What would you like to invent?

[flipper]

A mechanism that electrocuted someone posting rude or disrespectful comments online.

[David Hess]

A mechanism that electrocuted someone posting rude or disrespectful comments online.

https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc3251

[Analog Kid]

... For me, I would invent an alternative for taking blood pressure, particularly one that doesn't have to squeeze one's arm to take it (as to me causes discomfort, and at times can give inaccurate readings even from the patient making slight motion). ...

This is interesting. It is indeed possible to do this, I would start with the analysis of the eye vessels, most likely suitable sensors already exist.

Easy-to-use Fingertip™ Blood Pressure Monitor device and app

Complete nonsense.

Yeah, to me that sounds alarmingly close to the snake oil that Theranos was trying to fob off as valid medicine.

[Analog Kid]

   Ant Repellant micro-surfaces.

   Hi,  I'm cautious about this one,  along the lines of ICE-9,  a mythical molecule that made for an unstoppable sweep,  of all the oceans into a high temperature form of solid H2O.

   The invention would appear to be a kind of FURRY surface,  very pointy on the smaller scales,  and thus an impalement hazard to any ant attempting to walk on it.

Advantage:  no poisonous pesticides...at least at first glance.

Guess what: we already have that. It's called diatomaceous earth. Really cool stuff. (I used to sell it when I worked at a hardware store.)

What this is is the exoskeletons of microscopic critters called diatoms that live in seawater. When they die and drift to the bottom, their bodies accumulate and eventually their soft parts rot away, leaving a very hard and very sharp and spiny skeleton. This "earth" is harvested in places where it's accessible.

It's a very fine white powder that you apply to places where you have insect pests. The insects crawl over it and it cuts their bodies with all those sharp edges, and the insects die of dehydration. Totally nontoxic: you could eat it and it wouldn't hurt you at all. (It's just silica.)

You should try it if you have any annoying insect infestations.

[coppercone2]

a superhero called crimp man. He can crimp anything with common pliers, or chisel and a hammer for bigger crimps. The crimps always pass the pull test and they always looks like complete shit. A true icon of bollywood's barvel heroes . where ever someone needs a molex tool, he might show up

[.RC.]

Metallic hydrogen.

[Bryn]

Metallic hydrogen.

And what could that be used for? I'm intrigued right now...

[ebastler]

Easy-to-use Fingertip™ Blood Pressure Monitor device and app

Complete nonsense.

Yeah, to me that sounds alarmingly close to the snake oil that Theranos was trying to fob off as valid medicine.

Except for the fact that the word "blood" appears in both, measuring blood pressure really has nothing to do with Theranos' claimed biological assays on a small blood sample.

Also, optical blood pressure measurement is real, although certainly not perfect yet. A 2022 assessment of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 2 (released in 2019) concluded that the measurements were not accurate enough for clinical use, but certainly not "snake oil": https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35898281.

The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro, released a few years later, supposedly does a significantly better job, but requires monthly calibration. I could not find a peer-reviewed assessment of that more recent implementation in a quick search though.

 

[themadhippy]

An invention machine,you tell it your idea and it builds it for you

[SiliconWizard]

An invention machine,you tell it your idea and it builds it for you

That's interestingly a pretty common request, that's what many people also expect from "AI".

The premise is that we'd be able to formulate, in a clear, unambiguous way and in just a few words, the specifications of some project.
Experience repeatedly shows that it's actually the hardest part, much harder than what follows.

[Circlotron]

A drill bit for drilling deep holes in wood that doesn’t need to be withdrawn and cleared out several times.

[Geoff-AU]

a superhero called crimp man. He can crimp anything with common pliers, or chisel and a hammer for bigger crimps. The crimps always pass the pull test and they always looks like complete shit. A true icon of bollywood's barvel heroes . where ever someone needs a molex tool, he might show up

I bought a car from crimp man.  I think he used a vice for some of them.  They may have passed the pull test then, but they don't any more.  Each time I unwrap electrical tape and examine the joint underneath, I have the same reaction as checking the bottom of my shoe when I notice a bad smell following me around.