Generations of technical innovation, epiphanies, scientific discoveries, work, and toil were needed to create a $10.00 toaster. Humanity needed to learn to master electricity, smelt metals, mould plastics, and create a modernized supply chain. Advanced as they may be, few modern humans could build a toaster on their own. Artist Thomas Thwaites, however, gave it a shot. In his Toaster Project, Thwaites tried to smelt the iron, refine oil into plastics, and build a toaster in an effort to explore the connection people have to every-day technology. Thwaites wrote:

The point at which it stopped being possible for us to make the things that surround us is long past...This faintly ridiculous quest to make a toaster from the 'ground up' serves as a vehicle through which questions about economics, helplessness and life as a consumer can be investigated.

Where Thwaites sees the helplessness of the consumer, Reason magazine’s Radley Balko sees the genius of capitalism and the division of labor. “Pan back until you've framed the entire world economy,” Balko writes, “and it's hard not to marvel at the wonder and miracle of capitalism's invisible hand.”

Sources:  The Toaster Project,   Reason  

Up to 30 percent of pharmaceutical drugs distributed in the developing world are counterfeit, according to the World Health Organization. To combat this medically dangerous uncertainty, a technology company in Ghana called mPedigree has created a service that allows users to send text messages and find out if their drug is genuine, reports Verge.

Here’s how Worldchanging breaks it down: “mPedigree provides pharmaceutical manufacturers with specially coded labels, which are affixed to individually packaged medicines. At the drugstore counter, the purchaser scratches off a label to reveal a unique code, which he or she texts to a four-digit number. An automated service looks up the code in a database. On the spot, the consumer gets a reply message indicating whether the drug is genuine or fake.”

Smart stuff. For more technological solutions to managing global medicines, check out my colleague Danielle Mastretti’s recent blog about an awesome database that the Indian government created to help battle biopirates. That’s right, biopirates.

Sources: Verge (article not available online), Worldchanging

Image by Lee Nachtigal, licensed under Creative Commons.

Inventions aren’t just for inventors, according to Saul Griffith, one of Utne Reader’s “50 Visionaries Who Are Changing Your World.” His myriad innovations, including low-cost eyeglass lenses and a smart rope that’s able to sense its own load, are undoubtedly impressive. What makes Griffith different is that he wants to help everyone share in the inventive process.

In this episode of the UtneCast, senior editor Keith Goetzman talks with Griffith about the future of invention and innovation, which he believes will be more open and collaborative. Griffith is also helping bring that future to fruition with HowToons, a series of science-based cartoons for children.

You can listen to the interview below, or to subscribe to the UtneCast for free through iTunes, click here.

With Facebook, MySpace, and similar sites experiencing unprecedented popularity, gamers have started tapping into the power of social networks. "Social networking is a game in and of itself," explained Jennifer Pahlka, co-chair of the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco. One example reported by BBC News is Mytopia.com, a site that lets users play Soduku, hearts, backgammon, and other games over MySpace and Facebook. Mytopia.com co-creator Guy Ben-Artzi says that playing these games over social networking sites with friends makes gaming more meaningful.

Expanding the definition of social networking, Gamelayers, currently being developed, is experimenting with turning the entire web into a gaming platform. Dubbed a PMOG (passively multiplayer online game), Technology Review reports that players download a tool bar onto their browsers, allowing them to participate in an online scavenger hunt through the web. Participants can leave gifts and popups, and send instant messages with other participants as they search the web on themed missions. As an example, Gamelyayers’ CEO says that Warner Brothers could create a Batman-themed mission to promote the new superhero movie.

If promoting the new Hollywood blockbuster doesn’t fit your idea of “meaningful,” researchers at the University of Washington have created a game that could eventually lead to a cure for HIV, according to ScienceDaily. The game Foldit creates a competition out of protein folding, a process of shaping biological building blocks that plays a crucial role in the human immune system. “There are too many possibilities [of protein shapes] for the computer to go through every possible one,” said David Baker, one of the game’s creators. Instead of relying on the computer, the game invites people to tap their intuition and come up with creative solutions for protein shapes. The goal, according to Baker, is “to use the brain power of people all around the world to advance biomedical research.”