MineWolf, the mine clearing machine

Mines continue to maim and kill between 15,000 and 20,000 people each year according to UNICEF. Around 90 percent of the victims are civilians.

A retired German engineer named Heinz Rath decided that "a landmine isn't much different than a sugar beet" and designed the MineWolf , a land-mine-clearing device able to clear nearly 2000 square meters per hour. This is nearly ten times as fast as the best machines around, and 200 times as fast as people with dogs.

Best of all, after a field has been demined, the engine can be used to farm on areas that were inaccessible because they were designated as "suspected areas."

Details in WorldChanging.