Bitcoin = Computer Science + Cryptography

In 2017, we saw the surge of Bitcoin, which went from USD $1000 per Bitcoin to USD $19000 per Bitcoin. What exactly is Bitcoin?  Bitcoin is a form of virtual money, in which you can make purchases with. You do not need a bank to own or use Bitcoin, all you need is the Bitcoin software installed on your computer.  Since it eliminates the need of a central bank, it is a very disruptive technology.

Although Bitcoin is a new concept, its underlying technology is not. Its inventor cleverly combined several known technologies from the fields of cryptography and computer science to make Bitcoin.

At its core, Bitcoin is a list of transactions, and this list is stored on every single computer. Storing data on many computers is not a new concept. BitTorrent, a software used for downloading music, has been storing music files on many computers since 2001. Bitcoin uses a cryptography technique called public/private key to allow each user to sign off on their transactions after they make a purchase. Public/private keys are not new either, as they have been around since the 1970s. To maintain the list of transactions, Bitcoin draws upon technology used in email spam prevention, which was developed by Adam Back in 2002.

The example of Bitcoin demonstrates the fact that novel inventions can be found at the intersection of different disciplines. In my opinion, that is the direction to go for innovation.

Paint vs Cosmetics

Have you ever thought that paint and cosmetics would have anything in common? As a matter of fact, they have quite a bit in common.  Let's take a look at the major components of liquid foundation and house paint:

The major difference between the two is that house paint contains a polymer, which forms a nice film on the wall of your house after it is applied and dries. Obviously you don't want a film on your face when using liquid foundation, so no polymer is present there.

Since house paint and liquid foundation have both been around for some time, there is a lot of research that has been conducted in both fields.  Therefore, there should be a lot of opportunities for innovation by leveraging the technologies developed for paints into cosmetics, and vice-versa.