Nowadays science has made great progress in every aspects and more and more really good inventions have changed our daily lives. However, the U.S. Patent Office has issued over 7.5 million patents, and not all of them are quite so celebrated. Some good, some bad, and some crazy! The following lists some of the more unusual ideas that have come along.

Snake Leash

In 2002, a patent was issued for a snake-walking leash. There are at least two major problems with this idea, 1) Dog leashes fit securely between the head and shoulders. A snake does not have shoulders; so it might slither away. 2) Dogs are OK for public places because they are social animals, and people like them. Snakes are not OK for public places because they are not social, and some people are terrified of them.

Stadium Helmet

Americans are known for our love of sports. Unfortunately, good tickets to games are expensive, so some fans have to sit in the backward sections. This invention, patented in 2000, is designed for these fans. Featuring a built-in radio, binoculars (望远镜), a cooling fan, and a helmet for falling litter, this design transforms the stadium experience.

Bacon Alarm Clock

When you think about it, waking to the dreadful, blaring noise of an alarm clock is a terrible way to start the day. However, this clock could change that. You simply put a piece of frozen bacon in the alarm clock, set the alarm, and go to sleep. The clock gently wakes you up with the mouth watering smell of bacon the next morning, just like waking up on a Sunday morning to the smell of mom cooking breakfast. Who said there’s no time to eat breakfast?

Toilet Lock

In 1969, a patent was issued for a really bad idea - the toilet seat lock. First of all, fishing for your keys when you have to go seems very unpleasant. Then there is the possibility of losing the key altogether. What about guests? Just think that you would have to ask permission for the .bathroom. Of course, there is the ultimate question: Why would you lock it in the first place?

Businesses are finding more uses for Virtual Reality(VR) as the technology develops.

VR is no longer only for gaming or enjoyment. An American company called Blue Goji is using VR to improve one’s health by making exercise more fun.

Blue Goji has offices in Austin, the capital of Texas. The company showed its workout machine, called the Infinity treadmill (跑步机) at the recent South by Southwest festival. A person using the treadmill wears a virtual reality headset when exercising. Before starting, the user is connected to a belt to prevent falls. Then, the user plays a VR game while running on the machine. The game can transport the user into the virtual world, where he or she can be racing against virtual people.

The cost of the hardware and computer software program is $ 12,000.That is a lot of money for most people. But Kyra Constam of Blue Goji says the virtual reality treadmill is ideal for places where people go to exercise, like high-end gyms or recreation centers.

Recently, Leonardo Mattiazzi tested the Infinity treadmill. He thought the experience was surprisingly realistic. Mattiazzi said he had a strong feeling to actually get running and do something that pushed his limits. He said the experience was more interesting than running inside the gym without actually going anywhere.

Lots of VR experiences cause motion sickness because people are in motion during the game, but not moving in real life. But when the user is moving on the treadmill and in the game, the chances of motion sickness are reduced, Constam said.

After carefully studying the users’ experiences, Blue Goji plans to begin selling the Infinity treadmill to the public in 2019.

AI, 5G, cloud computing and other digital technologies are not only changing our lives but shaping the economy as well.

China’s six major commercial banks are stepping up digital wallet efforts to provide new drive for the e-CNY(数字人民币) trials in the country, as reported by Shanghai Securities News on March 23.

“The functions and properties of e-CNY are exactly the same as those of the paper currency, except that the form is digital,” said Mu Changchun, head of the People’s Bank of China’s Digital Currency Research Institute.

Many people are puzzled by e-CNY and electronic payments. “Digital currency has the characteristics of both paper money and electronic payment,” said Wu Qianhong, a professor at the School Electronic and Information Engineering, Beihang University. “In theory, digital currency can replace paper money, Alipay and WeChat payments.”

Compared with Alipay and WeChat payments, e-CNY features anonymity (匿名性) and security. E-commerce platforms that accept payments via e-CNY will not have access to user’s personal information. E-CNY users can open an anonymous digital wallet by registering a mobile phone number, and telecom operators cannot disclose customer information to the central bank or any third-party institutions. Mu noted that e-CNY users’ privacy protection is at the highest level among all the existing payment tools.

Similar to Alipay and WeChat payments, using e-CNY requires an account. After obtaining the other party’s account number, users can enter the amount of digital money to transfer and then enter the payment password to complete the transaction (交易). However, the process behind these transfers are different. For electronic payments, the transfer has to go through a third party, and the receivers will get the transferred money only when they withdraw money from banks. But e-CNY transfers only need a payer and a receiver to complete a transaction. Therefore, it guarantees risk-free payments, according to Wu.

In simple terms, e-CNY can be considered “money”, while electronic payments are like “wallet”.