encourage development of production-ready cars that are super-fuel-efficient. Sadly, Edison2 team owner Oliver Kuttner says you won't see the car at your dealer anytime soon. But it's a                  hopeful sign for an oil-pinched future.

• Transportation
 

Antro Electric Car

The car of the future, now coming from: Hungary. Yes, it sounds like communist propaganda circa 1967, but the Hungarian designer Antro might just have made a superefficient, supercheap car that could put Western manufacturers to shame. The Antro Solo can hold up to three people — a driver and two passengers, one on either side — who pedal to help drive the ultralight car. The rest of the forward motion comes from an electric motor that's partly powered by solar panels. If you need a bigger car, Antro has a solution: two Solos can be combined, Transformers-style, to create the family-friendly Duo. Look for it in 2012.

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