People who need to escape from a tall building are usually faced with either a “Don’t use the lifts” notice or to scramble down multiple flights of stairs.

An alternative, today’s invention, is a hybrid of abseiling technique and the traditional fireman’s pole. It requires almost no technique, avoids panic-related bottlenecking and doesn’t depend on physical strength.

Buildings would be equipped with an array of fireproof, (opaque) cylindrical shafts. Down the centre of each, a pole would run from the top of the building to the ground. There would be multiple discs centred on each pole and free to slide down it. The annular gaps between disc and pole and between disc and cylinder would be sufficiently narrow that they would provide viscous air resistance to the downwards motion of each disc.

In the event of eg a fire, people could enter a cylinder, stand on a disc and descend the pole at a rate which would quickly settle down to a fixed velocity (this would be designed to be slow enough to allow people to jump on a disc, as in a paternoster system, but fast enough to allow effective mass egress).

Nearing the bottom, an electronic stop would ensure that each disc would only be free to cover the last 2m or so, once the person beneath had stepped out of the tube.

I spent a lot of time at school being force-fed detail in a number of subjects. This was hard work for all concerned. One of the errors which teachers can make is to jump straight to the minutiae, because that reflects their enthusiasm and expertise -often at the expense of the learning process. I realise now what I needed was to be shown the underlying structure or shape of information and only then to attach progressive levels of detail, as required.

Geography is a case in point. It’s not necessary, in my view, to be able to reproduce the exact course of the Thames or the shape of Luxembourg unless you happen to be walking through the landscape. Fractal geometry has taught us that local shape depends on the measurement scale being currently used and a similar thing seems to go on when we try to memorise new information. I studied geography for four years and yet I can’t even picture the relative positions of Hungary and Bulgaria. The big picture needs to be explained first, only then followed by increasing detail, to an appropriate level.

(Imagine each novel on an English course being supplied with a precis which explained what it was all about. When first teaching someone how to program, it might be more useful to start by showing a box diagram of interacting modules, rather than the minutiae of how an ‘if’ statement is handled by a compiler running on a particular CPU. )

In subjects like geography or electronics or taxonomy or even computer programming, where the information to understand can be represented as a 2-D drawing or map, this can be done semi-automatically, by applying filters at a coarseness which decreases as expertise progresses.

Today’s invention is to apply this technique particularly to chunking e-learning material into a hierarchy of diagramatic lessons, elements of which can be expanded to supply further levels of detail by hyperlinking (e-learning is often deliverered via systems with limited bandwidth/ screen resolution where progressive detail representation is essential). This would map on to the kinds of multiscale mental representations people seem to use and allow individuals to drill down for more information only in areas which they found interesting.

In Summer, I often see people enduring a long-distance cycling holiday. My personal view is that they tend to be carrying way too much stuff on handlebars, rear rack and two double sets of panniers, one on each wheel. Many of these people must thrive on the challenge presented by mountain roads, on which even the most helpful gearing allows progress upwards at only a snail’s pace.

Most people, however, are not King of the Mountains and would appreciate a less steep route, where they could view the scenery without gasping for breath all the way.

Today’s invention is a web-based tool designed to help them plan a cycle route between any two locations, subject to a maximum combination of local gradient and its duration. This would mean that cyclists could enter start and end locations and their estimate of how long they could pedal upwards at what rate without discomfort (based on experience of their previous efforts or lab data).

A program running on the webserver would check a very large number of possible routes and provide some alternatives, each with a maximum (gradient*duration) less than the allowed threshold. Obviously, if no routes were available, it would be time to grit one’s teeth for a sharper ascent or opt for a different destination. This would result in a printable (lightweight) section of map with the route marked for each day’s ride.

According to DaimlerChrysler, fuel economies of up to 25% can be achieved by modifying driver behaviour. This is hugely more significant than any foreseeable technical advances: it’s mostly about pressing the accelerator pedal less.

Feet, especially those shod in heavy duty leather, aren’t exactly sensitive to angular position. Secondly, we tend to judge how hard to press by watching for changes in ‘optic flow’: how the environment rushes past. This is by no means an accurate measure, yet that’s how we mostly determine vehicle acceleration.

Today’s invention provides a simple way to lessen the consumption of fuel. There are lots of gauges fitted to cars which throw a needle across a dial to indicate how economically, or otherwise, one is driving. What is actually needed, though, is a more direct psychological link between pressing the accelerator pedal and throwing money away.

A digital display on the dashboard would respond, very sensitively, to depression of the ‘gas’ pedal by showing how much of the last fuel load had been spent at any given moment (calibrated directly in eg £). This would require the driver to type in the cost of fuel added in the garage (in the absence of a wireless data transfer from the petrol pump itself).

Keeping wild animals in captivity seems to me hard to justify, especially now that we can buy a DVD of their life in the wild full of amazing insights and knowledgeable, whispered commentary. I know that, by doing research on such creatures, we may be able to promote breeding and preserve species better -although an even more successful technique would simply be for Homo Sapiens to keep the hell away from their habitats.

My main concern is that, whilst it’s fine by me to cage birds or iguanas, it really can’t be ok to lock up jaguars and polar bears -these creatures are prone to develop all sorts of apparent disturbed mental states, as evidenced by pacing and self harm behaviours.

Today’s invention is an attempt to alleviate the boredom which such animals must surely experience. Existing ‘enrichment’ activities…ie the odd rubber ring tossed over the fence, would be enhanced by use of in-cage VR. One wall of an enclosure could have projected on it films of the animals’ native environment (these could be fed, in realtime, from webcams eg in Africa or wherever, so that the sound effects and light levels would be real).

I’d also try techniques such as playing noises of predators occasionally and even releasing into the cage robotic ‘prey’ which could be chased by the animal in question. The introduction of interesting smells might also occasionally help to maintain mental health.