# 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:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Chad\_Sudan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chad_sudan/32/4509_2.png) [@Chad\_Sudan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chad_Sudan)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2020, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-that-are-long-overdue/928032/102 "2020-12-16T19:43:37Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > The battery is the main thing preventing this from being practical. … Thanks for your post! I was hoping someone would weigh in with this kind of info on the state of the art. I have to believe there will be breakthroughs in battery technology, sooner or later… ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2020, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-that-are-long-overdue/928032/103 "2020-12-16T20:02:40Z")
Dry Ice is **way** more efficient. E-C-G mentioned that thermoelectric coolers "aren’t the most efficient things in the world,” but he didn’t say how absolutely miserable their efficiency was. A typical refrigerator has a COP of 2-6, whereas a thermoelectric cooler might have a COP of .3 - .7. But, Dry Ice has an enormous latent heat of sublimation - way better even than the latent heat of fusion of water, so a pound of frozen CO2 will keep bottles of water frozen for several days in a well-insulated container. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2020, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-that-are-long-overdue/928032/104 "2020-12-16T21:11:34Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > But mostly I want a machine that you walk through that rids your body of fat. It’s called a guillotine. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2020, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-that-are-long-overdue/928032/105 "2020-12-17T01:59:00Z")
Something like a car wash’s rotating brushes, only slightly abrasive, and tailored to the user’s size. Probably need to settings though: one for front and back, and one for side to side. Bonus: you’re in a car wash tunnel, so the cleanup (blood etc.) is taken care of automatically 😃 ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2020, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-that-are-long-overdue/928032/106 "2020-12-17T03:00:30Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > But this seems like something the microwave could take care of on its own. Use infrared sensors to see how evenly the food is heating up. If hotspots develop, lower the power so the heat of the hotspot can diffuse through the food on its own. Just tell the microwave how hot you want the food and let it figure out how to best warm it. My microwave actually does this via a steam sensor or something. You tell it what you’re trying to do (reheat leftovers, cook a frozen entree) and say Go. I’ve never tried using it because I mostly heat frozen dinners and just use my “50% power” rule and don’t care. ---
**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 17, 2020, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-that-are-long-overdue/928032/107 "2020-12-17T03:21:21Z")
We Were Promised Jet-Packs. And I’m not referring to the band. ---
**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 17, 2020, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-that-are-long-overdue/928032/108 "2020-12-17T06:47:09Z")
[somebody seems to have one](https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/14/us/jetpack-guy-back-lax-trnd/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2020, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-that-are-long-overdue/928032/109 "2020-12-17T10:14:42Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > > [@Procrustus](#): > > > > I’d like a button on the TV you can push and the remote starts beeping. > > I like that idea, but I’d prefer the button to be on the remote, so that I wouldn’t have to get off my couch to go to the TV. > **[New Remote Control Can Be Operated By Remote](https://www.theonion.com/new-remote-control-can-be-operated-by-remote-1819564183)** > > TOKYO—Television watching became even more convenient this week with Sony's introduction of a new remote-controlled remote control. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2020, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-that-are-long-overdue/928032/110 "2020-12-17T17:30:12Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Nope. I want a dramatic innovation. Too late, [these guys](https://primetimeamusements.com/product/hurricane-simulator/) already have your whole body dryer. ---
**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 17, 2020, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-that-are-long-overdue/928032/111 "2020-12-17T18:36:43Z")
That is just too difficult. I want a microwave body dryer so I can get dry faster. And experience permanent bliss. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2020, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-that-are-long-overdue/928032/112 "2020-12-17T21:22:14Z")
> [@TRC4941](#): > > Totally painless dentistry. Something other than that horrible injection of novocaine or whatever is used these days. I can’t believe they haven’t come up with something new in all of these years. Laughing gas is making a comeback, these days it’s called “sedation dentistry”. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2020, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-that-are-long-overdue/928032/113 "2020-12-17T21:33:44Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > > [@Chad\_Sudan](#): > > > > A lightweight **portable refrigerator** that is around the size of a regular backpack, runs on a battery, and is easily affordable to the average household. > > The battery is the main thing preventing this from being practical. > > They already make picnic coolers that use Peltier devices, aka Thermo-electric Coolers or TECs… Well now, if this is for hiking, then the thing you need in order to solve the battery problem is a pair of boots which generate electricity - say from the impact of heel on ground (added benefit - shock absorber!) and from the swinging motion as you walk. So _that’s_ the invention that’s long overdue. _Hang on a minute…_ > **[Smart shoe devices generate power from walking](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-30816255)** > > German researchers have built shoe-sized devices that harvest power from the act of walking. OK, so to be fair there’s some optimization work to be done in terms of power output. But the pieces are falling into place… j ---
**Author:** ![jayrey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/47e85d/32.png) [@jayrey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayrey)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2020, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-that-are-long-overdue/928032/114 "2020-12-17T22:16:23Z")
/hijack What is it that makes walkers immediately step to their LEFT when you call out “On your left” to them? Makes me crazy. /end hijack ---
**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 17, 2020, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-that-are-long-overdue/928032/115 "2020-12-17T23:44:42Z")
> [@TRC4941](#): > > Totally painless dentistry. They seem to be doing some impressive work with lasers. The equipment lacks the bone-curdling whine of traditional drills, which is a large part of the discomfort. I had a quarter-section curretage and the dentist spotted a cavity that could be filled and said it was fortunate that I had been numbed – but I had the treatment on that quarter without novacaine. But she did the work anyway, which only took about 20 seconds with the drill, and it was fine. I mean, just, take care of your teeth. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2020, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-that-are-long-overdue/928032/116 "2020-12-18T00:13:03Z")
I want a machine that will do something with those leftover slivers of bar soap. I visualize something with a hopper that you toss the soap wafers into. When there’s enough in there, the machine would melt them down and spit out a new bar of soap. It would essentially be an automated version of what Lisa Simpson did: ![](https://media0.giphy.com/media/xT5LMrxRVfehcfoQGk/giphy.gif) On second thought, maybe I should just stick to liquid soap. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2020, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-that-are-long-overdue/928032/117 "2020-12-18T00:16:47Z")
> [@erysichthon](#): > > On second thought, maybe I should just stick to liquid soap. Hmm… I use liquid soap, and _I_ want a device to allow me to utilize the last 15-20% that I can never suck out of the bottom of the bottle. ---
**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 18, 2020, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-that-are-long-overdue/928032/118 "2020-12-18T01:17:05Z")
How about a device that makes “marrying” soap containers to drain the nearly empty one into the nearly full one much easier… ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2020, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-that-are-long-overdue/928032/119 "2020-12-18T01:19:15Z")
Several of those available on Amazon. Silly, but available. ---
**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 18, 2020, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-that-are-long-overdue/928032/120 "2020-12-18T02:09:39Z")
Thanks. I didn’t know that. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2020, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-that-are-long-overdue/928032/121 "2020-12-18T02:14:32Z")
Next time I see one on the gadgets ads on Facebook I’ll try to remember to copy and import it to here. That 15-20% aggravates me too so I put some water in it, shake it up and use it for awhile more, til it gets to that same level where it was before. I figure that gets me to 7.5-10% wastage, about 20 cents worth and I pitch the bottle, grumbling slightly. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-that-are-long-overdue/928032.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-that-are-long-overdue/928032.md?page=7)