annotate org/ideas.org @ 38:4a1e7d6071cb

add stuff.
author Robert McIntyre <rlm@mit.edu>
date Sun, 21 Apr 2013 04:17:06 +0000
parents e6e7b0d4a0b5
children 4f03d858ab4e
rev   line source
rlm@38 1 * Good Ideas
rlm@38 2
rlm@33 3 - don't forget about that mirror in the student center!, it's two
rlm@33 4 mirrors at right angles, like staring at a corner of a room. The
rlm@33 5 light reflects so that it shows you what you actually look like,
rlm@33 6 instead of your mirror image.
rlm@33 7
rlm@33 8 - remote control wasp :: use computer to drive wings with remote
rlm@32 9 power/logic.
rlm@32 10
rlm@33 11 - public (distributed?) database of email->private-key pairs, to
rlm@33 12 enable automatic encryption.
rlm@32 13
rlm@32 14 - every equivalent creature will see each others eyes as black -- it's
rlm@32 15 universal. Even of the creatures see in radio waves, and their eyes
rlm@32 16 are 2m long pieces of jagged metal, when those creatures look at
rlm@32 17 each other, they will see black, the absence of light and color
rlm@32 18 (since it's being absorbed by the sensor array).
rlm@32 19
rlm@33 20 - intelligent microwave :: it learns where the hot nodes of its fields
rlm@32 21 are, and uses them to evenly heat any food item. It has an infared
rlm@32 22 camera or something to keep track of how hot the food is. That way,
rlm@32 23 you don't get bowls where the edges are boiling, while the center is
rlm@32 24 still frozen. Requires a little bit of intelligence/vision, since
rlm@32 25 the exact pattern of heating totally depends on the exact shape of
rlm@32 26 the food. Wouldn't need a carasouel, and wouldn't need a timer,
rlm@32 27 just a desired temperature. Could also detect ice, and automotically
rlm@32 28 defrost the parts which are frozen. Might be able to work much
rlm@32 29 faster since it can aviod overheating; might have problems with
rlm@32 30 heating the insides of thick things, might need a weight sensor too.
rlm@32 31
rlm@32 32 Would be much cleaner than other microwaves, since food would
rlm@32 33 "sputter" and splash liquid much less.
rlm@32 34
rlm@32 35 Throw in some SIFT+R processing to match previously cooked foods and
rlm@32 36 learn the exact heating profiles for things that have been cooked
rlm@32 37 before -- it can get faster the more its used.
rlm@32 38
rlm@33 39 - brain-aware image compression algorithm
rlm@32 40
rlm@33 41 - Credit card proxy - would be a company which works like paypal
rlm@33 42 except for real world transactions
rlm@32 43
rlm@33 44 - Flesh pillow :: a pillow like the arm or torso of a human, complete
rlm@33 45 with simulated temperature, bones, and heartbeat.
rlm@33 46
rlm@33 47 - super screw :: a screw which has only one or two threads and intead
rlm@33 48 uses compresion to fit into a hole (the whole shank
rlm@33 49 of the screw is split into multiple pieces to
rlm@33 50 accomplish this; the tip is a point, then the middle
rlm@33 51 bulges out and gets compressed when screwed in.
rlm@33 52
rlm@33 53 - light filter :: (like light tweezers) to mechanically seperate
rlm@33 54 fluids with different index of refraction
rlm@33 55
rlm@33 56 - chalk eraser project :: maybe make a directional eraser, for easy
rlm@33 57 release of chalk dust, like fur, and how it likes to rest in a
rlm@33 58 certain direction.
rlm@33 59
rlm@34 60 - silver socks
rlm@32 61
rlm@34 62 - UROP: magnet gear/metal teeth tape device to distill urine through
rlm@34 63 evaporation and easily dispose of urea crystals for use in desert --
rlm@34 64 produce drinkable water.
rlm@32 65
rlm@34 66 - UROP: Make the LED in line with the flow for the microinjector, so
rlm@34 67 that it may transmit maximum flow. Motor that changes distance of
rlm@34 68 internal magnet from windings depending on desired speed so as to
rlm@34 69 obtain maximum power efficiency.
rlm@32 70
rlm@34 71 - web scraper which monitors various lottries, looking for "special"
rlm@34 72 gimmick changes in the rules (like 4x winnings on Wednesdays) and
rlm@34 73 computes expected value...
rlm@34 74
rlm@34 75 - Memristiors novel design :: make an evolutionary algorithm to make
rlm@34 76 old stuff using all four basic circuit elements.
rlm@34 77
rlm@34 78 - Conductive concrete
rlm@34 79
rlm@34 80 - little bitty melting pot
rlm@34 81
rlm@34 82 - power strip/timer programmable combination
rlm@34 83
rlm@34 84 - algorthms which learn what their inputs are and in what order, and
rlm@34 85 can adapt to changing circumstances -- they remember previous
rlm@34 86 arguments and adapt so as to respond to different connections.
rlm@34 87
rlm@34 88 - hear a true pure tone by direct stimultion of the nerves of the ear
rlm@34 89 mechanical analogue to the electrical op-amp
rlm@34 90
rlm@34 91 - paper folding device :: make it convienent to fold lots of papers in
rlm@34 92 various ways.
rlm@34 93
rlm@34 94 - concrete epoxy :: epoxy with sand/ some other solid material.
rlm@34 95
rlm@34 96 - suspend some ball of material with a high index of refraction and
rlm@34 97 shine light into it so it gets stuck -- would the light stay trapped
rlm@34 98 forever? Could you build up unlimited quantities of light inside the
rlm@34 99 sphere (which could then be released slowly by frustrated internal
rlm@34 100 reflection?
rlm@34 101
rlm@34 102 - movie screening :: Movies always are too long at first. one way to
rlm@34 103 shorten them ``scientifically" is to record blink rate during the
rlm@34 104 move and then remove / shorten the frames of the parts in which
rlm@34 105 there are a lot of blinking (average this over multiple people)
rlm@34 106 better yet, put it online and do it across thousands of people. I
rlm@34 107 got this from youtube in which there is an episode of kill bill
rlm@34 108 whih is composed entirely of the parts in whihc opeople had their
rlm@34 109 eyes closed. slogan: want to make a movie people can't take their
rlm@34 110 eyes off of? Just take those parts out!
rlm@34 111
rlm@35 112 - capture reading of a scientific atricle via screen capture while
rlm@35 113 people read it, then use it to make the article better. like the
rlm@35 114 movie-pruning idea.
rlm@35 115
rlm@35 116 - super reading program that teaches people the ideal mental mask to
rlm@35 117 apply during reading so as to read very fast.
rlm@35 118
rlm@34 119 - explosive thermite epoxy putty (one part would contain the rust, one
rlm@34 120 part the alumimum)
rlm@34 121
rlm@35 122 - use the above screen capture routine to make a quiz program tha
rlm@35 123 constructs questions about the content you seemed to gloss over
rlm@35 124 while reading. could be easy if the pdf came with embedded
rlm@35 125 questions. Dylan: automatically generate word-cloud about the parts
rlm@35 126 you found most interesting; help others who read the same stuff by
rlm@35 127 drawing attention to the interesting parts.
rlm@34 128
rlm@35 129 - make a samurai sword, but use osmiridum instead of martensite for
rlm@35 130 the cutting part; it should be a better sword.
rlm@32 131
rlm@35 132 - use the induction technology used to recharge electric toothbrushes
rlm@35 133 with no metal links to send data -- without any metal at all!
rlm@32 134
rlm@35 135 - reading is a form of synsethesia
rlm@32 136
rlm@35 137 - A machine which translates the text eg, "ACTGAC" into actual DNA
rlm@32 138
rlm@35 139 - ferro-fluid magnetic field suspended micro generator to make
rlm@35 140 electricity
rlm@32 141
rlm@35 142 - alcohol/fluid flow powered battery
rlm@32 143
rlm@35 144 - folding razor blade sword
rlm@32 145
rlm@35 146 - learn perfect pitch using another sense in combination (sight or
rlm@35 147 touch)
rlm@32 148
rlm@35 149 - kaleidoscope projector
rlm@32 150
rlm@35 151 - razor blade de-sharpener (for guilt free disposal)
rlm@32 152
rlm@35 153 - bricks filled with luminescent plant material
rlm@32 154
rlm@35 155 - metal grids with seeds inside, which grow together and form a
rlm@35 156 durable biological matrix. The metal substrate delivers
rlm@35 157 water. (maybe use plastic instead of metal?) Dylan: enrich plants
rlm@35 158 with inorganic compounds; electrical interfaces in cellular plant
rlm@35 159 matter => remote-controlled photosynthetic/bioluminescent
rlm@35 160 structures.
rlm@32 161
rlm@35 162 - conducting extracellular matrix
rlm@32 163
rlm@35 164 - cross-modal memory hashing
rlm@32 165
rlm@35 166 - flossing thimble-gaurds
rlm@32 167
rlm@35 168 - integrate lattice learning with rules by generating hypothetical
rlm@35 169 examples
rlm@32 170
rlm@35 171 - wooden refridgerator to give food a better taste Dylan: like barrels
rlm@35 172 for wine, or planks for salmon. Maybe just have "flavor planks" for
rlm@35 173 your pre-existing fridge. Need to mitigate effect of temperature on
rlm@35 174 volatility?
rlm@32 175
rlm@35 176 - radioactive transmutation molecule by molecule :: create precious
rlm@35 177 metals or something else economically advantageous.
rlm@32 178
rlm@35 179 - innolculate food with tons of harmless bacteria so that there's no
rlm@35 180 room for bad bacteria as a method of preservation
rlm@32 181
rlm@35 182 - pasteur - style holding jar with siphon as a way to store liquids ar
rlm@35 183 room temperature indefinately w/o refridgeration.(7/26/2009)
rlm@32 184
rlm@35 185 - Throw rude people out of resturant as a matter of course -- make
rlm@35 186 ambiance much better.
rlm@32 187
rlm@35 188 - make something that mixes soap with firehydrant water (and reduces
rlm@35 189 the pressure a bit) and use it to clean windows of buildings.
rlm@32 190
rlm@35 191 - make an ocarina out of pure silver
rlm@32 192
rlm@35 193 - fire pen :: pen which burns words on to the page, thus never needing
rlm@35 194 any ink. Is ther a way to make it runnable from the
rlm@35 195 human's energy?
rlm@32 196
rlm@35 197 - website to design your own soda, and label, and have it mailed to
rlm@35 198 you / sell it from your own online store.
rlm@35 199
rlm@35 200 - solar panels that float on the ocean
rlm@35 201 - handcuffs with more than two cuffs (3?) :: great for daisy chaining
rlm@35 202 prisoniers, binding them to environment, etc.
rlm@35 203
rlm@35 204 - vector based SOUND files :: like the pictures but with SOUND. codify
rlm@35 205 sound in a language with enough symbols so that it can describe
rlm@35 206 everything and encode it in that. would be like going from speech
rlm@35 207 to text or smtg. This would store sound as an image of the
rlm@35 208 wavefront encoded as a vector image.
rlm@32 209
rlm@36 210 - Mouse with a horizontal scroll wheel in addition to the vertical
rlm@36 211 scroll wheel
rlm@32 212
rlm@36 213 - logic maintance system for big institutions to make sure the things
rlm@36 214 they are thinking about doing are not retarded
rlm@32 215
rlm@36 216 - http://www.regulations.gov/
rlm@32 217
rlm@36 218 - genetically engineered glowing fruit -- sell seeds?
rlm@32 219
rlm@36 220 - memory slide :: IF memories are encoded using particular sensory
rlm@36 221 impressions, what happens if the sensory organ
rlm@36 222 itself changes? those memories would become
rlm@36 223 unaccessable. maybe this is why we can't remember
rlm@36 224 much from our childhoods. also, could this happen
rlm@36 225 throught life as well? Could S remember stuff from
rlm@36 226 his childhood?
rlm@32 227
rlm@36 228 - make a completely indestructable phone :: no moving parts or display
rlm@36 229 you should be able to slam it around all you want, and it will
rlm@36 230 just work. brutally simple. aerogel around the battery, minimal
rlm@36 231 interface - never gets too hot, and can be dropped into water. no
rlm@36 232 holes -- uses field effects for everything from the buttons to
rlm@36 233 inductive charging and data transfer.
rlm@32 234
rlm@36 235 - midi to ocarina "tabs" program (online website? buy ocarinas from it
rlm@36 236 too)
rlm@32 237
rlm@36 238 - 3d printing with sound pulses (or just patterns) -- like the 8.03
rlm@36 239 lecture
rlm@32 240
rlm@36 241 - lighter flint on spring :: make hot and it makes sparkles!
rlm@32 242
rlm@36 243 - Use a nondeterministic sentence parser to understand sentences with
rlm@36 244 multiple meanings. Perhaps use statistical language as a filter
rlm@36 245 against unintended (or rather, uninteresting) interpretations.
rlm@32 246
rlm@36 247 - Rebranding New+Clear Energy with informational campaign and
rlm@36 248 public debate forum to enforce its transparent and open
rlm@36 249 nature. France needn't be the world leader in nuclear
rlm@36 250 energy. (Dylan)
rlm@32 251
rlm@36 252 - Engineer a material which has both ductility and high surface
rlm@36 253 tension to make the "third" minimal-surface-energy solution to a
rlm@36 254 bubble suspended between two equal-diameter rings. (Solutions are
rlm@36 255 cylindrical catenary curve, two separated half-bubbles, and a
rlm@36 256 double-cone)
rlm@38 257
rlm@38 258 - Textbook whose content can be varied continuously :: alter level of
rlm@38 259 difficulty, rigor, diction, emphasize crossover with certain
rlm@38 260 other discipline, etc. Content generated dynamically from
rlm@38 261 knowledge base, along with questions that are moreover altered to
rlm@38 262 guide knowledge acquisition. Motivation: One book of
rlm@38 263 knowledge. /One./