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Weird health inventions

Weird health inventionsWe all want to live longer, healthier lives. So how have the wackiest inventors tried to help us out?

The non-smoking ashtray

Everyone knows smoking kills, but no one wants to be the bearer of bad news. That’s why one inventor came up with the ingenious ‘nagging ashtray’. The ashtray has a hole to keep matches in. When the matches are removed, the ashtray recognises that you are about to smoke and gives you a gentle warning: “Smoking can damage your health.”

It’s unclear why anyone would buy this for themselves, but talking ashtrays could be a great way to stop people lighting up in public places.

Homeopathic x-ray

The medical profession advises against having too many x-rays, as it can be harmful to your body. To get around this issue, one inventor decided on a less harmful way to see someone’s internal organs.

The method appears, initially, to be fairly scientific. However, what it actually involves is having the doctor hover his hands over the patient, with his fingers forming a ‘ring.’ Apparently this creates enough electromagnetic energy to see inside the patient’s body.

Coffin for the living

Many people have a fear of being buried alive, and it is for this reason that William H White invented the safest coffin in the world.

Designed in 1891, the coffin is designed with a failsafe escape system in case the occupant has been buried slightly before his time. The coffin was fitted with an alarm system above ground, and a pipe through which air could be pumped. That way if you were unfortunately buried alive, you could alert people and they could give you air while they waited for the emergency services to dig you out.

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