Best Ideas of 2010

The New York Times magazine has chosen to look back on the past year through a distinctive prism: ideas. “Our digest of short entries refracts the light beam of human inspiration, breaking it up into its constituent colors — innovations and insights from a spectrum of fields, including economics, biology, engineering, medicine, literature, sports, music and, of course, raw-meat clothing. Happy thinking!” Among the ideas featured are the Megalobster, the youth condom, turbine-free wind power, perfect parallel parking, D.I.Y. macroeconomics, the long-life-span Smartphone and the emotional spell-check.