The BIOME, in all its far-out organic glory. Future, please hurry!

Mercedes-Benz has been an innovator for decades. You can thank the German auto manufacturer fordieselandsupercharged engineson passenger cars,antilock brakes, electronic stability systems and more. But nothing could be more innovative than theBIOME concept car, unveiled at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November 2010. Here's how the official press release described the vehicle: "The Mercedes-Benz BIOME grows in a completely organic environment from seeds sown in a nursery. Out on the road the car emits pure oxygen, and at the end of its lifespan it can be simply composted or used as building material."Engineers from the Mercedes-Benz Advanced Design Studios in Carlsbad, Calif., created the car as part of the Los Angeles Design Challenge, which called for a safe and comfortable compactcar of the future that could accommodate four passengers, demonstrate good handling and weigh only 1,000 pounds (454 kilograms). The BIOME represents the Mercedes-Benz vision. It is made from an ultralight material called BioFibre so that the finished vehicle, though wider than a typical car, only weighs 876 pounds(397 kilograms). If you think that sounds too good to be true, then get this: The BIOME isn't assembled. It grows from two seeds -- one that forms the interior and one that forms the exterior. The wheels germinate from four additional seeds placed in the nursery.Of course, you won't find the BIOME at your localMercedes-Benz dealer. That's because the far-out design is a vision of the future -- aconcept carthat's decades ahead of its time. As such, it couldn't exist today. But it might be as common as a Corolla after 20 or 30 years of innovative thinking and inspired engineering [source:Leavitt].The Armstar Bodyguard 9XI-HD01 looks a bit like that scary black body armor that Christian Bale wears in the recentBatmanmovies. And it is kind of like that, actually.The Bodyguard, which was patented by a California inventor in 2007 under the title of "wearable shield and self-defense device," is designed to be a shield, a non-lethal weapon and a communications device all in one [source:Justia.com]. The flexible arm, which is armored with Kevlar and hard plastic, contains a rechargeablelithium batterypack that powers an "electronic deterrent" device built into the arm's artificial skin. All the user has to do is pull a pin, and an assailant who grabs his or her arm is going to get zapped withelectricity. The Bodyguard is also equipped with a bright LED flashlight, an HDcamera capable of transmitting pictures, and a charging slot into which an iPhone apparently fits nicely.We could see this gadget becoming an indispensible tool for law enforcement officers and bodyguards of the future, but given that you have to inquire about it to get a price quote, we'reguessing that it'll be too costly to make much of a dent into the everyday suburban adventurer market