The tasting event and the in-class guest appearance reminded me of this very recent invention: drip-free wine bottle. This research finding came from Brandeis after an amazingly long period of 3 years (gotta extend that funding for more wine!).
What Daniel Perlman found was that glass bottles are hydrophilic, which means they attract water. By just cutting a groove below the lip, he successfully invented the no-spill wine bottle. The 2mm groove forces the liquor to fall directly into the glass and allows the excess droplets to return to the bottle.
While this certainly solves the issue that many wine lovers face, I can’t help but wonder why it took so long for such a finding, especially when the solution is quite simple. Additionally, as I asked in class about intellectual property surrounding design, I’m not sure if this invention could be patented for its value.
