Somewhere this moment--in Beijing or Bangalore, in Cambridge, Mass., or Cambridge, U.K., in Silicon Valley or the Silicon Forest--some brilliant young researcher just had a light bulb appear atop his or her head. Some sticky problem had been resolved, some intractable issue settled, some hurdle cleared. With a shrug and a smile, the researcher emits a sigh of relief, rolls up the sleeves, and sets about taking the next step in the magical process we dub research.

That step might not end up leading anywhere productive, in which case a new path will be taken, a new plan of attack devised. Trial and error don't walk a straight line.

But maybe, just maybe, that light bulb signified the Eureka moment in a research project that will be one of the stars of TechFest 2010. They've got to come from somewhere, you know, and year after year, somehow, they always do.

Till then, thanks for reading!

Like Elvis, Zaiqing Nie and Yohn Cao have left the building.