#15 Twivo
Hate getting spoiler tweets before you get a chance to watch your favorite TV Show? Twivo, an app invented by 17-year old Jen Lamere, blocks spoiler tweets until you have a chance to tune in. The app works by picking up keywords in Tweets that pertain to TV shows that have recently aired. The app works for a fixed period of time so you have a few hours to watch without risk of spoilers. Right now it's designed to work with phones running Google Chrome. This nifty invention won Jen first prize at the TVnext hack event in Boston. But the app isn't on the market yet. Jen is probably waiting to sell it to the highest bidder. And there's no word yet on whether that offer will come from Apple or Android.
#14 A Money Management App
Technically 12-year-old Fabian Frenandez-Han's app is for kids. But Oink-a-saurus teaches money lessons in a visual way that can help financially-challenged adults as well. It works like a digital piggy bank. Kids can monitor their savings by entering the dollar amount into the app. But that's not all it does. It acts like an online portfolio. Kids can track their spending and see how much they would have saved if they passed up on that trip to the movies. It also covers investments, stocks and bonds in a jargon-free way that anyone can understand. The app was funded in part by a grant from the New York Stock exchange and its available now.
#13 Cancer Screening Test
Before Ben and Janet Song came along, cancer screening tests were painful and invasive. But this 15 and 16 year old brother and sister changed all of that in 2009. Together, they developed a cancer screening test that uses urinalysis. Both of these accelerated students attend Drexel University and developed it in their lab. It is designed to test the early stages of cancer -- before large tumors are evident. This device has revolutionized cancer detection methods. The brother and sister duo applied for a patent in 2010. Soon the screening device will be readily available in hospitals around the world.
#12 The Algae Mobile
While most of us just complain about air pollution, 17-year-old Param Jaggi invented a device that turns cars' carbon dioxide exhaust into oxygen. The device is all natural too. It uses algae as a filter. This kid's invention could change the face of emissions as we know it. There are a lot of interested parties scratching at his door. The EPA, Intel and Forbes have all officially recognized Jaggi for his invention. When will we see this device on our cars? It may be a few years yet. Jaggi just invented the device in 2011.
#11 The Trampoline
George Nissen is responsible for hours of backyard fun. He invented the trampoline when he was just 16. It was back in 1930 and George was a juvenile gymnast. He wanted to devise a contraption that would let gymnasts do several tricks in a row. So he put together the precursor to the trampoline. He continued to perfect it over the years. He developed the final version while on the gymnastics team at the University of Iowa. He called this final version the trampoline. It's the Spanish word for "diving board".
#10 A Bacon Drying Rack
No one loves bacon more than the internet. So 8-year-old Abbey Fleck, inventor or the bacon drying rack, will always have a place in our hearts. This clever inventor was inspired by her father. Her role model ate so much bacon that he used up all of the paper towels in the house to dry off the grease. When Abbey's mom complained, Abbey got inventing. She created a bacon drying rack that leaves your bacon crisp. The grease collects in a tray beneath the rack for easy cleanup after you crunch.
#9 Ear Muffs
The next time you're keeping toasty on a cold day, thank Chester Greenwood. He was 15 when he developed the contraption that keeps our ears from freezing. In fairness, his grandmother helped a little. Chester made the wire shape. His grandmother sewed the fur around it. Chester then called them Greenwood's Champion Ear Protectors and started Greenwood's Ear Protector Factory. Then he made a fortune selling them to soldiers in World War I. Chester's home town, Farmington Maine, Farmington Maine is now known as the Earmuff Capital of the World.
#8 Braille
Sometimes tragedy is the mother of invention. When 3-year-old Louis Braille accidentally blinded himself, nobody guessed that he'd go on to change the world. But little Louis was born at a time when there was only one school for the blind in the world. Luckily it was located in his home town. There he got an education but was frustrated that he couldn't read anything for himself. So he developed a reading system that uses your hands to read instead of your eyes. He was only 15 at the time. His system of raised dots is still used as a reading system for the blind today.
#7 The Revolver
Not all kid inventors make kid stuff. Sam Colt was 15 when he invented the first gun. He was still in boarding school at the time. To impress his fellow classmates, Sam made a few homemade hand-held fireworks. His classmates loved them -- until they burned down the school. Back at home, Sam kept his love for fireworks burning. He carved models for the first revolver prototypes and stuck his homemade explosives inside. He shopped the design for the first .45 revolver around for years then gave up on the seemingly unpopular design. Then he saw bootleggers selling knockoffs for his design at dirt cheap prices. He bought up most of these models and put his name back on his now-famous revolver.
#6 Hip Hop
Ever wonder who invented hip hop? The credit goes to Clive Campbell who was 17 at the time. It all started in the 1970s in the middle of the disco era. Clive noticed that party goers got antsy waiting for the disco beat to drop. So he fiddled with the records and remixed the songs to deliver more beats per minute. And the rest of Hip Hop was born from his bright idea. Clive later went on to become DJ Kool Herc. And DJ Kool Herc went on to make the first tracks that rappers wrote rhymes for.
#5 Superman
We all doodled in school. High school kids Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel turned their doodle into the most iconic super hero of all time. And they didn't just shape Superman. Every super hero that came after was inspired by their sketches. Ever wonder why super heroes wear spandex? Because Shuster and Siegel drew them that way. But their iconic character didn't catch on immediately. It took them three years of pitching and sketching before an independent publisher bought in. And from there, it was all superhero history.
#4 A Sign Language Translator
One day, 17-year-old Ryan Patterson saw a group of deaf people having trouble ordering in a fast food restaurant. He went home and developed the Sign Language Translator. It's a glove that deaf people wear when they sign. The technology picks up on each individual's personal signing style. Then it translates that signing to text on a digital screen. Now when deaf people want the Golden Arches, they can sign up their order and show it to their server. Right now, the glove only works with American Sign Language. But the future possibilities are endless. The newest edition of the glove even translates text to speech.
#3 The TV
What were you doing when you were 15? Philo T. Farnsworth was developing the tech that made the TV possible. When still in his early teens, Farnsworth had drawn up the sketches, diagrams and notes to make the first televised images. By the time he was 21, he transmitted his first TV image. His first public demonstration gave birth to the movement that would be modern television. Farnsworth went on to contribute a lot to the modern television. In 1971, the year Farnsworth died, televisions at the time contained over 100 of his patented inventions. Why haven't any of today's teens invented the next generation of the TV? They're probably too busy watching TV.
#2 The Popsicle
It really shouldn't be a surprise that your favorite childhood snack was invented by a kid. In 1905, 11-year-old Frank Epperson invented this tasty treat -- by accident. Frank was mixing powdered soda and water outside. Then he abandoned the ingredients and the stirring stick he used to mix them outside. They froze overnight. In the morning, little Frankie pulled the frozen treat out of the cup, tasted it and new he was on to something. He called his new invention the Epsicle. He finally patented it in 1923 and sold it to a big company. They renamed it the Popsicle and added the many different flavors that make it the treat we love today.
#1 An Alternative Energy Source
This generation may just save the world yet. 16-year-old Josh Wolf has invented a method of extracting oil from algae. But don't expect those little green organisms to sing his praises any time soon. The invention shocks the algae to get them to release the lipid oils that make up around 60 percent of their mass. The shock doesn't kill the algae so each organism can be harvested over and over again. Human beings are pretty stocked about the invention though. The algae's oil can be used as a natural source of biodiesel. It could change the nature of energy consumption for the planet.
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