#1179: Flowatch

I once made a rather ghastly simulation of particles flowing under gravity using the Java-based Agentsheets program.

Now the state of the art has moved ahead significantly.

Today’s invention is a watch which is a simulated egg-timer. The program involved would show an hourglass on-screen through which would flow simulated particles.

This could be calibrated to provide per-minute timings and would operate effectively and accurately -independent of the orientation of the watch itself.

For fun, it could be made with user-settable parameters eg particle size and ‘g’ (as well as having visible particles of ‘air’ flow upwards as the ‘sand’ flowed downwards).

#1178: SkyTime

Today’s invention is a way for an office worker in a dark cubicle to experience the time of day more viscerally than via a clock.

A small projector plugs into one’s laptop and shines a bright disc on the wall of the windowless office. The position and approximate size of the disc correspond to the Sun’s appearance from the worker’s position -if there were any windows.

A smart system might even scan the geometry of the room and adjust the apparent shape of the projected sun to remain always circular (rather than eg an ellipsoid on an oblique wall).

This might well be enough to keep the worker’s biorhythms intact throughout the year (which is believed to influence strongly one’s body’s responses to drugs and one’s immunity to disease).

#1177: StorageSpace

Given that the lifetime of current storage media is less than 100 years and the possibility of planetary devastation is non-zero (by asteroid impact, nuclear war, global warming, creationism, etc), today’s invention is a way to perform an ongoing off-site backup for all our digital information.

I envisage mooring a transmitter/receiver at the Earth’s L2 Lagrangian point (reasonably well protected from earth-centric disasters and it makes the geometry simple for a long, long time).

I’d also have a small reflector craft orbit the Sun (way outside Earth’s orbit).

We beam all our important information via radio to a receiving dish at L2 which resends it to the reflector craft and back to L2 in a continuous loop (pausing only when the Sun gets in the way).

Electromagnetic signals in vacuo are not attenuated (if you avoid solar flares and pulsars and ignore the inverse-square law effects) so placing all our data in space transit is a way to ensure that almost no bits are lost. 1bit for say 10 wavelengths would eventually allow an enormous amount of knowledge to be accommodated by this virtual tape loop.

#1176: Assembline

Today’s invention is a flexible factory for countries in which land is at a premium.

The factory is modular in design. Each unit is carried into position by a train and dropped so as to straddle the track. A series of these modules is connected to house the equipment needed to produce whatever the factory makes.

Special trains (or individual, autonomous wagons) with roof hatches transport material to the required tunnel module which then takes it up rapidly via ports in the floor (without even causing the delivery train to slow, in some cases).

Individual factory modules can be moved to new locations as required and even assembled into different factories from time to time.

When modules are joined, they can also communicate information and part-processed material longitudinally between each other via secondary tracks running on their rooves.

#1175: ServoScreen

Motorcycles are anything but aerodynamic. Today’s invention is a hinged windshield with a camera on board which helps smooth the airflow around a bike.

The camera forms an image of the rider’s helmet, on which is located a symbol. It can detect the position and distance of this symbol and thus operate a small motor in the windshield hinge. This allows the shield to follow closely and smoothly the movements of the rider as he sits up or crouches down or slides forward, whilst keeping a fixed distance from his visor.

A similar arrangement could be made for a vortex baffle behind the rider.

#1174: Barriair

Today’s invention is an extra antiterrorist measure for airliners.

In order to deny attackers the use of an aircraft as a missile, a bombproof bulkhead is provided that insulates the passenger section from the cockpit completely. The only way to communicate between the two would be via either a satellite link or a ground station.

Pressing a panic button inside the cabin would force both these channels to be monitored by a person. He or she would then have to choose what messages to relay, if any, between cabin and pilot.

This would stop any attempt to take over the plane (by eg threats) and cause it to be diverted at once to an airport where security was tight and both publicity and escape prevented.

#1173: SweetSwitches

Today’s invention is a tennis racket with a piezoelectric crystal in the frame underlying each string.

When a tennis ball is struck (off-centre), the crystals detect the location and voltages applied to them are automatically adjusted in order to change the string tension at the impact point.

This instantly creates a local ‘sweet spot’ on the racket head, allowing greater control of the return shot.

#1172: TonneTome

It’s always been suspected by research students and now it’s been proven correct. We judge the value, or weightiness, of a book by its physical mass.

Today’s invention is to apply this to all documents which must be taken seriously. The prime example is the card handed to witnesses in court from which to read whatever oath they have chosen (this is currently a bit of laminated paper, if you are lucky).

I would have such oaths printed on a steel plate and make witnesses hold them aloft whilst swearing to tell the truth -thus discouraging perjury.

#1171: Paperchain

Now that even the highest ‘impact’ journals are available online, today’s invention is to provide a means by which any of the authors’ later publications, on the same subject, can be injected as an Appendix (perhaps appearing in red).

This would allow all readers to determine how up to date the thinking in any given publication was and avoid wasting time reading work that subsequently went nowhere.

A smart electronic journal would be able to do this automatically, at least for new developments to papers which had appeared in it previously -by grabbing a reference from the current copy.

#1170: Sparrobot

Boxers seem to do a lot of damage to themselves simply when sparring. Today’s invention is an upgrade to the standard springloaded punchball.

In addition to the floor-mounted punchball, two other such balls on springy stalks would be provided -each the size and colour of an opponent’s glove. The boxer would attempt to land punches on the main ball, in lieu of an opponent’s head, by avoiding the two smaller balls.

Instead of rebounding predictably, these smaller balls would each be driven by a computer in patterns which were like normal defensive moves -and with an element of unpredictability. This would mean that a boxer could be hit by them pretty forcefully but not so as to sustain unnecessary damage. (Actually it might be possible to have a camera in the main ball with face recognition software driving the ‘gloves’ to hit the boxer back).

The main ball could also be wired to record the number of on-target shots automatically.