Where
Things Work RightWhere
Things Work Right
** New ideas added 12/15/04 starting at number 126.
126. Underwater Pier -
For people who would rather watch fish than catch fish.
This would be similar to the clear Plexiglas tubes some theme parks already
have, only instead of creating an
artificial environment around them they'd be built close to fishing piers
that are already in existence. You'd just walk
straight out for a hundred yards or so, going down a gentle slope. At the
bottom there would be a viewing room so
you could sit around and watch what swims by.
127. Wheelchair Ski Lift -
Instead of buying elaborate wheelchairs that can walk up the staircase
on their own, or trying to install a lift in a
stairway that's too narrow to contain both the lift and the chair, why
don't we just modify a garage door opener and
install it in the ceiling above the staircase? Here are the basic
elements we'd need for such a lift:
1. A double track running down the center of the stairwell ceiling.
2. A lifting device built into the track.
3. A set of straps that could be raised and lowered using a remote control.
4. Bars on each side of the chair that could be flipped up and down as
needed.
When someone wanted to used the lift they would just flip up the bars on
the side of their chair, lower the straps
with the remote, hook them into rings on the end of each bar, and push
another button on the remote to raise the
chair about a foot up off of the ground. A simple toggle on the remote
would be used to move the lift up or down
the stairs. If stairways were equipped with something like this then
they'd be no need for expensive climbing
wheelchairs or rails sticking out along the steps to trip us up.
128. World Puzzle -
This would be a science fiction TV series where the artifact of some civilization
was found on one of the asteroids
in the asteroid belt. As more pieces were found on other asteroids it would
quickly become clear that the asteroids
are the remnants of a planet. Similarities between it and earth, and the
fact that we can't find any evidence of an
explosive impact (a critical component of the storyline), is the mystery
we need to solve to make sure earth doesn't
encounter a similar fate. It wouldn't hurt to find the skeletal remains
of a dinosaur on one of the asteroids with a ring
on one of its bony fingers.
129. Removed
130. Rip Tide Alarm -
In the U.S. over 100 people a year drown in rip tides. Many more
are saved by lifeguards who spot them just in
time. Although the exact location of each rip tide usually varies
along any particular beach, some beaches have
them far more often than others.
Here's a better solution than letting people just take their chances.
Lay a cable parallel to the beach offshore on the
sandbars. Attach L-shaped buoys every 10 to 15 feet or so along the cable,
with each side of the stem on the L
painted a different color. Whenever the tide pulls every buoy
in one direction a single color will be facing you.
When a rip tide occurs the buoys caught in it will be pulled in the opposite
direction and the bottom of the L, acting
like a rudder, will turn them around so a different color faces you.
That way you could stand on the beach and tell
where the rip tides were just be looking for colors that were out of place.
Of course, once we can accurately see where the rip tides are taking place
we'd have risk-takers start doing
backwards bodysurfing (heading out to sea instead of into shore) but even
they would be safer since they could see
the spots where it would be easier to swim back in.
(A note of thanks to Ling on the halfbakery web site for helping me talk my way through to this solution.)
131. Road Rage Mood Changer -
Just because you're crazy doesn't mean your car has to suffer.
The exercise bike I use has a pair of sensors built into the handlebars
that measure my pulse rate as I'm cycling
along and shows the rate on a small display screen. If the pulse rate goes
too high a blinking heart will also appear
on the display.
Driving home it occurred to me that I was holding the steering wheel pretty
much the same way I hold the
handlebars. It wouldn't be hard to design the same kind of pulse
rate monitor on the underside of the steering wheel.
With a safety feature like that my car would have a chance to save itself
if I lost my temper because some idiot cut me
off. As I chased him down my pulse rate would start rising. At some
point, say 175 beats per minute, a voice would
come from the steering wheel telling me to knock it off. It wouldn't always
say the same thing either. Sometimes it
would try to humor me down, sometimes embarrass me down.
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