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	<title>IOTD @ Patrick Andrews</title>
	<link>http://iotd.patrickandrews.com</link>
	<description>Invention Of The Day</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:52:40 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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	<item>
		<title>#1214: FallFan</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;m contemplating getting aloft using a paramotor. If the main &#8216;glider&#8217; (sail-type parachute) fails, one is ordinarily equipped with a reserve chute, but this is of little use at operational flying levels of ~200m.
Today&#8217;s invention is therefore a paramotor fan which can tilt from a horizontal axis to a vertical one, when the pilot realises [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://iotd.patrickandrews.com/2010/03/11/1214-fallfan/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>#1213: BlowLow</title>
		<description><![CDATA[When I see windfarms, several questions occur to me -beyond &#8216;Do we really think these are a viable energy source?&#8217; Why, for example, is all the gearing and generating equipment located 10m in the air? 
Today&#8217;s invention is a new form of wind turbine. Two sets of turbine blades rotate about a horizontal axis on [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://iotd.patrickandrews.com/2010/03/11/1213-blowlow/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>#1212: Pulleyman</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Today&#8217;s invention attempts to overcome the problem of placing baggage items on an overhead location in public transport.
Often I see people struggling to achieve this, either because the bag is too heavy, or they can&#8217;t manage to squat and thrust it into place without endangering people sitting below.

A curved shelf section would be installed at [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://iotd.patrickandrews.com/2010/03/11/1212-pulleyman/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>#1211: CrashCall</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Today&#8217;s invention is a GPS-equipped phone device which is linked to the airbags in one&#8217;s car.
In the event that a bag is deployed, a message detailing the location is automatically sent to a preselected list of contacts (including eg the ambulance service, police, next of kin, Twitter, etc).
]]></description>
		<link>http://iotd.patrickandrews.com/2010/03/08/1211-crashcall/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>#1210: Miragebarge</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Today&#8217;s invention is a way for ships to avoid being seen at sea.
The ship would carry a large mirror held aloft on stalks.

It would also have a large pontoon supporting metal plates heated directly by the ship&#8217;s engines.
This arrangement would generate a synthetic mirage -one in which a distant observer would see a patch of [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://iotd.patrickandrews.com/2010/03/07/1210-miragebarge/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>#1209: Coughvac</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;m perpetually irritated by our vacuum cleaner hose blocking up. Today&#8217;s invention is a response.
Just as when someone develops a restriction in their airway, this vacuum cleaner would have a sensor fitted to the motor which could detect the rise in current drawn when the hose began to block.

Quickly, it would change the motor direction, [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://iotd.patrickandrews.com/2010/03/07/1209-coughvac/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>#1208: Dogtag</title>
		<description><![CDATA[There is now great interest in robotic systems which can help retrieve wounded soldiers from a battlefield.
Today&#8217;s invention is a hybrid animal/machine system which does not rely on machine intelligence -and might therefore work robustly.

A small terrier is equipped with a light body shield. This is attached to an armoured trolley via a lightweight cable. [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://iotd.patrickandrews.com/2010/03/05/1208-dogtag/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>#1207: Viscode</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Today&#8217;s invention is a private key encryption device which relies on fluid dynamics. 
Highly viscous flow at low velocity is, near-as-dammit, reversible. 

Today&#8217;s invention is to use an apparatus such as that in the film linked to above. A message (or an image) would be printed into the body of a gel-like material using eg [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://iotd.patrickandrews.com/2010/03/05/1207-viscode/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>#1206: Eyedetic</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Today&#8217;s invention is a browser plugin which remembers what content a user has scrolled through before and, if asked to display it again, does so with the content greyed out. The more showings, the paler the content.
This would alert the user, before starting to re-read any such material, to the fact that this was old [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://iotd.patrickandrews.com/2010/03/05/1206-eyedetic/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>#1205: VacSack</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Astronauts, especially rookies, apparently have great trouble sleeping in near-zero gravity. 
They seem to miss the sensation of pressure on their bodies from a horizontal bed and covers. Strapping themselves in is a poor substitute.

Today&#8217;s invention is therefore an astronaut sleeping bag which forms a loose seal around the sleeper&#8217;s neck.  The rear face [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://iotd.patrickandrews.com/2010/03/02/1205-vacsack/</link>
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