All of this is to say: I love inventions. I love the idea of coming up with things that make our lives not necessarily any easier, but at the very least, deeply more interesting.

Not all inventions are born equal. Some spring from nowhere to create an entirely new class of technology; others assemble existing ideas to create useful new products. Now, researchers have shown ...

Most inventions up until now have been based on physics or chemistry. Today’s understanding of biology, though, is roughly where that of the physical sciences was in the 19th century.