What is left to discover or invent for the hobbyist scientist/engineer

[Saiyan300Warrior]

The at home hobbyist scientist and/or engineer?Is the discovery/innovation/invention of something novel left to those with specialised knowledge given to them through a full time working career?
I was thinking of becoming an autodidact in the STEM fields and wondering what I could produce through invention/innovation to patent and make my own/put my name to it. Even discover some new kind way of thinking about a scientific problem or mathematics problem (I read there are 5 more million dollar math questions left from Clay Institute of Mathematics in the US). The invention part I think is more feasible I think and the scientific discovery is left to those with funding and technology so they usually have a career in it. Am I correct?

 

[russ_watters]

The invention part I think is more feasible I think and the scientific discovery is left to those with funding and technology so they usually have a career in it. Am I correct?

Basically yes. Anyone can invent a simple device. A kid in my junior high school invented and patented a t-shirt folding tool. But scientific discovery has long been strictly the domain of formally trained experts.

 

[berkeman]

I was thinking of becoming an autodidact in the STEM fields and wondering what I could produce through invention/innovation to patent and make my own/put my name to it.

Invention often comes from folks trying to figure out a solution to a problem they have themselves (whether for work or hobby/personal use). A good example is squirrel-proof bird feeders -- squirrels are a big problem for people who like to have a bird feeder in their back yard.

My wife recently found the squirrel-proof bird feeder below, and I think it's very clever (and likely patented by whoever dreamed it up). If a squirrel climbs down onto the body of the feeder, the extra weight slides the body down and closes off the feeder windows. Birds are light enough that the windows stay open, but even a small squirrel weighs enough to close it up. Very smart!

So in your efforts to be inventive, keep looking around you for things that don't seem to work very well for you, and always try to think up ways to improve on them (and prototype a few of your ideas to see how they work and refine them even more). Good luck!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001FK81PU/?tag=pfamazon01-20

 

[Choppy]

The invention part I think is more feasible I think and the scientific discovery is left to those with funding and technology so they usually have a career in it. Am I correct?

I think a lot can depend on the specific field in question. When you're talking about, say well established academic fields in physics, like general relativity for example, where you have cohorts of very smart people spending their careers advancing the field, then sure, there isn't a lot of low hanging fruit left. It's improbable that an amateur is going to make a meaningful contribution. On the other hand, when you have a relatively new field, it's still possible. As an amateur, it's not inconceivable that one could develop some expertise in say, a subfield of machine learning, and apply in an area where it hasn't been applied yet and come up with something novel.

Though even as an amateur, you still need to learn enough about the field that you understand what's been done in it already and that you can recognize when you have in fact made a novel contribution.

 

[Astronuc]

My wife recently found the squirrel-proof bird feeder below, and I think it's very clever (and likely patented by whoever dreamed it up). If a squirrel climbs down onto the body of the feeder, the extra weight slides the body down and closes off the feeder windows. Birds are light enough that the windows stay open, but even a small squirrel weighs enough to close it up. Very smart!

We have two of that model birdfeeder, and we've used them for years. Very clever indeed. They work for squirrels, but not so well for chipmunks who are much smaller and lighter. Also, some of the parts appear to be of low alloy steel, not stainless steel, and they corroded/rusted in places. The feeders need to be dissembled and cleaned periodically. The plastic tube discolors over time with exposure to sunlight.

 

[BWV]

Scientific discoveries for amateurs that involve finding things within a huge dataset are possible when tools are affordable - amateur astronomers and biologists continue to uncover interesting things, for example.

 

[Klystron]

Electronics and mechanical engineering remain fields where self-taught and cross-trained people can contribute to the body of knowledge and improvements to technology.

Often we have the technology -- to paraphrase "The Million Dollar Man" -- but require a smart tech to improve and connect pieces. Look at view screens used in television, phones, computers and 'scopes. Motion detectors on automated doors and lights. Cameras and control systems. Automated and robotic assisted living. Transport via air and surface.

 

[chemisttree]

Invent chewing gum that never loses its flavor.

 

[Saiyan300Warrior]

I was thinking of inventing (more realistically, innovating) something that applies scientific principles rather than just being purely creative. Even a kid can be creative. So I want to do something more.

What do you think of the virtual world. Programming and software patents. Seems like through a google search people have turned many ideas into apps already and nothing much novel to make from what I see.

From a general look at my question from a big picture distance, seems like it is either left to professionals who get paid to do this stuff or it has already been done.

Now I am going to cry myself to sleep.

 

[chemisttree]

Do as I suggest and you will have both proven your chops and have a steady source of income to fund your more lachrymose pursuits.

 

[BillTre]

In general, as society evolves and becomes more complex, there will be created more new little niches in which a new function (invention) could be useful (and therefore successful).
The complexity currently being added will provide opportunities for new useful complexity.

Some of the opportunities may be in such complex fields that professional training might be required to play there, but there will be many opportunities that remain unexplored and don't require so much specialized knowledge.

Here are some useful things I have made as examples:

• An air-lift driven fluidized sand bed for biological filtration of fish water systems.
• A fish tank in which the barometric pressure can be lowered to stimulate weather changes (like storms and monsoons) that often trigger fish to breed in aquariums.
• A hinge based on magnets holding the two parts together, such that they can be easily snapped together/apart (for fish tank lids, of course). (Someone already has a patent for a part of this.)

These are all pretty simple mechanically and where made in my garage.
They are based on what I perceived as something I wanted for my fish keeping purposes.
As you go through life, you can harvest ideas for making improvements from you attention to your experiences and your imagination.

 

[berkeman]

A fish tank in which the barometric pressure can be lowered to stimulate weather changes (like storms and monsoons) that often trigger fish to breed in aquariums.

Pretty cool. How did you do that?

 

[nsaspook]

The invention part I think is more feasible I think and the scientific discovery is left to those with funding and technology so they usually have a career in it. Am I correct?

Invention is endless.
https://www.google.com/patents/US4656917 Inventor Edward L. Van Halen

 

[hutchphd]

The easiest road to a novel idea is to work on cutting edge stuff...then every idea is likely to be novel. This is difficult for an amateur to accomplish.
Perhaps next easiest is to bring a fresh set of talents to problems that have adequate but not wonderful solutions. This usually requires work on a wide range of products...occasionally both neurons fire and voila! It's patent time. Like that lovely birdfeeder from @berkeman
The most difficult route is to look again at a known difficult problem hoping to beat it into submission with the power of your mind. From this approach comes the stereotypical crazy inventor persona so be forewarned !

 

[Jarvis323]

I really hate to give these away.

Self healing shoes.

Bioluminescent lighting systems for houses/buildings, cities.

Ultra rapid response fire fighting drones.

 

[Klystron]

One could apply the artistic method to novel invention.

I begin a painting with the support, canvas stretched over a wooden frame or a solid manufactured panel, painted repeatedly with neutral gesso. The painting progresses by applying thin coats of pigmented acrylics from my chosen palette. The intended picture emerges from simple sketches perhaps assisted by photographs if the subject is physical.

I use similar methods when writing a software function. I take a blank function template and begin filling in the blanks, so to speak, from a pseudo-code worksheet along with applicable mathematics. Comments are an essential piece of the creative process, not merely an afterthought.

Writing a song follows similar methods. Doodle out the basic melody on guitar, keyboard, voice or horn. Take the familiar template of treble and bass scales, add the clefs and timing and other instructions and build the score. Lyrics are written under the score in the frame.

The creative process occurs in the mind. Using familiar methods anchors thought within reality with the ability to express ideas in coherent forms. The unifying theme can be described as applied mathematics. In this thesis a song becomes aural math apps, a painting visual math while a computer program consists of mathematics coded for electronic processing. Invention and discovery follow from an established framework.

 

[BillTre]

Pretty cool. How did you do that?

Like this.
This is the simple version:

The air is removed from the sealed fish tank to the sealed box on the right.
An air pump in the sealed box pumps the air out. I have now found a fish tank air pump that can either pump air into or out of airline tubing, so the box can be eliminated.
Removing the air draws a weak vacuum on the tank atmosphere.
It is regulated by providing an adjustable air inlet to the tank. When the vacuum in the tank (relative to the outside atmosphere) exceeds the the pressure difference needed to suck the water level out of the tube until it reaches the bottom of the tube. When it reaches the bottom of the tube, air enters the tank's internal atmosphere, reducing the pressure. This will happen under a steady state is reached where air being pumped out is made up by the air entering the tank through the pressure relief tube.

There are tables for converting inches of water pressure to more normal measures of atmospheric pressure like psi or mm Hg. These can be used to set the desired pressure (off set from the local atmospheric pressure).
I have put electronic barometers into the tank it measure the presses I get.
With the proper electronics you could just measure the internal pressure and use that info to determine when to turn the air pump on and off, but I found the plumbing approach easy.

I have now elaborated on this design to add a bunch of useful capabilities:

• Air pump in box replaced by a sucking air version of the air pump.
• the top of the tank is held by snap clamps, tight to a gasket on the top.
• air relief tube is in a different sealed (tall and skinny) container so a greater range of pressure can be achieved, connected to the tank.
• There is an airlock for introducing dry food to the tank.
• There is a syringe fitting for introduce liquid foods (like brine shrimp).
• I also can up with a way to exchange water (both water going in and out), based on similar principles of different heights of water levels controlling the out flow without depleting the vacuum.
• Ways to get electrical power into the tank (for pumps and heaters, if wanted).

As long as the amount of air going out exceeds the volumes of stuff coming in (air, food items, water), this kind of system works pretty well.

Here is drawing of a more complicated version, but it got messed up in being converted between different file formats.

The big tube in which air is let into the tank atmosphere can be at any level.
The overflow from the water outflow tube determines the water level in the tank.
The distance from the top of the bubble chamber to the bottom of the (adjustable) air inlet tube determines the off-set from local atmospheric pressure in inches (or cm) of water.

 

[Saiyan300Warrior]

Guys I just been thinking about it, and I think I'm being realistic. There are millions of people out there after the same thing as me and what could I possibly realistically know with my current knowledge or even developed knowledge so I am on par with them about anything novel that applies scientific principles as opposed to being simply creative. All these cool quotes about never giving up and there is always hope and possibility but those are just optimistic views. If everyone could do it we would all be millionaires right? I think after taking a step back and thinking about it I am being realistic and I am correct (No I am not writing for your sympathy, I am writing to explain myself and what I think).

In summary I believe millions of people pretty much tried and failed or are working on it in research and development or as a hobby which I wanted to do. I have an ideal in mind in applying scientific principles to create something novel to patent but maybe that inhibits me to my own in a way impossible ideals.

Such is life...

 

[StatGuy2000]

To @Saiyan300Warrior :

I'm frankly confused. When you are asking what is left to discover or invent for the hobbyist scientist/engineer, are you looking to pursue or study or research problems as a hobby for your own education? Or are you looking to solve specific problems that you think would be beneficial (and potentially even profitable)?

Without a clear idea of what your objectives are, it's difficult to see how you can even begin to think about what can be discovered or invented.

Also, you state that you are thinking of becoming an autodidact in the STEM fields. What is your educational background? What is your current level of knowledge in science?

 

[Saiyan300Warrior]

High school physics and some articles on Google.