Making a list and checking it twice

Someone once said that all of the people on this planet are divided into two groups: Those who make lists and those who don't. Fortunately for me, my wife, Eileen, falls into the former category. She always has a million projects and the only way she can keep to her schedule is to make a "to- do" list. The grocery list is, of course, a no-brainer. There's no way I could remember anything more than two items without writing them down, for example. Yet, there are still times when I come home without a box of cereal or a tub of margarine even though they appear in dark black ink on my list.

So it has been very helpful to write things down on a pad on my desk to let me know what to expect for the day or the next. I find that I often forget to check things buried in my computer's brain (pop-up meeting reminders are super, however), and that written list works beautifully.

All of which brings me to tell you how much I loved a release I sent out yesterday. You guessed it. It's all about a list. This time, however, the only reference to food is a "shrimp cocktail" to fuel cars and trucks.

The list is comprised of 10 technologies that made news in 2009 and ought to be watched in 2010.  One of these is a catalyst made from shrimp shells that could change production of biodiesel fuel into a faster, less expensive, more environmentally friendly process. In the study, reported in the ACS journal Energy & Fuels, Chinese researchers used the shrimp shell catalysts to convert canola oil to biodiesel.

Among the other technologies in the list are a needle free-inhalant powder measles vaccine; "frozen smoke," the ultimate sponge for cleaning up oil spills; a new nanogenerator that could charge iPods and cell phones with a wave of your hand; tobacco plants that yield the first vaccine for the dreaded "cruise ship virus; a monthly pill to keep fleas and ticks off your dog or cat and several more breakthroughs.

To read about this list, go to The List.

Image courtesy of Wikmedia Commons