What with the extinction of the dinosaurs, World Wars I and II, man going to the moon, and then that 'interwebby' thing, it's been a busy few billion years.
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Apparently it's quietened down now though; the other day someone, presumably blonde, complained there's not much history being made anymore.
So if history's allegedly gone quiet, what about inventions?
With the wheel, paper, gunpowder, the printing press, and powered flight taken care of, perhaps it's time for inventors to focus on making things easier for we blokes and 'blokesses' on the land.
Our local field days event, happening next month, usually delivers a surprise or two, and while July 2019 might be a bit early for some of these developments, apparently they're not far off:
THE HUMAN-FRIENDLY DRY SHOWER
The country is in drought; water is scarce and precious.
The suggestion is that we should use less of it to clean ourselves.
Surgeons sterilise surgical instruments with autoclaves, gas, and ultrasonic vibrations, and while you and I may not want to be made sterile while showering, a water-less way to clean up is a possibility.
INSECT FORCE FIELD
Healthy ecosystems need bugs. What we don't need are ruined crops, afflicted livestock, and diseases spread by tiny nasties.
An insect forcefield (no, that's not a lame action movie) would act like an electric fence, eliminating the need for harmful pesticides.
As long as it only wipes out the insects we don't need.
THE SOUND SHELL
Spend long periods on a tractor, or chain-sawing timber, and your hearing suffers.
Standard earmuffs, or even better, noise-cancelling ones, make a difference, but imagine being able to block out all the racket from flight paths, construction sites and radio shock jocks with an invisible acoustic 'shell' that you use to noise insulate your home.
A recent physics journal article talks about a theoretical material that lets sound through at different speeds, so that the sound 'bends' around the object inside and continues on as if it weren't there.
ELEC-TRACKING
Ever had farm equipment stolen?
How about implanting inanimate objects with microscopic electronic tags, which can then be tracked via a mobile app to the home or property they've been taken to. The technology is there, but range is an issue.
STUMP-JUMP PLOUGH
I was alerted to the need for such a device just the other day when I was stopped in my tracks by a tine snagging an awkward slab of ironbark.
(Editor's note: You're about 150 years too late.)
