anitanewton

One of my favorite words in the English language is ‘Gobsmack.”   What is a ‘Gobsmack?’  The word means to be dumbfounded, surprised, amazed.  What is amazing? There are the obvious examples:  solar eclipses, fireworks and the one time my 8 year old volunteered to do the dishes.   But what is truly amazing in my view is someone who looks at the world in a different way and thru that lens finds a super-unique-yet-dead-simple approach to solving a complex problem.   These people see the world differently. They are dot connectors, not pencil pushers. They know how to unleash their creative potential. The good news is that creativity is not the same thing as intelligence. And fortunately, creativity is not a trait acquired solely thru good genes at birth.  We all have the potential to create more amazing, more creative, and well, more Gobsmack moments.

My favorite Gobsmack moment of the week is the story of a 15 year old who build a better mousetrap for detecting cancer:

Jack Andraka, 15, developed a paper sensor that detects pancreatic cancer 168 times faster than current tests and is 90% accurate. Even more importantly, the new method is a whopping 26,000 times less expensive than today’s most popular method. How does someone who has no formal medical or research training and is not even old enough to drive develop such an incredible product?  Three reasons: passion, hard work and curiosity: Andraka was inspired to focus on pancreatic cancer because a friend’s relative was killed by the disease. He become interested in the subject and spent endless hours trying to solve the problem. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Andraka is curious. He has attended many science fairs and seems to love figuring out how things work.   Read the entire article at co.exist.com.

Gobsmackers of the week.

Every now and then I come across a cool product-concept-service that reminds me that creativity and innovation can be found everywhere.

The inventor of these Gobsmackers are mother nature.  The Week published the 10 weirdest new species of 2012. These Gobsmackers challenge our conventional thinking and remind us that the world is truly a weird and wonderful place.

Sneezing Monkey:

The picture at the top of this post shows a sweet looking money with black fur and white beard.  Notice his nose is turned upwards.  The angle of his nose causes him to sneeze whenever it’s raining.  According to the article, ‘to avoid inhaling water, the monkeys supposedly sit with their heads tucked between their knees on drizzly days.”

Late Night Blooming Orchird:

Below is picture of an orchid that comes alive at bedtime. It opens at 10 p.m. and closes early the next morning.  It is the believed to be the only nocturnal blooming orchard on the planet.

And finally, this 8-legged-furry friend may seem like  your every-day-garden-variety poisonous spider. What makes it unique is its color.  It is blue:  iridescent sapphire colored blue to be specific.  Amazing!