Top 10 Innovations of 2010
VELSHI: I'm Ali Velshi, now back with a list of top 10 innovation stories of 2010. Commercial space exploration checks in at number 5. Specifically, SpaceX's Falcon 9.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two, one, liftoff.</s>VELSHI: The rocket made it through earth's atmosphere and put a space capsule into orbit. This was an important test that puts us one step closer to commercial space travel. Number four was something I had a great time playing with. It's the Xbox Kinect, the next innovation for video games let's you do away with the joystick and buttons.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jump, jump, jump!</s>VELSHI: Cameras and sensors measure your movements to make you part of the game. Miraculous movement is at the heart of innovation number three.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shall we go for it?</s>VELSHI: Let's do it.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now there's no excuses, Ali, because for a doctor to ever say again, You will never walk again, because we've got bionic technology.</s>VELSHI: They are called E-legs. The bionic devices can allow some paraplegics to actually walk again. The artificially intelligent limbs use sensors to determine where you want to go, and amazingly, they take you there. The rise of the electric car comes in at number two. The Nissan Leaf and the Chevy Volt were two of the biggest we heard about this year. There are limitations to these cars, like price and speed. But you can just plug in and go. Demand has pushed every major car maker to design at least one electric car. And that brings us to number one, the number one innovation of 2010.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you here for the iPad?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am here for the iPad, the greatest, newest, best thing ever, man!</s>VELSHI: That's right, Apple's iPad.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, it feels very exciting. You know, I can't believe I hold this thing in my hand.</s>VELSHI: People lined up all over the world for a chance to get their hands on what Steve Jobs calls a truly magical and revolutionary product. It was designed to bridge the gap between laptops and smartphones. In the first month alone, Apple sold one million iPads. I'm Ali Velshi, and those are the top 10 innovations of 2010.</s>HOLMES: And our friends at CNNMoney.com have a great section called "Innovation Nation," where they highlight great innovations. And for a link to the site directly, you can head to our blog, CNN.com/TJ. It'll get you where you need to go. Well, taking a look now at some stories that we are keeping a close eye on. It's going to be a white Christmas in parts of the U.S., but that could cause some problems, some areas expected to get plenty of snow, most of the major airlines issuing a travel waiver that will allow to reschedule your flight without paying any penalties. You need to check with your particular airline, though, ahead of time. Also, out in Arizona, prison riot there has left eight men in the hospital with head injuries. Thursday's melee at the Red Rock Correctional facility involved nearly 180 inmates. It started in the lunchroom. A police spokesman says he doesn't know what started it in the first place, however. Also, Russian lawmakers have started voting on the START treaty. The nuclear arms reduction deal with the U.S. passed its first vote in the lower house of parliament today. Faces several more hurdles, however. The U.S. Senate approved the START treaty Wednesday, just before adjourning for the holidays. Well, you are running out of time, just a few hours left to get that last-minute shopping done. Coming up, we're going to go shopping with Pete Dominick with some last-minute laughs. Stick around.