When NASA first planned to send up astronauts, they quickly discovered that ballpoint pens would not work in zero gravity.

To solve the problem, NASA scientists spent a decade and $1.2 billion to develop a pen that writes in zero gravity, upside down, underwater, on almost any surface including glass, and at temperatures ranging from below freezing to 300 Celsius.

Confronted with the same problem, the Israelis used a pencil.