Before checkpoints, there's usually a traffic jam. People stop their engines, then after a few minutes, they start them, drive a few feet, and turn them off again. Or they keep the car running all the time. My idea is to build in a slight gradient before checkpoints and other places that are known to cause traffic congestions. People can turn off their engines, and if the traffic moves on a tiny bit, they can simply loosen their handbrakes without starting the motor. Of course it...

Although I'm a true fan of recycling, I hate glass containers. There's one in my back yard, and every time someone throws in a bottle, I can hear it in my entire flat. Even worse, there's a bar on the same block where I live, and every morning they dump last night's bottles into the container, I simply fall out of bed. I've spoken to the local trash authorities about this problem, but they say they have experimented with silent glass containers in the past, and that it can't be done. I...

Remember the times when people where looking down on everbody who had a tatoo? Well, the same is probably true when someone discovers that the remainders of the salad you had for lunch are still sticking to your front tooth. But this is only a problem for prejudiced people. In the near future, this will be a priviledge: people will be able to choose color and shape of the food particles that are sticking to their teeth. Of course, since the food particles are artificial, they will not...

You might have heard of the fact that "beaming" (like in "Star Trek") has been discovered for very small particles? Well, the logical application would be to invent a vacuum cleaner using this feature. You could have a tiny divice (without dragging behind you the huge machine that always gets stuck somewhere between your furniture), and in doesn't matter if the technology isn't perfect yet or still involves some risks (just as in "The Fly"), because if the molecules of the dirt you are...