Ideas within topic science: (click suns to rate or comment on ideas)

1		Most people are not all good or bad. We are not white hats or black hats, or even gray hats. We are multiple shades and colors, which change with the light and angle from which we are viewed, and they change with time, and with the eye of the beholder.	E-mail
2		Government in many countries alternates between two options: dogma (theocracy) or dictatorship (or military rule). The third D, democracy, tends to lose as it lacks the intense personal reward of heaven (dogma) or wealth (corruption in dictatorship).	E-mail
3		Color-blindness in relationships: People are different and will feel some things that their partners don't, as if one is color blind to a feeling the partner sees as glorious, leading to confusion, frustration, and pain. Explain, understand, manage.	E-mail
4		Murphy Analysis: Murphy's Law says whatever can go wrong will go wrong. When seeing whether some data fit your theory, erase your assumptions and brainstorm alternative theories the data could fit. Often one of those is right and your theory is wrong.	E-mail
5		I heard this: "I'm a historian, not a futurist." That's like a scientist saying, "I collect data. I don't make theories." The purpose of gathering data is to make theories to predict what will happen and improve the course of events. History should, too.	E-mail
6		People tend to call other people "bad" if they disagree with their values and thus act in ways they dislike. This is the source of much misunderstanding and conflict in love and war. We should avoid calling people "bad" and instead think "different".	E-mail
7		2 satellites collided, spewing debris that threaten other satellites. To prevent crashes, a UN agency should track all orbiting objects and program a computer to predict their orbits and potential collisions. Satellites could then maneuver out of danger.	E-mail
8		Just as some people are hyperactive, some people are hypoactive. They're just not noticed because they are quiet. However, it may cause problems: aversion to exercise may harm health, and aversion to interaction may cause problems in marriage and work..	E-mail
9		IPO auctions: companies lose money when their stock prices rise just after their initial public offerings. Companies should auction their shares to the highest bidders instead of the current practice of fixing a price and choosing buyers by lottery.	E-mail
10		Why do people marry prisoners? Not for interaction. But they may seek a sense of ownership of a person. Like locking jewelry in a safe deposit box, jail is a secure way to keep a spouse. Ownership may also be one motivation for marriage in general.	E-mail
11		To prevent financial tsunamis, countries or UN should define companies that are "too big to fail" and assign a regulator to declare others that fall outside the definition, then put a public official on their boards and limit their leverage and risk.	E-mail
12		An ionic exchange converter for removing carbon dioxide from car exhaust to prevent climate change. (automotive, CO2, emissions)	E-mail
13		A spiral slide as a fire escape from tall buildings. It has a cover and may use seats (& seatbelts) on gears (to regulate speed). It goes 10 floors at a time. Access via metal, locked doors, opened only in an emergency. Faster than stairs.	E-mail
14		Emotion and logic are both needed for action. Logic alone can show something is true, but so what? Logic gives no motivation to act on truth unless there's a principle to motivate action: an "e-motion".	E-mail
15		To replace time-consuming and rigid grant applications, pay scientists a fixed salary, from which they need to pay all their research expenses, including supplies, equipment, and staff, encouraging efficient use of money to produce the best results.	E-mail
16		To protect against loss of power to a nuclear power plant, use a water tower. Gravity can force cool water through the reactor until power is restored.	E-mail
17		Banks that are "too big to fail" threaten the world economy if they do fail. To prevent banks from getting so big, government should force breakups or block mergers of banks/companies with assets or liabilities > 1 day of world GDP (0.3% of annual GDP).	E-mail
18		Give every person in the world equal allowances to emit greenhouse gasses, and require large emitters to buy allowances from people on an open market. This will bypass countries and corruption and will benefit poor people.	E-mail
19		Meta behaviors: some personality characteristics affect whole classes of behavior. For example, some people are more flexible in changing their behavior to get along with people; some are more sensitive to sensory input in general; etc.	E-mail
20		Air inside city buses can be more polluted than outside. Buses should completely flush their air when at clean portions of their routes, or should store clean air in a tank to release it gradually into the interior during the day.	E-mail
21		To reduce plastic waste, charge, worldwide, a tax on plastic production at source (ethylene cracking?). Reducing, reusing, recycling, and replacing would then become cheaper than making new plastic.	E-mail
22		Some governments give poor people cheap public housing, but they need to wait a long time to get it, they must live in a certain place, and people fake poverty to qualify. Instead, raise taxes to pay everyone cash, and let people rent wherever they want.	E-mail
23		Nanophone: a microphone to hear sounds at a microscopic scale, including cells moving and organelles moving. Maybe it could detect things that microscopes can't see.	E-mail
24		To better predict the magnitude of technological improvement, such as increases in oil reserves, use a top-down approach (extrapolating overall statistics), rather than bottom-up (trying to predict technology). Moore's Law is an example.	E-mail
25		Divide problems into parts: behavior, knowledge, or money (there's often overlap). Then it would be easier to focus on the most efficient solutions. AIDS as example: b. to use condoms, k. to make a vaccine, m. to pay for drugs.	E-mail
26		3D printer that consumes supermarket plastic bags	E-mail
27		Highly populated countries like China and India, instead of forcing the people to have only one child, can have income tax (or other taxes) brackets depending on the number of children. This will have a good impact with out a hard rule.	E-mail
28		Divert carbon dioxide from power plants or other sources to greenhouses or fields to increase crop yields. Legumes may benefit most.	E-mail
29		States or provinces tend to spend all their income when the economy grows, then need to cut spending in a recession, just when more spending is needed. Countries should tax states in expansions and pay them in recessions in order to create balance.	E-mail
30		Put a water jacket on air conditioning condensing coils/pipes so that hot water can be created for free (and make the a/c more efficient!).	E-mail
31		Focus solar energy (mirrors) to run a Stirling (heat) engine for pumping water or AC power, esp. in remote places. Use ambient air or nearby water for cold sink. Focus sunlight on water or molten salt reservoir for an even heat source (thermal inertia).	E-mail
32		Thumb print activation device on a credit card or ID/Access card. Card only works if your thumb is on the card.	E-mail
33		Instead of very heavy cast/fabricated steel supports/stands for equipment, try to design lighter (may be wider) open box type fabricated supports filled with concrete. Thus save on material, manufacturing, & erection costs of these items.	E-mail
34		Research grant applications and papers should be accepted or rejected quickly. Now they take up to a year, during which time they may become obsolete. The delay accumulates since follow-up studies are slowed up to 2 years, etc.	E-mail
35		Scratch 'n' Sniff Cook Book: This is a novelty cookbook where the reader will be given the option to smell some of the recipes/dishes in the book. (food)	E-mail
36		The latest research shows that a 30%-40% decrease in caloric intake increases monkey lifespans by 30%-40%. Experiments should be done gauging what effect calorie restriction has on mental capabilities, energy, etc to see if feasible for humans.	E-mail
37		Require that landmines be made with self-destruct mechanisms to make them effective for a time regarded as necessary for a military goal, but after that time ineffective via planned obsolescence or by broadcasting their presence.	E-mail
38		There can be some sort of device (piezoelectric generator?) beneath the roads which when pressed by passing vehicles can generate power, and the road lights can be powered through them without fuel cost.	E-mail
39		With >6 billion people on earth now, and ~30 billion in human history, don't you think we could find 50 or 60 of the brightest to figure out a way to eliminate the need for wars altogether? Maybe a permanent UN council?	E-mail
40		Examples of group violence are constantly reported in the news, but little is done to prevent them. Group loyalty/hatred should be studied scientifically like other illness to find the psychological/social causes and, most importantly, preventions.	E-mail
41		Harvest CD4/CD8 stem cells from HIV patient's marrow, then modify CD receptor gene so that its protein can't bind HIV (cf the HIV immune people in NYC), then autotransplant these stem cells to give partial new HIV resistant immune system.	E-mail
42		A food machine wherein a person has only got to insert ingredients and dish will be prepared by machine. (cooking robot)	E-mail
43		Lay expandable polystyrene foam on roofs to insulate and reflect off heat and sunlight in very hot countries during summer. Also putting scrapped pieces of white ceramic tiles on the roofs with white cement could be a very low cost way to cool buildings.	E-mail
44		The rate of interest of World Bank & other development bank loans to a country/state should be in proportion to its population growth rate (along with other factors). This will act as an impetus to the govt. to try to reduce the PGR further.	E-mail
45		Scientific journals should accept papers by e-mail rather than post to save time, postage, and trees. There are normally >7 mailings required (author to editor, editor to reviewers, and back, then repeat for revisions), delaying life-saving information.	E-mail
46		To reduce solid waste, use biodegradable plastic grocery bags made partly with tapioca starch.	E-mail
47		Design elevator button panels as a single surface (like on microwave ovens) that can be easily wiped clean for regular disinfection to prevent spread of disease via the hand-surface-hand route. Panel must have Braille for the visually impaired.	E-mail
48		With universal, cheap cell phone service, a wide range of real-time, health monitoring equipment could be deployed. With 2-way communication, patients can be directed to take action before a crisis occurs. The cost of such capability will decrease.	E-mail
49		To slow population growth, with 2 healthy children alive each time a couple makes a baby their socio-economic supports from government should be reduced and taxes increased.	E-mail
50		Tattoos lasting only five or ten years, by use of special dissipating inks.	E-mail