Buzz
As the saying goes, necessity drives innovation. When confronted with an incredibly tough issue, what’s the solution? You think outside the box, just as these individuals did.
10. Using a Household Cleaner to Tackle a Nuclear Site
Nestled in the remote highlands of Northern Scotland lies Dounreay, a site that has housed multiple nuclear research facilities since the 1950s. Many of these facilities are currently being decommissioned by the UK Government, a task far from simple. One particular facility, an experimental chemical plant designed to recycle plutonium liquor, posed a significant challenge. The process involved circulating highly radioactive liquids through numerous pipes and vessels, all of which were coated with stubborn plutonium stains. These stains presented a serious health risk to the cleanup team, making the task even more daunting.
However, while watching television one day, a team member came across an advertisement for Cillit Bang, a popular household cleaner in the UK known for its ability to eliminate various types of dirt and stains. Desperate for a solution, the team decided to give it a try. To their astonishment, it performed far better and quicker than the costly cleaning agent they had been using. Additionally, they observed a significant reduction in contamination levels after using Cillit Bang, prompting interest from other nuclear sites across Britain for their decommissioning processes.
9. Monitoring Penguin Populations from Space via Their Droppings
To prevent penguins from facing extinction, scientists must keep a close eye on their population trends. While tracking most animals is challenging, penguins present even greater difficulties. Due to various factors, aerial surveillance is ineffective, and traditional tracking devices have been found to harm the penguins, leading to unintended fatalities.
Fortunately, scientists have found an unconventional way to monitor penguin populations—by tracking their droppings. Utilizing high-resolution satellite images, British researchers have been able to study the movements of King Penguin colonies by identifying distinctive brown guano stains on the ice. These stains are left behind by breeding colonies that often remain in one location for up to 10 months. This innovative approach has led to the discovery of ten previously unknown penguin colonies.
8. Using Nuclear Fallout to Identify Counterfeit Art
Art forgeries are a significant issue in the art world. It’s not unusual to hear stories of collectors spending millions on paintings believed to be masterpieces, only to find out they’re fakes. While exact figures on the economic impact are scarce—largely because many victims hesitate to admit their costly errors—the scale of the problem is evident when considering some of the most notorious art forgery cases in history.
Fortunately, a new tool has emerged in the battle against art fraud: nuclear fallout. Following the initial nuclear tests in 1945, two previously nonexistent isotopes, caesium-137 and strontium-90, were released into the atmosphere. These isotopes eventually made their way into plants used to produce paints. Scientists have determined that if a painting supposedly created before 1945 contains these isotopes, it’s almost certainly a forgery.
7. Water Cannons
Describing Israel as somewhat unpopular in the Middle East would be a gross understatement. After the Six Day War in 1967, fought against Egypt, Jordan, and Syria, Israel constructed a massive defensive line along the eastern coast of the Suez Canal to protect against potential future attacks. The centerpiece of this defense was a towering sand wall, standing 20-25 meters high and stretching the entire length of the line. Israeli engineers believed this barrier would make surprise landings impossible, estimating it would take attackers at least 24 hours to breach the sand wall.
However, in 1971, an Egyptian officer devised a clever solution: using water cannons to liquefy and wash away the sand, creating large gaps in the defensive line. The plan was approved, and Egypt acquired hundreds of pumps in preparation for the Yom Kippur War in 1973. During the surprise attack, Egyptian forces breached the Bar Lev Line in under two hours. Over the next day, they created 81 breaches, removing more than 3,000,000 cubic meters of sand.
6. Night Witches
The Germans nicknamed the 588th Air Regiment, an all-female night bomber unit of the Soviet air force, the ‘Night Witches’. From 1942 to 1945, this group conducted countless bombing missions using outdated Polikarpov U-2 biplanes from 1928. These small planes could only carry two bombs at a time, requiring multiple runs per night. Additionally, their slow speed made them easy targets for German anti-aircraft fire if caught in searchlights.
To maintain surprise and avoid being shot down, the Night Witches adopted a daring tactic: pilots would cut their engines mid-flight as they approached a target. This allowed the planes to glide silently, dropping bombs before restarting their engines. Some pilots worked in pairs, with one plane drawing enemy attention while the other silently approached and attacked.
5. Extending Passenger Walking Distances
In the 1990s, Houston Airport faced numerous complaints about the lengthy wait times for baggage retrieval. Despite hiring additional staff to improve baggage handling and reducing wait times to the industry standard of eight minutes, passenger dissatisfaction continued.
Eventually, the management team, frustrated by ongoing complaints, devised a straightforward solution: relocate the baggage claim hall further from the terminals. An analysis revealed that passengers took only one minute on average to walk from the planes to the baggage claim, leaving insufficient time for baggage handlers to unload. By increasing the walking distance sixfold, passengers spent less time waiting at the claim area. While some might call it underhanded, it was undeniably ingenious.
4. Silly String
One of the most significant threats modern soldiers face is Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). Insurgent groups often construct these using available explosives, such as artillery shells or grenades, and place them in high-traffic areas. While many are planted along roadsides, others are hidden in houses, rigged with tripwires across doorways to catch unsuspecting soldiers during searches for weapons or enemies.
To counter this, soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq developed a clever method: spraying doorways with silly string. The lightweight material detects tripwires without triggering explosives, alerting troops to potential dangers. Since silly string isn’t standard military gear, most of the 100,000 cans sent overseas were collected through the efforts of Marcelle Shriver, who organized donation drives.
3. Using Lemon Juice to Preserve a Sunken WWII Plane
During World War II, Germany launched extensive bombing campaigns against Great Britain, aiming to cripple the Royal Air Force and demoralize the nation to pave the way for an invasion. Among the aircraft used was the Dornier 17, a medium-range bomber known for its agility and speed. Despite hundreds being deployed, it was believed none survived the war—until one was discovered buried in a sandbank off the coast of southeast England. However, the plane’s aluminum construction posed a problem, as it corrodes rapidly in seawater. Without a preservation method, the plane would disintegrate shortly after retrieval.
Scientists at Imperial College London discovered a solution to counteract the seawater’s corrosive effects: a mixture of lemon juice and water. Tests on a salvaged piece of the plane showed that this mixture could clean the metal and prevent further damage. After carefully lifting the plane from the ocean using a crane and barge—a process expected to take four weeks—the two main sections will be stored in tunnels and treated with the lemon juice solution for eight hours daily over 18 months. This will stabilize the plane for eventual public display.
2. Toothbrush Repairs on the International Space Station
No matter how advanced our spacecraft technology becomes, unexpected issues can still arise. A recent example occurred on the International Space Station when one of the four power distribution units failed, reducing the station’s power by 25%. The crew suited up and attempted to repair the issue using specialized tools, but they encountered a major obstacle: metal shavings had built up around the bolt securing the faulty unit, making it nearly impossible to remove and replace.
Days later, the crew revealed their ingenious solution: they attached a $3 toothbrush to a metal pole and used it alongside a can of nitrogen gas to scrub away the shavings. This allowed them to replace the defective unit with relative ease, despite the challenges of working in zero gravity. For those concerned about dental hygiene, NASA confirmed the toothbrush was a spare.
1. Poisoned Mice
More than six decades ago, a US military cargo shipment arrived on Guam, bringing supplies and an unintended passenger: a Brown Tree Snake. While this might not sound catastrophic, it proved disastrous for Guam. The snakes multiplied rapidly, and with no natural predators on the island, their population exploded unchecked. Their presence led to the extinction of several native bird and animal species, frequent power outages caused by snakes interfering with electrical systems, and the military’s implementation of flight screenings to prevent the snakes from spreading to other South Pacific islands.
In 2012, scientists launched a counterattack against this invasive species. Their method? Parachuting dead mice laced with acetaminophen, a pain-relieving chemical, across the island. The plan was for the snakes to consume the poisoned mice, fall into a coma, and die. While it may sound like a cartoonish solution, it has shown promising results. The goal isn’t complete eradication but rather to reduce the snake population to a manageable level.
