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Innovation—in both directions

by Miki Saxon

Good things and laughter have always come my way on Friday, the 13th, so I thought I’d send some your way on this one. And where better to find them than within the vagaries of the human race—especially when it is innovating.

One of my favorites is the Darin Awards—”We salute the improvement of the human genome by honoring those who remove themselves from it. Of necessity, this honor is generally bestowed posthumously.”

The unmitigated level of pure, unthinking stupidity displayed of the confirmed winners will take your breath away, consider the top vote-getter in 2005:

(19 March 2005, Michigan) “Unusual” and “complicated” is how the Missaukee County sheriff described the mysterious death of 19-year-old Christopher.

After an evening spent imbibing large quantities of alcohol, Christopher noticed a shortage in his liquor supply that could not be attributed to his own depredations. He concluded that his neighbor had stolen a bottle of booze! He menaced the neighbor with a knife, to no avail, whereupon he retired to his own apartment to brood about revenge.

Finally he figured out the perfect way to get back at that conniving bottle-thief: Christopher would stab himself and blame the neighbor!

A witness saw Christopher enter the bathroom as he called 911. He calmly informed the dispatcher that his neighbor had stabbed him. Witnesses said he looked fine when he emerged from the bathroom, but a moment later gouts of blood spewed from his chest. Suddenly he began screaming begging for help. The dispatcher heard a woman shout, “Why did you do this?” He collapsed at the door of his apartment.

Deputies arrived quickly, but Christopher had already bled to death from self-inflicted stab wounds to his chest. An autopsy determined that he had stabbed himself in the chest twice. The first wound apparently didn’t look dangerous enough, so he tried again. The second time, the knife plunged into his left ventricle. This wound was plenty dangerous: he had only two minutes to live.

Christopher died in vain. His deathbed accusation of his neighbor failed, as a witness confirmed that the neighbor was not in the apartment. All Christopher got for revenge was an accidental death sentence.

As I said, unmitigated stupidity:)

So imagine my delight when I read about the Ig Nobel Awards—”…the annual award given at Harvard University by Annals of Improbable Research magazine for weird, whacky and sometimes worthless scientific research.”

Here are brilliant minds doing what at first glance seems silly, but turns out to have fascinating, and often useful, results. My favorite, and the top winner, this year:

“Howard Stapleton…invented teenager repellent.
His device, called the Mosquito, emits a high frequency siren-like noise that is painful to the ears of teens and those in their early 20s, but inaudible to adults… Stapleton’s company, Compound Security Systems of Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, has sold hundreds of the units to retailers, local governments, police departments and homeowners all over the United Kingdom. The company is shipping its first Mosquito units for sale in the United States next week.”

That’s it for this beautiful (where I live) Friday, the 13th. If any of you know of other interesting awards, please let me know. Either post it as a comment or email me at miki@RampUpSolutions.com.

Enjoy your weekend!

2 Responses to “Innovation—in both directions”
  1. MAPping Company Success Says:

    […] When I wrote about smart and stupid innovation, I cited the 2006 Ig Nobel award for the Mosquito that “emits a high frequency siren-like noise that is painful to the ears of teens and those in their early 20s, but inaudible to adults.” It was commercialized for sale as a “teen repellant” by Compound Security Systems, successful in the UK and was starting to ship to the US. […]

  2. MAPping Company Success Says:

    […] I wrote about smart and stupid innovation, I cited the 2006 Ig Nobel award for the Mosquito that “emits a high frequency siren-like […]

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