Time Magazine's Top 50 Inventions of 2008

It was predicted 50 years ago that by 2008 we'd vacation on the moon, drive flying cars, and wear wristwatch-sized video conferencing systems. Science isn't delivering on those promises, yet. But who would have guessed back then that in 2008 we'd have do-it-yourself DNA test kits, a particle accelerator, an invisibility cloak, and cameras for the blind?

These latter tech breakthroughs are just four out of 50 of Time Magazine's list of the Best Inventions of 2008 it has just come out with. Here at PC World we share a lot of the same passion for Time's picks. In fact a few of Time's inventions were also featured in PC World's The 100 Best Products of 2008 .

Time's story can be found here, but if you want to skip the descriptions of each invention you can jump right to the list here.

Time's Invention of the Year

And what was Time's invention of the year? It picked the company 23andMe's retail DNA test kit ($400). Take this kit home and test your own DNA for a predisposition for more than 90 traits ranging from baldness to blindness. So much for keeping your genetic flaws a mystery.

Some of my favorites are:

The world's first commercially available bionic hand created by Touch Bionics.

The world's biggest particle accelerator, The Large Hadron Collider (see top), that someday may help us unlock the mysteries of the universe.

The Time Eater Clock (see below) which consists of a a handless, numberless clock with a monstrous grasshopper mounted at the top that chomps every second as it tick-tocks away. Eat your heart out Fanz Kafka.