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Water Flows Uphill

Posted by michael on from the now-you-see-it dept.

An anonymous reader writes "The BBC are reporting James Dyson's new garden feature, a waterfall with water flowing uphill. Apparently, he wanted to recreate an Escher drawing."

7 of 365 comments (clear)

  1. Sigh... by lingqi · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Before someone tries to market their own uphill water feature, they had better be warned. James Dyson - no stranger to court battles over patents - has presumably taken care of the necessary legal business.

    Now, why would he do that? I know it might be a rhetorical question, but honestly though - all he would do, I presume, is to limit this neat but useless (admit it - this is as useless as your lava-lamp and plasma-ball (no seminal jokes please)) thing out of mainstream for a long time - instead of giving him eternal fame, etc.

    Now - an interesting question to think about is what part of our pattern-recognizing brain is responsible for *falling* for such a visual illusion? Research like this can shed light on the workings of the mind, I think.

    --

    My life in the land of the rising sun.

    1. Re:Sigh... by Abcd1234 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Forget about the usefulness of the invention for a moment (patents have never been concerned with the merits of the invention), this guy created something new and unique, and something which, to some, could be pretty valuable. After all, the exact things you list as examples (lava lamps and plasma balls) have made tons of cash (hell, I have a lava lamp on my desk). So why shouldn't Dyson be allowed exclusive rights to his invention and any monetary rewards it generates for a time? That's exactly what patents were created for! To allow the "little guy" to innovate, and benefit from those innovations.

    2. Re:Sigh... by WG55 · · Score: 2, Insightful
      Now, why would he do that? I know it might be a rhetorical question, but honestly though - all he would do, I presume, is to limit this neat but useless (admit it - this is as useless as your lava-lamp and plasma-ball (no seminal jokes please)) thing out of mainstream for a long time - instead of giving him eternal fame, etc.

      James Dyson would be a fool if he were to patent this invention and then not license it out to anyone. Many inventors are quite liberal with their licensing policies, and want to make sure that their invention does enter the "mainstream".

  2. Re:Immediate dissapointment by D+iz+a+n+k+Meister · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Yeah, I would have dipped my finger into the "upward" flowing water to see which side the water ebs on. :-(

    --

    He painted a unicorn in outer space. I'm askin' ya, what's it breathin'?
  3. Re:Immediate dissapointment by MikeFM · · Score: 2, Insightful

    They have uphill waterslides that just shoot the water uphill. Why couldn't you build an uphill waterfall that way.. which would allow your boat to flow uphill.

    --
    At what price learning? At what cost wisdom? The price is a man's peace of mind, and the cost is his life.
  4. Water running uphill by Ashtead · · Score: 2, Insightful
    I have seen sections of water-slides where the water flow actually goes uphill for shorter distances. Then there is the everyday action where water flows upwards inside a pipe. Except we're so used to this, so making a display of it doesn't prove interesting.

    Still, this does look really cool even though it is a trompe l'oeil.

    --
    SIGBUS @ NO-07.308
  5. Re:Dyson didnt invent this , Derek Phillips did ! by Usquebaugh · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Rather like a certain Mr. Edison.