# Inventions the world needs
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-the-world-needs/763591
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [August 22, 2016, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-the-world-needs/763591 "2016-08-22T00:32:53Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Vicsage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vicsage)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2016, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-the-world-needs/763591/1 "2016-08-22T00:32:53Z")
Popcorn without kernels that get stuck in your teeth. A spray that you spray on dog poop to make it evaporate (I think the movie ENVY was based on this). A food that supplies all the nutrition one needs that is totally absorbed by the body so nothing is excreted. Nursing homes would love this.
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### Author:  [@KellyCriterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KellyCriterion)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2016, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-the-world-needs/763591/2 "2016-08-22T00:47:58Z")
TVs should have a “TV remote locator” button on them that, when pressed, makes the TV remote control beep.
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### Author:  [@snoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snoe)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2016, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-the-world-needs/763591/3 "2016-08-22T00:53:43Z")
> [@Vicsage](#):
>
> A food that supplies all the nutrition one needs that is totally absorbed by the body so nothing is excreted. Nursing homes would love this.
[Good news from the inventor of Soylent!
> [@](#):
>
> I almost forgot to mention, when everything going in to your body is diffused in to the bloodstream, you don’t poop. I only have to remove a few grams of fiber from my system per week.
]([http://robrhinehart.com/?p=298](http://robrhinehart.com/?p=298))
(No, it is not a joke, and yes, he is a total nut.)
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### Author:  [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2016, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-the-world-needs/763591/4 "2016-08-22T01:17:08Z")
> [@Vicsage](#):
>
> A food that supplies all the nutrition one needs that is totally absorbed by the body so nothing is excreted. Nursing homes would love this.
You still wouldn’t get rid of poop. A lot of it is dead bacteria and cells from your gut. Although you would cut down on it, obviously. Just how much is, however, not something I feel like doing extensive research on. (Yes, I know: Fighting ignorance, and so forth. But… yuck, poop. I’m sure some experts will chime in, though.)
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### Author:  [@PoppaSan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoppaSan)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2016, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-the-world-needs/763591/5 "2016-08-22T01:33:34Z")
> [@KellyCriterion](#):
>
> TVs should have a “TV remote locator” button on them that, when pressed, makes the TV remote control beep.
This one is so overdue.
Also a universal remote that I can go online with to program or connect to the TV / Cable box so I don’t have to dig the manual out to re-enter the correct code from the list every time I change the batteries.
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### Author:  [@Vicsage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vicsage)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2016, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-the-world-needs/763591/6 "2016-08-22T02:32:37Z")
When you turn your cell phone off or mute it, you should be able to call it, enter a special code, and the phone should ring loudly. That way if you can’t find your phone when its off, it will still ring for you.
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### Author:  [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2016, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-the-world-needs/763591/7 "2016-08-22T03:00:16Z")
A handheld semi-wet vac that’s strong enough to suck up cat vomit. I’d pay a lot for one.
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### Author:  [@Sario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sario)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2016, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-the-world-needs/763591/8 "2016-08-22T03:16:20Z")
> [@Vicsage](#):
>
> When you turn your cell phone off or mute it, you should be able to call it, enter a special code, and the phone should ring loudly. That way if you can’t find your phone when its off, it will still ring for you.
If you use an Android smart phone, you can do that. You can log in to your google account and make your phone ring, even if it’s on silent. You can also use its GPS to see where it is.
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### Author:  [@ski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ski)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2016, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-the-world-needs/763591/9 "2016-08-22T03:22:41Z")
> [@PoppaSan](#):
>
> This one is so overdue.
> Also a universal remote that I can go online with to program or connect to the TV / Cable box so I don’t have to dig the manual out to re-enter the correct code from the list every time I change the batteries.
Lucky for you, that already exists!
[http://www.logitech.com/en-us/harmony-remotes](http://www.logitech.com/en-us/harmony-remotes)
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2016, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-the-world-needs/763591/10 "2016-08-22T03:24:19Z")
Cancer-killing nanobots.
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### Author:  [@stillownedbysetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stillownedbysetters)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2016, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-the-world-needs/763591/11 "2016-08-22T03:47:08Z")
As someone who was forever spilling some part of my lunch on my blouse at work, I would like someone to invent an Insta-blouse. It would come in a tiny packet, and when exposed to air would grow into a regular blouse that I could swap out for my stained one.
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2016, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-the-world-needs/763591/12 "2016-08-22T03:58:46Z")
A button on the phone that, when pressed while receiving a scammer or telemarketer’s call, kills the scammer, their entire family out three levels of cosanguinity, and paints a star on your kill board.
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### Author:  [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2016, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-the-world-needs/763591/13 "2016-08-22T04:38:11Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#):
>
> Cancer-killing nanobots.
Definitely this. Also, a cloning vat for growing new organs.
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### Author:  [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2016, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-the-world-needs/763591/14 "2016-08-22T11:55:50Z")
I’d like a car horn aimed backwards so you could get the attention of the idiot behind you who’s staring at a phone instead of noticing that you’re stopped at a light and about to be rear-ended.
If not a horn, how about a bazooka? Would that get someone to look up?
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### Author:  [@Me\_Billy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Me_Billy)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2016, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-the-world-needs/763591/15 "2016-08-22T12:21:09Z")
Shower heads in bathrooms which are ABOVE your head instead of in your face.
Enough electrical outlets in each location as is needed these days. Like 8 outlets where a computer would go. 6 outlets where the can opener, coffee maker, etc. go. And 6 outlets where your chair is in the living room - lamp, cell charger, answering machine, cordless, phone, etc.
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### Author:  [@Mavic\_Chen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mavic_Chen)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2016, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-the-world-needs/763591/16 "2016-08-22T14:07:16Z")
Microwavable fish-fingers.
I know you can nuke ordinary ones but you just get a hot soggy mess not a delicious cooked snack on toast with beans!
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### Author:  [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2016, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-the-world-needs/763591/17 "2016-08-22T14:30:09Z")
> [@KellyCriterion](#):
>
> TVs should have a “TV remote locator” button on them that, when pressed, makes the TV remote control beep.
Would you settle for a [remote remote?](http://www.theonion.com/article/new-remote-control-can-be-operated-by-remote-1666)
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### Author:  [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2016, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-the-world-needs/763591/18 "2016-08-22T16:08:07Z")
> [@KellyCriterion](#):
>
> TVs should have a “TV remote locator” button on them that, when pressed, makes the TV remote control beep.
Back when TVs still had dials, our first cable box had a wired remote. Today, when lying on the sofa, one needs to sit/stand to find where you dropped the remote. With the old wired one, you’d just reach down, find the wire with your hand, & then slide your fingers along it til you got to the box. Awesome & simple solution.
Well, except for the tripping hazard the wire running across the floor was. :smack:
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### Author:  [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2016, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-the-world-needs/763591/19 "2016-08-22T16:59:11Z")
How about a tracker for my checked bag? Maybe then, when the airline can’t find it, I can help them out!
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### Author:  [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2016, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-the-world-needs/763591/20 "2016-08-22T17:12:51Z")
A remote controlled garbage can so that one could take the trash to the curb without having to deal with cold/rain/heat, etc.
ETA: I’ve had had a few of these, but they all grew up and moved out! I guess I am looking for something mechanical now.
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