Culture
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The Issue: In loud environments, such as noisy dining establishments, human ears (Figure 1) are often unsuitable for properly distinguishing the sounds of conversation from irrelevant background noise. If these ears were larger and had a more directional component, they’d be better-suited to the task of facilitating conversation. Proposal: Although there are various high-tech solutions…
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The Issue: Ovens and stoves can be dangerous home appliances. They can get extremely hot and they typically operate completely silently. This makes it easy for people to forget that they left the stove on! Interestingly, a similar issue exists for electric cars: they’re SO quiet at low speeds (as compared to a gas engine)…
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Background: In our modern world, many extremely appealing snacks can be purchased in giant quantities (Figure 1). The purchaser is thereby enticed to, say, eat 5 pounds of sour gummy worms, or to have ”Flamin’ Hot Cheetos” for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The Issue: Unfortunately, supposedly most snack foods have negative impacts on long-term health…
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Background: Some e-reader devices are backlit, which allows a user to read the text of a book even in a low-light situation. The Issue: Unfortunately, traditional physical books never have a backlight, due to being made of the notoriously non-luminous substance “paper.” So for a regular book, a user is reliant on overhead lighting. Proposal:…
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Originally published 2025-12-29. Background: The phrase “seeing things through rose-tinted glasses” refers to the concept of viewing things with artificial optimism. Interestingly, there is no widespread term for the negative version of this concept (i.e., “emerald-tinted glasses” is not a phrase). The Issue: It is nearly unavoidable for a person to compare their appearance to…
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Background: Sometimes, classic art intentionally evokes a negative emotion. Here are some classic examples: The Issue: However, perhaps the world is already cruel enough, and humans don’t need to be subjected to further psychological trauma. But how can we continue to enjoy classic art while simultaneously making sure our fragile emotional state is coddled at…
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Background: Some people have noticeably different behavior depending on the amount of caffeine they have ingested so far that day. An person’s level of caffeination may be useful information to others, allowing them to discern the reason for the under/over-caffeinated individual being overly lethargic or excessively manic. Proposal: Obviously there is no easy way for…
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Background: The term ”helicopter parenting” refers to an intrusive style of overprotective parenting where a parent is constantly micromanaging their child’s every activity. (Metaphorically, the parent is “hovering” like a helicopter around their child.) Proposal: Until recently, this was just a metaphor: it was simply not technically feasible for a parent to supervise and express…
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Background: Textbook publishers will often issue a new edition of a textbook every few years. Sometimes, this is necessary to reflects new developments in the field, but for many topics, the field has been static for hundreds (or possibly even thousands) of years. For example, it is unlikely that the 15th edition of an “Introduction…
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Background: Some vacuum cleaners are capable of measuring how much junk they’re currently pulling up off the floor. These vacuums will usually turn on a “this surface is now clean!” light to notify the user that their vacuuming job has been sufficiently through on a particular tiny section of the floor. The Issue: The “floor…
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