99 | Nicholas Schiff
The neurologist who's bringing the brain-damaged back to life
WHAT HE'S CHANGING: Schiff, a physician-scientist at Weill Cornell, led a team of doctors who transformed a minimally conscious patient by stimulating his brain with implanted electrodes. After six years in a near-coma, the patient was able to speak, eat and express emotions.
SKEPTICS SAY: The case was based on a single patient; Schiff is now beginning to try the procedure in 11 others.
NEXT FIGHT: Evolving new rehabilitation approaches for traumatic brain injury, which could help soldiers with severe head trauma from combat zones like Iraq.
60 | Avner Ronen
Can one free piece of software make you cancel your cable-TV subscription?
WHAT HE'S CHANGING: Ronen's company, Boxee, makes Internet video look good on your TV — which means that plugging your computer into your television and tossing your cable subscription becomes a lot more appealing.
PROOF THAT HE'S FOR REAL: The big cable companies are scared to death, and ostensibly muscled the video site Hulu into not working with Boxee last month.
NEXT FIGHT: A set-top box. Ronen says he's looking to "grow beyond the computer."
KEY QUOTE: "We're going to make the big screen in your living room do things it hasn't done before."