BP Oil Spill Fix Inspiration: The Toy Store

June 14th, 2010. By AbiK

As officials try to get a better gauge on just how much oil is spewing from the undersea well, and as we all await President Obama to address the nation on the BP Oil Spill tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m. EDT, we take a look at a couple of BP Oil Spill Fix ideas-of-the-day that take their cues from an unlikely source: the toy store. The beauty of both ideas is that they come from toys that are now considered “classics”–the one, Kerplunk, now has jazzed up colors but remains pretty much as it always was; the other, the Phlat Ball, has its design foundation in the quintessential beach disc, the Frisbee.

Fix the BP Oil Spill Idea #9

Kerplunk! from sent in by RS

“1 word – Kerplunk.  In this game several sticks are inserted horizontally through a vertical shaft to prevent marbles from falling. Couldn’t they insert a few thousand rods of steal at an angle from the sides of the shaft effectively stemming the spew of oil. This wouldn’t be the end answer but it would slow things down and maybe give that hydrolic mud they tried pumping down there something to cling on to. Heck they could use something like rubber marbles instead and that would work..” 

 

 

 

Dilating Frisbee sent in by Michael:

“I recently saw a toy that might be enlarged and modified to contain the flow and possibly enable capture. It is a dilating frisbee. When thrown from its compressed size it expands to its full size. With a larger modified version (perhaps a collar attached to the bottom edge) it could be lowered at its full size and then reduced/dilated to its smaller stronger size. The collar would help funnel the gusher gradually to the center where a collection point where the oil could be focused in to a pumping device.”

I’m thinking Michael’s referring to a Phlat Ball, shown here at left in its flattened state. Once airborn it opens up and looks more like a ball than a frisbee.

Got an idea you’d like to share? Let us know. Or email our editor at .

Thanks RS and Michael!

Tags: BP, BP Oil Spill

This was posted on Monday, June 14th, 2010 at 10:42 am and is filed under Emerging Issues, Environment . Feel free to respond, or trackback. Read our comments policy.