Bite-Sized Innovations

Albert Einstein said that "if at first the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it." In this vein, here's a list of some of my favourite ideas and innovations from the past 18 months, together with a few comments and suggestions. Work out for yourself which are sublime and which are ridiculous.

A company in Japan has developed a bicycle that pumps up its own tires. Kinetic energy from the wheels drives small pumps hidden in each wheel hub. Has anyone applied this idea to automobiles, buses, or trucks?

If you're the type who likes to live dangerously, especially on holiday, then you might be interested in Dogtag insurance. The UK-based company covers a huge range of sports from scuba to snowboarding. Using a unique dog tag identity tag, which is worn around your neck at all times, emergency medical staff can confirm that you are covered for medical insurance and will instantly know of any medical conditions. It looks pretty cool, too. Why can't other "invisible" products be given a physical presence?

A Swedish company has developed an organic alternative to cremation. The problem with burning bodies is that the process releases toxins into the atmosphere. Freezing bodies to -196 degrees Celsius and then shattering them into very small pieces (and then removing the water and metal content) is deemed a safer alternative.

Pet owners these days don't like the idea that their pet might die before they do, so Procter & Gamble has created an Iams pet food-branded MRI scanning service for cats and dogs. The company is also launching a pet insurance service to pay for the $1,200 scans. What other human innovations could be transferred to animals -- and vice versa?

Dulux in the UK has created a paint that makes it easier to repaint white walls. The paint starts off pink but dries white making sure you don't miss anything.

A group of rather inventive cultural activists called the Carbon Defence League recently put together a web site featuring the bar codes of everyday supermarket items -- only with all the prices reduced! Visitors to the site could print the bar codes onto stickers and reprice their weekly shopping list. What else could you print for yourself?

How do you know if your toddler is wearing the right sized baby shoes? One way is to make shoes with transparent soles so you can take a look at their feet. Genius.

A Japanese phone company (NTT DoCoMo) has introduced a smart tag that allows shoppers to interrogate clothes mannequins. If a properly equipped phone is held next to the tag, information such as price, colors, and size is instantly downloaded to the handheld. Given our thirst for information (and our lack of time), surely this technology could be used elsewhere?

We've seen transparent cameras and see-through staplers. Now a transparent canoe has been designed for people who want to see what lies beneath. Not recommended if you live in shark infested waters.

A US car safety group has come up with the novel idea of printing expiration dates on the walls of tires. What else could use by dates be applied to?

Triangular taps produce the smallest drips, according to mathematicians at Harvard University. The discovery should influence inkjet printer design and may increase printer resolution. Could the idea work with pens or needles?

In what has been referred to as a trend for "creative sentencing," a judge in the US has ordered a woman driver who killed a man in a car crash to carry a photograph of the victim in her wallet.

Forget you door keys again? No problem with a domestic door lock that operates by fingerprint recognition. The system recognises up to 20 different prints.

Headblade is a razor specially designed for shaving your head (which, of course, is a different shape to your face).

What if, instead of typing your name into Google, you could scan in a picture of your face and find out how many times your photograph or image appears? This could be used to monitor illegal surveillance or usage.

Known criminals in southeast London are likely to get a big surprise with the installation of street cameras linked to facial recognition software. Similar technology is being used in a hockey stadium in Utah.

Lick'ems are the world's first glow-in-the-dark popsicles. They're sold in selected dark venues like night clubs. Is there a market for other glow-in-the-dark foods or drinks?

Idea from Japan: selling cheap voice recorders to forgetful old people. How else can we stop people forgetting?