The top 10 most-read innovation stories of 2011

From falling in love to fearing China and India, here are the stories on innovation you couldn’t get enough of in 2011.

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#10 - SOPA

The Stop Online Piracy Act has been a topic of intense interest online this year, involving myriad interest groups and placing Hollywood, Congress and Silicon Valley heavy-hitters and everyday Internet users in a fierce debate over how best to counteract online piracy. Ideas@Innovations blogger Dominic Basulto wrote about the “ugly message” the legislation sends to the world. This prompted commenter “alance” to write, “We are surrendering all of our rights, freedoms and liberties to an authoritarian police state formerly known as the USA.” Read “SOPA’s ugly message to the world”

Tammie Arroyo / AP

#9 - Fearing India

If it wasn’t a fear of China that had readers interested, it was a fear of India, particularly as it related to Silicon Valley. Post columnist Vivek Wadhwa wrote about exactly this, prompting commenter “Nymous” to write, “When people offshore jobs, they offshore innovation with it. I'm not worried about India, the more they do the more potential market there is for stuff from the US.” In this photo, the Taj Mahal is reflected in the Yamuna River in Agra, India, in 2000. Read “Why Silicon Valley should fear India”

Rick Sammon / AP

#8 - Steve Jobs

Almost immediately after the news landed that he had died, the Web overflowed with condolences for and stories about the life of Steve Jobs, so it’s no surprise that our Ideas@Innovations blog post remembering the Apple co-founder, former CEO and board chairman made the year’s top-10 list. Commenter “vijayadhiraaj” simply wrote, “Oh my God Steve... “ In this photo, Jobs shows off the iPod Mini, at the Macworld Conference and Expo in San Francisco on Jan. 6, 2004. Read “Steve Jobs dies: Remembering a legacy”

Marcio Jose Sanchez / AP

#7 - The engineering myth

The number of engineers in the United States, and whether the president was aware of just how many there are, had readers hooked this year. Post columnist Vivek Wadhwa’s column on the engineer shortage myth prompted commenter “jwdkturner” to write: “I have worked as an engineer many years with a major corporation. I hire engineers. My observation is that there is not a lack of engineers, but a lack of really good ones.” Read “Mr. President, there is no engineer shortage”

Andrew Harrer / Bloomberg

#6 - DNA's future

The prospect of human DNA becoming the next great hacking frontier also made the list of popular topics this year. The column by Washington Post columnist Vivek Wadha prompted commenter “jralger” to write, “Question: Does the Army know about this ?” In this photo, John Mears, Director of Biometric and Identity Management Solutions at Lockheed Martin, holds up the Micro Fluidic chip from their Rapid DNA Identification system now in Beta 2 testing, in Gaithersburg on Nov. 18, 2011. Read “DNA: The next big hacking frontier”

Jeffrey MacMillan

#5 - Immigration

When it comes to reading about innovation, immigration was a popular topic. Washington Post columnist Vivek Wadhwa wrote that, on immigration, the U.S. Customs and Immigration Service, a branch of the Department of Homeland Security, had taken a step in the right direction. This prompted commenter “richard36” to write: “Until the issue of border control and deportation of illegal aliens is resolved, nothing should happen in the area of new immigration laws. Let's clean house and secure the borders, first.” In this photo, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano flies from New Mexico to Nogales, Ariz. Read “On immigration, a step in the right direction”

Sarah L. Voisin / The Washington Post

#4 - The Aakash

In a guest piece, Venture Beat’s Chikodi Chima reviewed the $35 tablet, prompting commenter ”Chortling_Heel” to write: “While I hope this works out well, it looks to be too big for a smart phone and too small (and slow) for a personal computing device. “ In this photo, Indian students pose with the Aakash Tablet computers they received during its launch in New Delhi on Oct. 5, 2011. Read “Hands On: India’s $35 Android table, the Aakash, lands in America.”

Gurinder Osan / AP

#3 - The Asus Transformer

When it came to technology, tablets ruled. Washington Post Co. senior vice president and chief digital officer Vijay Ravindran reviewed the Asus Eee Pad Transformer, prompting some heated responses. Commenter “xlrp3” summed it up best, “Asus? Triumphing over APPLE? This is not simply a joke in poor taste: it is also heresy.” In this photo, Asus International chief executive Jonney Shih presents the Asus Eee Pad Transformer. Read “How Asus triumphed over Apple.”

Julie Jacobson / AP

#2 - Fearing China

Readers were very interested to know what, exactly, they should fear about China. Post columnist Vivek Wadhwa broke down why U.S. policy makers are “right to worry,” prompting commenter “extateo5” to write, “I hate to say it but their youth is hungry and working hard to earn all the things our youth are given for just being.” In this photo, a sales representative poses behind a nine-tael 24K gold in the shape of a dragon forming the numerals "2012", symbolizing the upcoming Year of the Dragon at a Chow Tai Fook Jewellery store in Hong Kong on Dec. 6, 2011. Read “What we should really fear about China”

Bobby Yip / Reuters

#1 - All you want is love

This year, readers loved reading about love. David Linden, author of “The Compass of Pleasure,” hit a nerve this year writing about our brains on love and addiction. The piece prompted commenter “jamesls” to write: “Mating and the rearing of offspring is not an evolutionarily new phenomenon. In many important ways, we humans may not be that original!” In this photo, women participate in the Running of the Brides at Filene’s Basement in Washington on April 29, 2011. Read “Innovation and the game of love”

Sarah L. Voisin / The Washington Post

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The top 10 most-read innovation stories of 2011

From falling in love to fearing China and India, here are the stories on innovation you couldn’t get enough of in 2011.

Featured Photo Galleries