# Inventions That Are Long Overdue **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 14, 2020, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-that-are-long-overdue/928032 "2020-12-14T16:25:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2020, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-that-are-long-overdue/928032/223 "2020-12-27T17:25:27Z")
“A World Out of Time” I think. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2020, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-that-are-long-overdue/928032/224 "2020-12-27T18:48:13Z")
Maybe a toilet that has a bowl that goes ultrasonic when you flush it. That would shake the shit off. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2020, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-that-are-long-overdue/928032/225 "2020-12-27T19:50:14Z")
> [@Jumpbass](#): > > Wasn’t there a frictionless toilet in Larry Niven’s Louis Wu stories somewhere? Maybe Beowulf Schaeffer. That’s what we need. Teflon or the newer equivalents? I remember an SF novel (I think it was some early Asimov) where restaurant tables were kept clean with energy fields. Instead of wiping down the table between customers, the field was extended upward by a fraction of an inch and all the crumbs and other crud would be zapped out of existence. I often wish for this invention when I’m cleaning tables and countertops at home. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2020, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-that-are-long-overdue/928032/226 "2020-12-27T22:16:25Z")
In Larry Niven’s _World Out of Time_, they use a teleportation system to build a waterless toilet with a self-cleaning xylospongium. ---
**Author:** ![Fair\_Rarity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fair_rarity/32/153_2.png) [@Fair\_Rarity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fair_Rarity)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2020, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-that-are-long-overdue/928032/227 "2020-12-28T00:18:25Z")
I would like a tattoo but I do not want a tattoo forever and I don’t want to do laser removal. I would like there to be ink that completely fades/absorbs/disintegrates/degrades safely over time. 5-10 years? 2-5? Longer than a cracker jack box fake tattoo or henna, not FOREVER. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2020, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-that-are-long-overdue/928032/228 "2020-12-28T01:02:10Z")
> [@racer72](#): > > I thought of something the other day. I thought of this just after reading your first paragraph: I know enough about you now to know I know too much. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2020, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-that-are-long-overdue/928032/229 "2020-12-28T01:11:30Z")
Sounds like you want a sealant that would preserve a henna tattoo until the sealant was deactivated by a special “sealant dissolver”. That would be useful (and profitable!) ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2020, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-that-are-long-overdue/928032/230 "2020-12-29T01:08:12Z")
> [@Fair\_Rarity](#): > > there to be ink that completely fades/absorbs/disintegrates/degrades safely over time. 5-10 years? 2-5? Longer than a cracker jack box fake tattoo or henna, not FOREVER. Unfortunately, the world has moved in the opposite direction. It used to be that black was the only tattoo color that didn’t fade in the sunlight. Now they’ve got UV-stable colors, and your red/yellow/green tattoo stays fresh much longer. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2020, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-that-are-long-overdue/928032/231 "2020-12-30T22:57:02Z")
What I pictured when I read the posts about not-forever tattoos was a tattoo of the old Firesign Theater rubber-stamp “After Four Years, Paint Brown.” ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2020, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-that-are-long-overdue/928032/232 "2020-12-31T01:50:53Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > But, you don’t need frictionless - you just need extremely [hydrophobic](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvTkefJHfC0&list=PLDWgJmaheIEiXRRY7hB4PWBZxBWq7h-dE) Not the word that I would use for a water repellent – hydrophobia implies fear of water, and indeed is an older term for rabies (obsolesced sometime around the early 20th century). ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2020, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-that-are-long-overdue/928032/233 "2020-12-31T02:16:30Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Not the word that I would use for a water repellent – hydrophobia implies fear of water, No- @beowulff is absolutely correct. In thin film physics the difference between a hydrophilic and a hydrophobic surface is a critical property and often drives surface chemistry. > **[Hydrophobe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrophobe)** > > In chemistry, hydrophobicity is the physical property of a molecule that is seemingly repelled from a mass of water (known as a hydrophobe). In contrast, hydrophiles are attracted to water. > Hydrophobic molecules tend to be nonpolar and, thus, prefer other neutral molecules and nonpolar solvents. Because water molecules are polar, hydrophobes do not dissolve well among them. Hydrophobic molecules in water often cluster together, forming micelles. Water on hydrophobic surfaces will exhibit a high ... ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2020, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-that-are-long-overdue/928032/234 "2020-12-31T02:21:53Z")
Fair enough. It’s still a rather odd term for those unfamiliar with the technical terminology, but familiar with much early 20th century literature, like that of P.G. Wodehouse and Stephen Leacock! 🙂 > **[Medical Definition of Hydrophobia](https://www.medicinenet.com/hydrophobia/definition.htm)** > > Read medical definition of Hydrophobia ---
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2020, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-that-are-long-overdue/928032/235 "2020-12-31T02:22:46Z")
No might about it! ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2020, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-that-are-long-overdue/928032/236 "2020-12-31T02:53:23Z")
Is hydrophobia obsolete terminology for rabies? I guess I just read old books. ([Hydrophobia of human rabies - PMC](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6293146/) - this suggests the term is still used to describe a symptom of rabies). P.S. I have no problem (or surprise) with the fact that the same term is used in two different ways in two different fields. Try using the word “matrix” around a mathematician, a printer or a surgeon… ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2020, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-that-are-long-overdue/928032/237 "2020-12-31T03:23:30Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > Is hydrophobia obsolete terminology for rabies? I guess I just read old books. The article you cite uses it as a description of a symptom – the fear of [drinking] water, or the inability to do so. I believe that what is now considered obsolete is its use as a synonym for rabies to denote the disease itself. > [@Andy\_L](#): > > P.S. I have no problem (or surprise) with the fact that the same term is used in two different ways in two different fields. Try using the word “matrix” around a mathematician, a printer or a surgeon… It’s not unusual for many simple words to have multiple meanings in different contexts. It’s more unusual for synthetic compound words to be used that way, “hydrophobia” originating from the Greek “hydro” for water, and “phobia” for fear or aversion. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2020, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-that-are-long-overdue/928032/238 "2020-12-31T11:39:20Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > > [@Andy\_L](#): > > > > Is hydrophobia obsolete terminology for rabies? I guess I just read old books. > > The article you cite uses it as a description of a symptom – the fear of [drinking] water, or the inability to do so. I believe that what is now considered obsolete is its use as a synonym for rabies to denote the disease itself. That’s what I said, isn’t it? “this suggests the term is still used to describe a symptom of rabies).” ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2021, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-that-are-long-overdue/928032/239 "2021-01-01T04:49:41Z")
I feel old - I remember when hydrophobia was an old-fashioned name for rabies. ---
**Author:** ![blabbermeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9a140/32.png) [@blabbermeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blabbermeister)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2021, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-that-are-long-overdue/928032/240 "2021-01-01T06:13:39Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > I feel old - I remember when hydrophobia was an old-fashioned name for rabies. I remember looking that up in every dictionary because it made no sense. And they all agreed it was another word for “rabies” but didn’t explain why. ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2021, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-that-are-long-overdue/928032/241 "2021-01-01T16:23:07Z")
I’m not sure, but it seems we’re at a technological point where eyeglasses could be produced and distributed via a department store kiosk. I’d like to sit down at a vending machine, look into the eyepieces and be measured, then choose from a list of available frames via a menu. After sliding my credit card, I see no reason a machine couldn’t produce a pair of eyeglasses in 10 minutes or so. I’m not sure about contacts, but it seems they could be produced (or selected from a large internal inventory) also. There may be limitations I don’t understand, but based on the quick measuring techniques I see at the optometrist, I’m beginning to wonder why he’s there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-that-are-long-overdue/928032.md?page=11)