When a big bear approaches, some people choose to quietly stroll away. To give them an extra measure of safety, Anthony Victor Saunders and Adam Warwick Bell invented what they call a “pop-up device for deterring an attacking animal“.
Saunders, a London-based mountain climber, and Bell, a California patent attorney, applied for a patent in 2002, but later abandoned it. They would equip hikers with, essentially, an inflatable doll “meant to scare away an attacking or aggressive animal such as a bear”. The frightful balloon could also be used against “elk, moose, mountain lions, buffalo, hippopotamus, rhino, elephant, boar”. They explain that it “works on the principle of maximising the apparent size and ferocity of the human, intimidating the bear”....
...BONUS: A technical drawing from the patent...MOREShould contact with the bear be inevitable, here is a winner of the IgNobel Prize:
Another triumphant technological leap
by Alice Shirrell Kaswell, AIR staffIf you've read this far you might as well check out some more Troy news (from the link above):
[This report was posted May 8, 2002]
Troy Hurtubise (in black trenchcoat, left) with the sleek, new, Mark VII version of his suit of armor.
There is a double helping of Troy news. Troy Hurtubise has completed the basic work on a new, super-advanced grizzly-bear-proof suit. And a few weeks from now, he will put the New Suit to a Big Test.
Troy managed to complete the new invention despite having to devote much of his time and energy to other, unrelated, advanced research and development projects. Troy is the winner of the 1998 Ig Nobel Prize in the field of Safety Engineering. His Ig citation reads....MORE
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