Seeing this post about using quantum dots to cover any surface with light reminds me of the vague notions of a colleague to create a sort of flexible lighting. And it makes me realize that at research laboratories such as Google Labs now, PARC in the past and IBM's Watson Research Center and HP Labs throughout, inventions are conversations. One person has an ill-formed idea, that another person clarifies. A third scientist hears of an idea and thinks of something else that a fourth researcher turns into something that winds up changing the world. But ideas these days rarely occur in vacuums. The grad student who found this white light material wasn't looking for them, but was studying quantum dots that wound up emitting them. Some professor's initial idea became something else. If you are a creative person, make sure you work where there are others you think are more creative than you. It could make all the difference.