Ideas

Purpose
The purpose of this page is to post a few ideas that come to mind from time to time. These won't be the same ideas that I came up with and put into that big book of inventions I talk about elsewhere, nor those that I've already delivered to others. As what is posted on this page are ideas, there may be no ryme or reason for them other than to get others to think about the feasibility of making the ideas a reality...or not. You decide.

Laser Peripheral Excitation
It seems that current dogma with aggressive lasers involves utilization of a single beam focused on a target, usually to break down / deform / combust or otherwise alter the target. But how could such a laser be improved upon? Why not employ a series of less powerful lasers whose beams are oriented as "satellites" around the central beam at a given distance whom also impact the target but, instead of being stationary, their beam moves inward - toward the central beam in a repeating fashion. Their purpose being to "stimulate" the target's surface by applying energy and, possibly, leading to faster degradation of the target. It's challenging to describe what I see in my mind at the moment for that. However, try picturing a laser beam on a spot of grass. Then picture a series of other laser beam spots at some radius away from the central beam, forming a circle (perhaps like a star pattern) and each of those move toward the central beam (then "reset" and repeat the motion). The additional energy would be transferred to the grass heating it up (and as a reaction the grass would deform/move) and the heating motion would (in an atmosphere) create air current toward the target of the central beam.

Gnarly Cap
With all of the merch out there I thought it would be a trivial task to find a cap with an embroidered Rancor (with or without Fett / Mandalorian). I recently spotted shirts with the Rancor (with Fett from the new series) but literally nothing for caps. Anywhere. Maybe that will change...

Drone Bagger
Having seen the evolution of coordinated small drone swarms I got to wondering how might one neutralize a swarm (or a single big drone) without destroying them outright, or using electronic means like EM waves. Then I thought...wouldn't it be great if a counter-measure like that could be used from a fighter jet or helicopter since drones operate in a wide altitude range. The idea that surfaced was packing a wire mesh net in a missile (which may be autonomous by using radar) or guided (maybe from a fighter or helicopter). After launch, when the missile is in proximity of the drone / swarm it would break apart launching the expanding wire mesh net. The velocity of the expanded wire mesh net would then wrap around the swarm / drone and disable avionics and gravity would take care of grounding it. From there the captured hardware could be recovered for study, etc.

Chopstick Straw
Recently I was ate a noodle soup at an Asian restaraunt and found it odd that chopsticks are used for the noodles and a spoon for the soup. Then I thought, why not hollow out a chopstick down its length so that you could use it for noodles but you could also use it as a straw for the soup, eliminating the need for a spoon (or trying to use the bowl as a cup to drink the soup)? I mentioned this idea to an asian aquaintance but found it to be too outlandish. I would use such a utensil. :)

Coin Skin
As things unfold in the US, a "coin shortage" is making its way through the economy. This means, self-checkout machines won't be able to accept your payment if you pay in cash/coins. It turns out, there are only a small amount of coins you actually need to have the change for a dollar which could be used to give to a human checkout person. Specifically, (3) quarters, (1) dime, (2) nickels, (5) pennies...you could have just (4) pennies but might as well have that extra penny to have change for a dollar. Some may want to carry their coins in a pop-out coin skin instead of carrying lose change. If you have a 3D printer and can print from STL OR GCODE, feel free to download the coin skin!

Wave Air Conditioner / Cooling System
Air conditioning today requires a lot of physical resources to build from a compressor, specialized gas, and a variety of other materials. The end product is a means to reduce the energetic level of the air itself (or, with some refrigeration systems, a surface). Instead of reducing the energetic level of air by dated mechanical means, though impressive as it is, why not use a wave such as an electromagnetic wave to reduce that energetic level? If that is possible, I would anticipate that fewer resources would be required to build an air conditioner and certainly less mechanical in nature. Of course it should be relatively simple, then, to alter the concept to energize (or heat) the air. From my perspective, appliances would not only end up being less expensive, but possibly lighter and more compact - useful traits as we move towards space. This sort of development may also be useful in other types of cooling systems...perhaps to even rivaling liquid nitrogen.

Neutralizing Fungus
As with most things I'm exposed to, ideas just pop in my head. In this case I read about the characteristics of toe fungus from different medical journals and while I have no formal training in the medical field, what I'll mention here is not medical advice but a thought experiment. Having also read about a range of iodine, charge tendancy, and so on I thought...how effective would a small amount of an elemental form (like nascent) be in neutralizing that fungus?

Nano Solar Gel
The current paradigm for solar power is centered around rigid, thick wafers of crystalline material or non-abundant and expensive material. I wonder if it would be possible to create nano solar cells in a transparent circulatory suspension that, without the cells being explicitly connected together, would create power collectively on par or greater than the equivalent rigid, non-suspended form.

Removable Multi-Stage Water Pitcher
Have you ever noticed that water pitchers essentially have a single physical filter in them? Those filters may have multiple stages inside of them but, when you need to replace the filter, you replace the whole filter when it may still be able to filter finer particulates but can't because larger particulates have plugged it up. This approach does not seem to be particularly efficient for a design, manufacturing, recycling or disposal. Why not alter the water pitcher design so that you have a physical filter (for larger particulates) that you can replace as well as a physical secondary filter (for small particulates) you can also replace? With this type of design the primary filter (for larger particulates) can be replaced independent of the secondary filter and may help with reducing the volume of manufacturing material needed, material to recycle or dispose of. Humm.