Translucent Concrete developed by Hungarian architect Aron Losonczi and called LitraCon and is based on a matrix of parallel optical glass fibers embedded into the concrete that can transmit light and color from the outside. However, this is not the only translucent concrete out there. Inventor Bill Price has been developing another variety.

A professor at the University of Tokyo has created an optical camouflage system that makes anyone wearing a special reflective material seem to disappear. Here's how: a video camera records the real-life scenery behind the subject, transmits that image to a front-mounted projector, which then displays the scene on the reflective material. The system has obvious military applications and could also be used in airplane cockpits to make landings easier for pilots.

Now a gadget developed in Japan is allowing flowers to answer back - with music. Called Ka-on, which means "flower sound" in Japanese, the gadget consists of a doughnut-shaped magnet and coil at the base of a vase. It hooks up to a CD player, TV or stereo and relays sounds up through a plant's stem and out via the petals.