Beasts
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Background: There are a large number of animal species that are on the brink of extinction. The Issue: Although a few so-called “charismatic megafauna” have attracted human support with their cuteness / photograph-worthiness, many endangered species are ugly or boring (e.g. “oh look, another slightly different type of deer”). Proposal: What is needed is a…
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Background: Taking a nap in the late afternoon can be a very appealing prospect. The issue: Unfortunately, a late-in-the-day nap can easily mess up a person’s sleep schedule, causing them to stay up until 3 AM. What is needed for most people is some sort of “nap deterrent” that will promote a daylight-hour-compatible sleep schedule.…
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Background: Written languages have generally been optimized for the most meaningful elements of speech, so sometimes strange workarounds are required to capture certain subtleties: e.g. capital letters for YELLING, alternating capitalization for “thE spEaKer is VEry StUpid,” ellipses for a stilted-last-gasps sort of speech (“tell… them… the… killer… was…”), or the HTML-inspired “/s” for “please…
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Background: Modern submarines use a periscope-like electronic camera (a “photonics mast.”) to view the world above the waves. The issue: The problem is twofold: If an adversary spots a periscope, there isn’t much doubt as to what’s under the waves: it’s a submarine (Figure 1). Periscope designs are apparently specific to each nation, so just…
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TITLE: Vastly improve your whale watching tourism business with this new “guaranteed whale appearance” whale jail, A.K.A. the “cetacean cube.” Never disappoint a demanding and entitled tourist again! Background: Tourists in certain countries are willing to pay money to embark on a short boat trip in search of some sort of evidence of whales existing…
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Background: Two things that city-dwellers often require are: Motivation to exercise. An expensive dog-walker to walk their dog. The issue: Unfortunately, it’s easy to become lazy and not exercise, and dog-walkers are quite pricey! (Figure 1.) Fortunately, these two modern conundrums can now be solved with a SINGLE amazing plan! Proposal: The solution is simple:…
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Background: “Lost cat” and “lost dog” signs are often placed up on telephone poles (Fig. 1), but it’s unlikely that a specific person who sees a lost pet will also have seen the sign (or even know that the pet is actually lost in the first place). Proposal: In order to add more people…
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The issues: Let us consider two economic / environmental problems that should, in an ideal world, be addressed somehow: Sea level rise (see Figure 1) Overfishing Obviously no one has any plans to actually address these; the “tragedy of the commons” will sort them out naturally. But what if we did want to make a difference,…
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Walk a dog in style with this new amazing invention.
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Background: As you are no doubt aware, the humble housecat is one of the world’s most popular pets. Fig 1: A standard issue cat. This is the base model. The issue: Sometimes, a cat needs to be taken somewhere, and this typically requires a cat carrier. But most cats are hesitant to enter a cat…
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