# Inventions We Need **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 22, 2022, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-we-need/975354 "2022-11-22T02:02:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [November 22, 2022, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-we-need/975354/1 "2022-11-22T02:02:07Z")
In contrast with the thread on [Inventions we don’t need](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-we-don-t-need/975313), what are some Inventions we DO need? My invention would be human furniture made out of replaceable cat-scratching materials. ---
**Author:** ![dougrb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@dougrb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougrb)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2022, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-we-need/975354/2 "2022-11-22T02:39:22Z")
Automatic toad balancer ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2022, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-we-need/975354/3 "2022-11-22T03:34:13Z")
a vacuum cleaner that works quietly. ---
**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:** [November 22, 2022, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-we-need/975354/4 "2022-11-22T03:45:43Z")
Cell-phone Disabler ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2022, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-we-need/975354/5 "2022-11-22T03:53:00Z")
Flying cars. They promised us in grade school we’d have flying cars! ---
**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:** [November 22, 2022, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-we-need/975354/6 "2022-11-22T04:05:16Z")
> [@dougrb](#): > > Automatic toad balancer - Can’t you just start out with 2 toads of similar weight? ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2022, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-we-need/975354/7 "2022-11-22T04:09:10Z")
Or one big toad and two small toads. Smudgeless glasses. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2022, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-we-need/975354/8 "2022-11-22T05:16:21Z")
exocortex happiness implants ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2022, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-we-need/975354/9 "2022-11-22T07:38:25Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > happiness implants Drouds and tasps for everyone! Only if what we “need” is human extinction, that is. ---
**Author:** ![Capn\_Carl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Capn\_Carl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capn_Carl)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2022, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-we-need/975354/10 "2022-11-22T11:34:29Z")
This made me laugh. As I’m nursing broken ribs, you’ve caused me some pain. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2022, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-we-need/975354/11 "2022-11-22T11:47:00Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > Flying cars. They promised us in grade school we’d have flying cars! Yea. And [jet packs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1SCu9yiBlo)! ---
**Author:** ![WhyKickAMooCow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9fc29f/32.png) [@WhyKickAMooCow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyKickAMooCow)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2022, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-we-need/975354/12 "2022-11-22T11:52:05Z")
Fish fingers that cook properly in a microwave. ---
**Author:** ![filmstar-en](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/50afbb/32.png) [@filmstar-en](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmstar-en)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2022, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-we-need/975354/13 "2022-11-22T12:22:22Z")
I should like a room like a Holodeck in Star Trek so I can sit in my armchair and be transported to a far more interesting place. Big screen TVs and VR goggles simply won’t do. ---
**Author:** ![filmstar-en](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/50afbb/32.png) [@filmstar-en](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmstar-en)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2022, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-we-need/975354/14 "2022-11-22T12:35:16Z")
A grid scale energy storage system was the great missing invention of the 20th century and it has not arrived yet in the 21st century. A grid scale energy generation system that does not cost the earth or ruin the environment would be nice. But that nuclear fusion thing is still decades away. Driverless cars would help everyone get around, especially in cities. But we don’t even have trains, ships and aircraft that can do that. ---
**Author:** ![Tzigone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Tzigone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tzigone)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2022, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-we-need/975354/15 "2022-11-22T13:31:33Z")
Star Trek style replicators. And possibly appropriate energy source for them. Free up so much land used for agriculture, reduce continuing deforestation, and stop so much use of pesticides. Obviously, there’d be pain for persons employed in agriculture, but hopefully it’d only be transitional (though that’s little comfort to those affected, I know). Tastes almost as good at the real thing, no work involved, and much healthier. ---
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2022, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-we-need/975354/16 "2022-11-22T13:39:15Z")
Airconditioners that generate electricity instead of consuming power. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2022, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-we-need/975354/17 "2022-11-22T13:50:44Z")
…and an ice dispenser that dispenes ice from a fridge quietly. ---
**Author:** ![teelabrown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teelabrown/32/8412_2.png) [@teelabrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teelabrown)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2022, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-we-need/975354/18 "2022-11-22T13:55:16Z")
I posted this in a similar thread not too long ago. A paint or coating for outdoor buildings and walls that won’t take graffiti paint. If you try to spraypaint something onto it, the spraypaint will just bead up and roll off like water off of a car window newly polished with Rainx. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2022, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-we-need/975354/19 "2022-11-22T14:54:30Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > a vacuum cleaner that works quietly. Also, an upright vacuum that has a cord that stays out of my way! ---
**Author:** ![Tzigone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Tzigone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tzigone)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2022, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-we-need/975354/20 "2022-11-22T14:57:38Z")
> [@teelabrown](#): > > A paint or coating for outdoor buildings and walls that won’t take graffiti paint. If you try to spraypaint something onto it, the spraypaint will just bead up and roll off like water off of a car window newly polished with Rainx. Sounds good. Though you may still need to clean the paint from the ground/pavement in some areas. Instant hair-dryers that don’t damage hair. Hardly earth-shattering, but it’d be convenient. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-we-need/975354.md?page=2)