
Ask HN: Do you have any ideas that seem impossible? - raymondgh
I&#x27;d like to hear ideas so impossible or half-baked that you&#x27;d be embarrassed to share them under normal circumstances
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arjunvpaul
Too many Kids and Pets die of heatstroke every year after being left in
vehicles - [https://goo.gl/FFDbEr](https://goo.gl/FFDbEr)

How about an internet connected Amazon Echo like device that with camera and
vision analysis [https://goo.gl/SoUzEi](https://goo.gl/SoUzEi) . It can
basically learn to \- subtract the vehicle
[https://goo.gl/x4uKVU](https://goo.gl/x4uKVU) \- sense when temperatures are
at dangerous levels \- Take a picture and send it to certain pre determined
phones alerting the owners that a kid or pet might be in the car.

Maybe we can even wire the car to switch on air conditioning till help
arrives, alert local authorities to go check on the car etc.

Another way to have an API that would let sites like reddit, hacker news, you
tube have a live feed of "potential kid in hot car" images that could crowd
source a second level of human verification.

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arjunvpaul
I am not entirely sure but there maybe some truth to the suggestion that
animals can sense earth quakes in advance \-
[https://goo.gl/j4sLFw](https://goo.gl/j4sLFw) \-
[https://goo.gl/YrSzJm](https://goo.gl/YrSzJm)

How about a pet owner data collective that predicts earthquakes? It would work
by having some sort of Fitbit accessory for our pets which would collect and
share their electrical signals via an app. Machine learning could then
correlate these signals with actual earthquake activity and learn how to
predict quakes (or if we would be able to predict them). Maybe just in time
before the next big one hits the Bay Area :-) .

~~~
simon_acca
Scientists are working on testing this claim in central Italy, where a
destructive earthquake struck last year and lots of minor seismic activity is
still present.

The article is pretty informative, I just like to report here the closing
remark from the Principal Investigator: "It’s a huge claim, so we’d better
have good proof for it".

[https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/17/world/europe/italy-
earthq...](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/17/world/europe/italy-earthquakes-
animals-predicting-natural-disasters.html?mcubz=0)

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roryisok
Oh gosh, I have so many of these.

\- a vacuum cleaner that separates out things it shouldn't have vacuumed for
collection later.

\- a tiny indoor drone that finds and takes the perfect photos at parties so
you don't have to miss the action behind a camera. (I think I read about one
that follows snow boarders or something)

\- a web service that tells me about cool things that are happening nearby,
but by scanning newspapers and notice boards, because around here most of this
stuff misses the internet

\- take a photo of a piece of furniture and find plans on-line for how to
build it

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doingmything
Underground tubes that deliver packages directly to your residence instantly.

~~~
arjunvpaul
Had the same idea :-). To revive freight tunnels. With the advancements in
self driving tech and tunneling tech this would seem feasible.

Amazon could finance them and then rent capacity it out to other companies.

A pilot perhaps in Chicago by reviving the old freights tunnels -
[https://goo.gl/ErJQFx](https://goo.gl/ErJQFx)

The Swiss were/are considering them too -
[https://goo.gl/PNMRrE](https://goo.gl/PNMRrE)

------
strongai
I have always wanted to invent an ice-cube maker that works by being filled
with water and placed in a microwave.

~~~
fratlas
I had a dream where I invented this, ha! Could it be done with laser cooling?

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Mz
I actually have ideas that work, but everyone else thinks they are impossible
and "half-baked" \-- actually, it is worse than that. I get called a lunatic.

So my impossible dream is actually turning what I already do into some kind of
real business with an actual income stream. Ugh.

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LarryMade2
Ever see second life? theres the avatar name floating above the avs as they
walk around. I would like to see a set of AR glasses that provide peoples
names floating over their heads in real life.

So many issues - technical and legal..

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djmips

      Well anyway, how about a walking machine that could walk on the ocean floor from one continent to another.  Like an underwater ATAT.
    

(Half bakery still exists right?)

~~~
dasmoth
Yes it does.

I think I probably have an impossible idea pretty much every day. But a week
or two back, I was actually moderately proud about suggesting a human-powered
ekranoplan to some coworkers. Proud enough to do a web-search... and find it
had been posted on half-bakery several years ago.

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fern12
For short people: a lightweight, retractable, sturdy, claw-like device that
can easily fit into a purse, yet extend up to 4-6 ft. for reaching items on
high shelves.

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SirLJ
Teleportation

~~~
partisan
This is all I require.

~~~
SirLJ
Thanks, I have one more to round up the modern gentlemen set: the time machine
- it will tremendous improve my stock market speculation...

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miguelrochefort
I think there should be one app/website/service that replaces 80% of other
apps/websites/services.

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incalifornia
Freedom (global)

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2_listerine_pls
I am drunk, don't count on me. I will tell you tomorrow.

