Imagine you're riding in a train, when you see another train hurtling toward you on the same track. No problem. You're on the "anti-collision train," designed by P.K. Stern of New York. It was a bold idea for improving travel safety, but it never caught on. The Strand magazine (1904) explained the concept:
A single track is used, on which railway-cars are caused to travel. Two cars are rushing towards each other at a speed of twenty-five miles an hour, so that a collision would, under ordinary conditions, be inevitable, when suddenly one of the cars runs, not into, but over the top of the other and lands on the track on the other side, where it continues in perfect safety to its destination. The underneath car has proceeded as if nothing had happened.
The cars, although they run upon wheels, are really travelling bridges, with overhanging compartments for the accommodation of passengers. Over the framed structure of the cars thus constituted an arched track is carried, securely fastened to the car and serving the purpose of providing a road-bed for the colliding car. This superimposed track is built in accordance with well-understood principles of bridge construction.
Your challenge is to guess whether this product is real or imaginary. The answer is below in extended.
Product Description: CowCows (aka VACHEMENT VACHE). Created by designer Cyprien Côté.
Completely 'fed up' with seeing cows unsuccessfully wipe flies from their eyes, [Côté] came up with an ear extender that could be used by the cow to fully remove any pest that was bothering them. They were made out of a super-soft material and cost about fifty cents (Canadian) per set.
Look at the slo-mo and stop-motion skateboard example at around 2:30.
The description of how the technology works is also cool.
It makes me wonder if someone wearing the helmet would bump into people if they weren't in real-time. In the video, the subject walks through the crowd but the video is delayed.
As I bump my way through this crowded world, I may be wearing one of these and not know it.
It's the newest innovation in mannequin technology. It watches customers with the camera installed in its eye, recording details such as age, race, and gender. It also keeps an eye out for shoplifters. Be cool to have one of these as a home security camera. Keep it standing in the window, watching everyone who walks up to the door. [Yahoo! News]
Click to enlarge. From The Outline of Science, 1922. One of these would be useful for determining exactly how much weight you gained over Thanksgiving.
This is an unusual object on display at the London Science Museum, which offers this explanation:
This invention was made for a man who had lost both arms at the shoulders, an extremely rare injury even among the 41,000 British servicemen who lost one or more limbs during the First World War. For these men, their injuries were so severe that no limb stump remained to which an artificial limb could be attached. In this crude device, a canvas strip which has a pencil attached to a wooden disc at the front was strapped around the chest. Once the pencil was on a sheet of paper, the amputee would write via movements of his torso. This would have been extremely difficult. It was invented by a Major Maclure, an officer in the British Army.
Paul Di Filippo
Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1.