Of Drivable Airplanes, Hair-Raising, OLPC, Card-Counting, Black Silicon, & More: New England’s Top Innovation Stories of 2008

potentially disruptive black silicon technology. Thanks to remarkable light-detecting properties, as Wade described it, black silicon could become “an ideal, and inexpensive, replacement for less-sensitive detectors in devices as varied as X-ray and CRT machines, surveillance satellites, night-vision goggles, and consumer digital cameras.”

5) Hair-Raising Adventures

Evidently few things are nearer and dearer to people’s hearts than their hair—and our two stories about Boston-based Follica, which has recruited top scientists to tackle baldness and other follicle disorders, have generated a ton of interest. Between the two of them, our story on the company’s launch, posted back in January, and an update about Follica’s latest fundraising efforts this summer, have generated more than 1,350 comments—and growing.

Editors’ Choices

Our readers are incredibly astute in picking great stories, of course, but here are a few that didn’t rank in the top five traffic-wise, but that our editors think are well worth another look.

The A123 Story: How a Battery Company Jumpstarted its Business
(Bonus choice: A123 Systems Co-founder Confirms Lucky 8 Influenced Timing of IPO Filing)

Boston Unblurred: Debunking the Google Maps Censorship Myth

Automattic Connection: How an East Coast VC Got Behind WordPress, the West Coast’s Hottest Blog Platform

EMC: Before Acquiring, Check the Wiring

Top 10 Mistakes By Entrepreneurs

Red Sox Owner’s Simulation Startup, iRacing.com, Waves the Green Flag

Are You Ready to Give Up Cable TV for Internet Video?

Twist of Fate-How A Band of VCs Recruited a Scientific Dream Team to Control Our Cells’ Destinies

Al Gore Eyeing Big Investment in Clean Energy Prize Winner

Author: Robert Buderi

Bob is Xconomy's founder and chairman. He is one of the country's foremost journalists covering business and technology. As a noted author and magazine editor, he is a sought-after commentator on innovation and global competitiveness. Before taking his most recent position as a research fellow in MIT's Center for International Studies, Bob served as Editor in Chief of MIT's Technology Review, then a 10-times-a-year publication with a circulation of 315,000. Bob led the magazine to numerous editorial and design awards and oversaw its expansion into three foreign editions, electronic newsletters, and highly successful conferences. As BusinessWeek's technology editor, he shared in the 1992 National Magazine Award for The Quality Imperative. Bob is the author of four books about technology and innovation. Naval Innovation for the 21st Century (2013) is a post-Cold War account of the Office of Naval Research. Guanxi (2006) focuses on Microsoft's Beijing research lab as a metaphor for global competitiveness. Engines of Tomorrow (2000) describes the evolution of corporate research. The Invention That Changed the World (1996) covered a secret lab at MIT during WWII. Bob served on the Council on Competitiveness-sponsored National Innovation Initiative and is an advisor to the Draper Prize Nominating Committee. He has been a regular guest of CNBC's Strategy Session and has spoken about innovation at many venues, including the Business Council, Amazon, eBay, Google, IBM, and Microsoft.