After a decade of the hit show "Shark Tank" you'd think that there would be nothing left to invent. How could there possibly be anything we haven't realized we're missing? We're already the laziest generation of record, what more could there be? Apparently there are a multitude of visions and ideas just waiting to materialize. So maybe we need to stop thinking and get on it. Science and innovation waits for no man.
Redditor stephen_d wanted to discuss what special projects are long overdue for civilization by asking....
What should have been invented by now?
"What subject is that?"
A way of inserting knowledge into my brain. Goodbye school. Trickypr
In the movie THX1138 little kids are playing with IVs running into their arms. A middle aged guy stops one and asks "What subject is that?" when the kid answers the guy says "Really? It's so small. When I was your age that subject was THIS BIG and we had to lay down to get it!".
It's been years since I watched the show so obviously the dialogue isn't close to exact hopefully you get the gist. It was a great "I had to walk uphill, in the snow, barefoot, both ways" moment in the show. huckDexterWard
Shower Diet.
A churro you can eat in the shower. hfroxE
very churro is a shower churro if you want it bad enough. 1iopen
Flipped.
An umbrella that doesn't flip cause of wind. jimtothetim
Search wind proof umbrella you can find several brands. :) 👍🏼 Flamingo492
Choices of Zzzzz....
A "select a sleep" device, where you can dial in whether to dream, how long you'll be out, and hit "Z" to fall asleep instantly. eclectic-radish
Science doesn't even understand why we need sleep entirely so that's a bit away. rattpackfan301
Clickers.
A clicker pen that makes a different animal noise each time you click it. BlezlTheRainbow
This would last about two weeks before every teachers desk was full and the schools ban them. Sullivan17
Teleporting.
Teleporting. I wake up everyday waiting for it. These damn train cartels preventing it from happening. TempStepDad
When teleportation becomes a thing, who's to argue that it's just killing current you then perfectly reproducing a new you without the memories of your original's death? rattpackfan301
Hovering....
Hover boards. Back to the Future is a bunch of bull! comrade_batman
It's possible, but not profitable. rattpackfan301
Not profitable? When it rains and there's gigantic puddles everywhere I'd rather a hover board then wet socks. 0AzRen0
Cured.
A cure for the common cold! manseydoll
Its tough because the common cold is more of a symptom more than anything else. There are over 200 different viruses that cause the Common Cold, its why you keep getting colds and why kids get so many. Too many to build up immunity to everything and too many to cure. If they cured 1 they'd still have 200+ to go. little_fatty
All the Feels.
A phone that can not only let you see and hear things, but also touch and smell. _HastaLaPasta_
Back when the internet was first getting big, there was a device that plugged into a PC that supposedly replicated smells. It had some stupid name like smell o vision or some shit. It did not sell well. bernyzilla
Remote Patrol.
A button on a TV that makes the remote beep. dead_wolf_walkin
My tv doesn't even have buttons anymore. God forbid I lose the remote while the tv is on. Reddit
Stoned.
A pill that dissolves kidney stones. intelligent_cement
I think I heard something about a procedure using ultrasounds to try to break them up. ArcWolf713
Lithotripsy. When I had it done to break up the golf ball sized stone blocking my ureter, they put me under for it and put a stent in to help the pieces pass more easily.
It was still like peeing shards of glass for a few days.
Plus, as an added bonus, they don't knock you out to remove the stent, they just put a small tube, grab it, and pull.
All in all, I'd rather have a pill that dissolves them. KhaoticMess
Lasered.
Better printers. Kn1ght0fN169
Advice I got from r/askengineers.
"Get a brother laser printer and never look back."
I bought one. Haven't looked back. It's wonderful. lulzdemort
Glass temps...
Every window in your car has a heating element so you don't have to stand in the freezing cold scraping all the windows . And likewise they wont steam up in cold weather with 3 or more people in the car. inked29inked29
it needs to remain indirect. My old chebby gains heat within seconds even at 20 below. I have cracked windshields in ice storms just starting the truck. I leave it on floor settings to go easier on that frail stuff called double laminated safety glass. bgd73
boy control.
Legit birth control for men. Varvatos_Vex
There was one in the works but it made the test subjects depressed/suicidal. One person even supposedly committed suicide. The sick part was the stay at home mom talk shows were like "men are such wimps" :( Ensec
Shiny Heads.
A legitimate cure for balding. What's the hold up? There have got to be bald scientists dedicating their lives to this. anon3220
It's a very profitable industry, and heck yes there are. The future is cloning hair follicles, but we still need to figure out the ethics with stem cells. rattpackfan301
Dental Works.
A method to regrow teeth. discostud1515
They're working on it. Recently read something about regenerating enamel. While ago read something about soaking teeny spongy things in an Alzheimer's medication and they pack it in a cavity or something and it regrows dentin. I'm too tired to find you the sauce but it's out there. Bolognabaybe
Freeze Blast.
A microwave, but for making stuff cold. EggsAndBeerKegs
Most professional kitchens have blast chillers which are pretty similar. Or there's always an anti griddle. prongslover77
Whose got the Power?!
Fusion power. A clean power source who's base product is literally everywhere, allowing us to replace much (comparatively) more expensive fuel sources?
We should be dumping hundreds of billions of dollars into researching it and finally get rid of fossil fuels. hockeypeg18
If I don't live to see it (58), I'm confident a 20yo will. The science is there, what's needed is the technology and engineering. Not to underestimate that challenge but it's grunt it out work that can be solved with money. tatersdad
Health First.
The medical kiosk where you can walk in and get your finger pricked and pee in a cup and maybe even get an X-ray all while chatting with a medical professional. Pay your $50 and leave. 2K_Argo
Okay, we want all of these please! What would you add to this? Let us know in the comments below.
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People Share The Things They Thought They 'Invented' But Actually Already Existed
You ever have a stroke of genius where you think "Wow, how am I not a successful inventor?"
Followed shortly thereafter by the realization, "I am not a genius, I just invented pleather."
Sometimes our brains miss the very last step of logic that reminds us this thing we thought we invented already exists. In those brief, shining moments where we believe ourselves to be geniuses, we see a world of possibilities ahead of us.
Immediately after, we see a world where everybody has already thought of everything.
u/jacklandors92 asked:
Here were some of those answers.
A Shield By Any Other Name
I was thinking about ways to defend yourself from attack. Started out with a shield and thought "what if we go bigger?"
Tower shield?
Let's go bigger.
Shield that protects 180 degrees of your body.
Let's go bigger.
Shield that protects a full 360 degrees.
That's cumbersome.
What if we could fit it to your body?
Armour. That's armour. Nevermind.
Flipbook
If you put pictures along a subway wall at the right distance from each other, and the train is moving at a constant speed, it will look like a movie to passengers in the train. Held on to this "invention" until I saw one of these in the train from Heathrow to central London once, there are probably others elsewhere.
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/cwo4ut...
A Fan To Nowhere
Got into a drunken conversation with my cousin and we "invented" a toilet that had a built in exhaust fan that would suck your stink air out instead of having a normal fan in the ceiling.
We went on and on about the proper implementation of it for like 20 minutes before thinking to google it.
They exist, and they're expensive. :(
Protected Foot
I decided that leggings would be better if they had socks attached and got really excited about my invention idea for a solid minute until I realized I had just "invented" tights.
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/cwo4ut...
Nah, i've had this discussion before with my skiier buddies. They should make long johns with built in ski socks.
My buddy said "like tights", and i was like nah, you want it to be the different materials for both, but attached so you don't have to have the uncomfortable in-boot overlap of sock and longjohn cuffs.
Wiretapped
"LiveWire" orange Mountain Dew. My friend and I decided to mix Crush with Mountain Dew once and found it was delicious. Then a few weeks later we saw it at a gas station and thought the CIA was listening to our phone lines (pre cell phones, for our area at least)
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/cwo4ut...
Or A Bed With Wheels
After a long day pushing my son around Disney World in his stroller I was day dreaming about how nice it would be for there to be adult sized strollers that we could use to get off our feet when we are tired.
And that's the day I invented the wheel chair.
This Magic Mixture
The color green. I was coloring a picture at home (I think it was a football player), first with yellow, then I accidentally drew with blue over it and the result was turqoise-greenish. Somewhere over the next few days in school, we had to do presentations and we were trying to decide for a color for the header. I was like "How about this?", showed it on my paper and everyone was like "Noo, green is boring... let's go with something else", which was when I realized oooh, yeah, that's green oops.
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/cwo4ut...
Where The Foods Are
Friends liked to go to bars and hang out a lot. I don't drink, but I do get hungry and most bar food is only okay at best. I wish they served better food for me to eat. I also hate having to yell to hold a conversation, so I wish they turned the music down and it was generally quieter and we could hear each other at a normal volume. So there should be, like, a bar but that serves a wider variety of better food and that has quiet music so you can hear each other talk. Great idea! -- wait, that's just a restaurant, self. You want to hang out in restaurants.
The Cinema
I was watching Black Mirror, and I was thinking how the seasons only have like 3-4 episodes, then I thought "well it's ok since the episodes are long." Then I got thinking "what if they made a season with one episode and the one episode is really long." Then I realized that those are just movies
Times Tables
When we were memorizing the times tables in elementary school, I couldn't get the nines, for whatever reason. So I'm studying this trying to figure out how to remember it, when I stumbled on a pattern. If you're multiplying the number by 9, you could multiply it by 10 instead, and just subtract the original number. I thought I was so brilliant, like I'm going to be some math prodigy or something.
Yeah no, it turns out that's just how all multiplication works. Looking back though, it's pretty dumb that we make kids rote memorize these dumb tables, instead of helping them understand the core idea in the first place.
We all thought it was cool but now we know... technology is going to end us. SO many things are being manufactured for absolutely no reason. Half the time the the items designed to enhance our lives has drawn more ire than joy. Why does it have to be so difficult and not helpful in the end?
u/Mrclump95 wanted to discuss how technology may have gone too far for no reason by asking..... What's the most inefficient piece of modern technology?
There are so many things that have been invented over time that were meant to enlighten and enhance our lives. And many have... the car, the movies, cellphones... snuggies. But many things that have been produced that really just bring down morale and cease any reason to live. I jest, it's not that serious, but it's close. There are just a few things we can all do without and wish we could make disappear.
Redditor StonerCPA wanted everyone to admit... What would you un-invent, if you could?
That's not real work..
Telemarketing
Is unsolicited calls about political candidates considered telemarketing? If not, F whatever that is!!
Brilliant!
Un-invent the wheel so I could re-invent it and be famous for the most important invention of all time.
Useless!!!
Keurig cups.
The guy that invented them publicly regrets it. Shows how one person can really make an impact.
Landmines.
Living in Croatia, can confirm. To hell with landmines. When I was a kid, parents took me to the countryside once. Me and my sister were having a walk trough some field when suddenly some older man warns us to stop and get back on track. Turns out the area still wasn't 100% cleared of mines. There's still thousands of them in Croatia from the war.
Education for all....
Student loans. There is no way the cost of an education would have spiked as much as it did without them.
The five-day work week.
9/80 and 4/10 schedules make so much more sense than the traditional 5/8s. I honestly have no clue why more businesses don't offer their employees custom work schedules. It doesn't cost the company anything and allows employees the luxury of a day off (or even a 3-day weekend) every week or every 2 weeks.