It seems that if you are prompted by hearing words, you tend to be more effective at detecting related items.

Today’s invention is therefore an MP3 recording which randomly says words like “wires”,”blade”,”drugs” etc to a person engaged in this task, so that they will maintain vigilance and improve the chances of discovering illicit baggage contents.

Bomb disposal robots can however save lives but their cost and technical sophistication makes it increasingly unattractive to leave damaged machines in the hands of an enemy force.

Today’s invention is a bomb disposal robot containing a UAV that ejects itself and flies home if the armoured, but technically rudimentary, outer vehicle is disabled.

The UAV ‘brain’ contains all the costly, classified control technology etc and thus avoids this being destroyed or captured.

This approach limits the need to apply huge amounts of armour, since the sensor unit can continuously assess the likelihood of forthcoming terminal damage to the outer vehicle.

Today’s invention is an alternative to the established technique of ensuring good seals and possibly reducing internal air pressure, so that a vapour-rich, stable atmosphere is maintained inside.

It consists of a small cannister, like a ‘soda bomb’, which contains extra, pressurised vapour of the type given off by the contained liquid.

A valve on this is briefly opened each time the container is sealed, so that less volatile material is lost from the liquid into the headspace above. Opening the can also results in an enhanced scent of the product being given off (which for wine is good thing).

A double-width train (black outline) could be built to run astride two adjacent railtracks (most tracks are laid in pairs; an up line and a down line). This would necessitate that all oncoming traffic be halted for a while of course but would allow very heavy loads to be transported (and with the extra width, potentially also at higher speeds).

Intermediate sized trains (blue) straddling three rails might also be used, as well as a small central design (red) which could be passed over by a black design running on the two outermost rails only.

A more serious problem occurs with existing, fixed key pads in very high security applications.

If eg a bank employee is under surveillance, by criminals using a super-sensitive thermal camera, his or her entry sequence will leave traces on the pad, with the residual temperature pattern varying according to the order in which these have been pressed.

Today’s invention is to supply each such installed pad with an automatically-activated hot air gun which can instantly eliminate any such thermal distribution.

Today’s invention is a pair of spectacles to be worn by people interested in eating more healthily.

These have wrap-around opaque ‘lenses’ which allow the wearer to look down on his or her plate but not elsewhere.

These look like conventional (cool) sunglasses and allow the diner to take part in conversation but also encourage them to concentrate on the taste and texture of the food (so that they will be much more aware of when they have had enough).

Today’s invention is intended to inject games like pool, snooker and billiards with some extra interest -by providing the table with an element of variability which requires the players to detect this and play accordingly.

Each table would be equipped with a number of domed rods capable of being driven vertically upwards by no more than 1mm or so from beneath the baize. This height distribution would be determined at random before a game and controlled by an integrated computer.

Players would compete to play as normal a game as possible on this slightly undulating surface. Requiring a greater understanding of a more complicated, 3-D dynamics, this would lessen the tendency for one player to get on a roll and play uninterruptedly for very long periods.

Fire up your personal UAV quadricopter, and supply it with your friend’s address. Attach a package and the UAV will travel straight to the target postcode using GPS (avoiding trees, buildings and paragliders).

On nearing the destination, it will detect the wifi generated by the recipient’s hub and travel along a line of increasing signal strength until it messages the receiver who will emerge to collect the package.

Some folk resort to recording their entire life using movie cameras etc, but frankly, life’s too long for that nonsense.

Today’s invention is therefore a way to keep up with the stuff which happens around you but of which you are unaware at the time.

It consists of a microphone which feeds a big capacity recorder -but between the two a rapid speech recognition algorithm runs. The trick is that only words and phrases which go unrecognised are recorded. In this way, anything unusual, novel, weirdly pronounced, inaudible or said in a foreign language/accent will end up as a significant, cumulative addition to your life record…and can be interrogated later to help you keep apace with developments in a fast moving environment.

Isn’t this how children work, after all, when they are soaking up everything that’s new and interesting -whilst ignoring the commonplace?

Today’s invention is inspired by this but with a practical edge. Training outside in winter is unpleasant for runners. Here therefore is a light, aerodynamic plastic shell designed to keep the weather off whilst still allowing free arm and leg movement (but without the drag forces associated with running movements).

It achieves this by being attached to the wearer via a cycle helmet (blue). The shell also contains several helium-filled mylar balloons (grey) to further lessen the weight.

There would also need to be vents to regulate internal temperature. The shell itself would be a good place to carry the emblem of your charity of choice of course.