Household
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The Issue: When eating, sometimes the most appealing thing to do is to immediately wolf down all the food in front of you. People then occasionally regret this overeating, and wish there were some way to more easily exercise self control despite the presence of delicious food. Proposal: We can solve this wolfing-down of food…
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Background: There is an idiomatic expression, “like a hot knife through butter,” indicating something that is extremely easy to do. The issue: Yet, somehow when people make toast, they frequently use a COLD knife (or at least, a room temperature one) to cut a piece of butter. This is particularly troublesome if butter is stored…
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Background: A substantial amount of food that is produced is wasted at the consumer (household) level. Additionally, if you’re reading this text in English in the middle of the 21st century, it’s statistically likely that you, the reader, are not highly concerned with famine as a day-to-day hazard. Proposal: Ideally, we would like to both…
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Background: Architects normally design homes and offices primarily to suit the needs of their occupants. The issue: Unfortunately, an easy-to-navigate floor plan is also easy for burglars to navigate! Proposal: Luckily, we don’t have to make any architectural changes to fix this problem—by adding a few strategic (and cheap!) furnishings, a house can become MUCH…
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Background: Residential homes are often protected from burglary by locked doors and locked windows (Figure 1), and occasionally by more substantial measures such as barred windows (Figure 2). The issue: However, none of that helps once an intruder breaches the perimeter of the home: once they’re inside, they are free to loot at their leisure—an…
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Background: Most kitchens contain a countertop and overhead cabinets. The doors on these cabinets generally swing open. The issue: An unlucky individual may stand up underneath one of these open cabinet doors and injure themselves on the edge. Although this situation may seem unlikely, it can arise when a person bends over to pick up…
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Background: Diet fads come and go, but most have at least one element in common: the requirement that individuals be deliberate about what they eat (rather than ravenously consuming everything like a starved beast). The issue: Unfortunately, it’s difficult to have self-control when food is delicious and plentiful. Thus, most people eat larger portions of…
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Background: It has been demonstrated that people tend to over-eat in situations in which they can quickly consume a meal. If a person has to consume a meal more slowly, they will (generally) realize that they are full and eat less. The issue: Unfortunately, in today’s decadent world, nearly every meal can be quickly devoured.…
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The issue: Sometimes, it’s hard to get out of a comfy bed and face the cruel and merciless world. Proposal: We can solve this problem by making a bed that becomes progressively less comfortable as the desired wakeup time arrives. Certain mattresses already have the ability to dynamically adjust their firmness (for example, the “Sleep…
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Make microwaving even easier with a synchronized-turntable solution that prevents you from ever having to reach all the way into the back of the microwave to get your reheated beverage! The true chef’s choice.
WorstPlans: updated every Monday since July 2014! 