BBC NEWS | UK | Magazine | Quiz: Are you an ideas person?

One-Minute World News

News services
Your news when you want it

News Front Page

Africa

Americas

Asia-Pacific

Europe

Middle East

South Asia

England

Northern Ireland

Scotland

Wales

UK Politics

Education

Magazine

Business

Health

Science & Environment

Technology

Entertainment

Also in the news

-----------------

Video and Audio

-----------------

Programmes

Have Your Say

In Pictures

Country Profiles

Special Reports

RELATED BBC SITES

Last Updated: Tuesday, 16 March, 2004, 10:34 GMT

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version

Quiz: Are you an ideas person?

Put your thinking cap on, it's National Ideas Day. Test yourself on the innovations that have changed the way we live - and some of those that haven't.

Ideas UK, the organisers of National Ideas Day, wants businesses to use the event as an opportunity to involve employees in improving the workplace.

And the Global Ideas Bank suggests the day should also be a time to recognise the unsung heroes of what they call social innovations - movements and organisations, rather than gadgets, that have made a difference to our lives.

Are you in tune with those eureka moments that shape our world, or oblivious to bright ideas?

Question 1

Which of the following bright ideas has NOT been successfully implemented?


	A: A guidance system for submarines under the ice


	B: A flock of sheep to mow grass on difficult terrain


	C: Heated saddles for horse riders on chilly mornings

Question 2

Which one of the following social innovations is a genuine plan to defuse couples' rows?


	A: A chill-out room in Ikea, to ease furniture fights


	B: A mediator in a video store to defuse arguments over film rentals


	C: A bouncy boxing ring in a shopping mall to let customers let off steam safely

Question 3

How much money has been saved over the past decade as a result of employees' innovations, according to Ideas UK?


	A: £90m


	B: £900m


	C: £9bn

Question 4

The late Sir Peter Parker, patron of the Institute for Social Inventions and British Rail chairman, reckoned three of the following were key to good management. Which ISN'T one of his?


	A: Find a way to go to sleep twice a day


	B: Hire people cleverer than you and delegate


	C: Always try to use round tables for meetings


	D: Don't drive to work – travel in by public transport

Question 5

In 1948 the arrival of which social innovation was to change town centres across the UK for good?


	A: The first charity shop, opened by Oxfam in Oxford


	B: A pole-mounted stills camera, which could be operated by police and led to the birth of CCTV


	C: The first recycling bins – for old clothes

Question 6

Prison officers found wildlife was interfering with their CCTV cameras. Which Ideas UK-backed solution was found?


	A: A special coating to prevent spiders nesting inside the cameras


	B: The installation of sirens, to stop birds perching in front of lenses


	C: The use of a cat scent, to stop mice gnawing through cables

Question 7

A previous winner in the Global Ideas Bank Awards suggested an annual Boomerang Day. What would it mark?


	A: The occasion on which you could return borrowed items to their original owner without recriminations


	B: A celebration of Anglo-Australian relations, with barbecues and Aussie sports


	C: A day on which people would be encouraged to return to their home town to remember their roots

Question 8

Students at Elon University in North Carolina are concerned by innumeracy. What do they propose?


	A: Printing statistics on toilet paper, so people are forced to look at figures


	B: Posing maths problems in ad breaks of popular TV shows


	C: Forcing failed maths pupils to clean their schools until they reach a certain standard

Question 9

The Global Ideas Bank is a store of bright ideas. Which one of these did we make up?


	A: The creation of horse-sailing - balloons would be tied to the animals, so they can float around


	B: Guide horses for the blind


	C: The re-introduction of horse-drawn buses to London


	D: The use of horse meat in school lunches, to tackle obesity

Question 10

Schools, medical ethics, hospitals and taxation. Rank these social innovations in order of the year they appeared - oldest first.


	A: Schools, taxation, hospitals, medical ethics


	B: Taxation, schools, medical ethics, hospitals


	C: Hospitals, schools, medical ethics, taxation


	D: Medical ethics, hospitals, taxation, schools

Press the button and see how you have done

Got a bright idea that might just change the way we live? Let us know, using the form below.

Some of your suggestions so far:

Lightbulbs that dim automatically when there's no sound in the room - to save energy.
Dom, London, UK

A chemical that reacts with dog-dirt and emits a harmless but very loud BANG. This could be sprayed onto roads, pavements and children's play areas. Dog-owners would soon learn to control their dogs' lavatorial habits.
Tony Gardner, England

Double-sided no-seam socks. How much time is wasted in total by everybody who has to turn socks inside out? It really bugs me!!!
Sean, Scotland

Edible packaging, to solve the need for recycling!
Bob, London, England

Downloadable emergency vehicle sirens, which you would blast from your mobile to force people to get out of your way when you are in a hurry to get somewhere
Raphael Channer, uk

Get fast-food outlets to sponsor litter bins outside their doors - in return for money to maintain and empty the bins, they get a branded presence on the streets. This might also encourage customers to dispose of their waste properly, by connecting the idea of their bags and wrappings with litter bins.
Sarah Bowyer, Reading, UK

Bio-degradable packaging for supermarkets and fast-food outlets.
Elliot, England

A rural public transport text messaging service - if your ride is delayed, then a text will be sent to you. Would save half an hour in the cold if you knew the bus had broken down in Newmarket.
Serena Snoad, England

As well as rubbish bins on the street, recycle bins should also be provided for unwanted newspapers, empty bottles, cans etc. Only non-recyclable waste should be put in normal bins.
Leander Garrard, UK

Long-term birthday cards - instead of buying a card every year, one with 20 annual spaces to write a message. The sender encloses a SAE for the recipient to return it to them, and the same card is used the next year. Save trees, save time, effort and money, and build up a lovely picture of long-term friendship.
Fiona, Scotland

Long-term (6-24 months) shelters where homeless people could be accommodated. This would provide them with an address with which to apply for benefits, jobs etc. Could also supply free training courses, drugs/alcohol/abuse counselling etc.
Daniel Carfax, UK

A national public transport bus/rail/ferry pass which allows us to travel anywhere in England and Wales on any form of public transport, any time, any place.
AD, UK

A quiz and games radio station for those long arduous car journeys
Jon, England

A £300 tax on all new cars. When the car comes to the end of its life the person taking it to the scrap yard claims £200 rebate and the scrap yard get £100 for recycling it.
Kieran Boyle, England

Someone ought to invent instant screens - about 6ft high - which police could put round car crashes the moment they get on the scene. At a stroke it would eliminate rubbernecking - the major cause of hold-ups when there's been an accident. (And it would save everyone from feeling guilty after they looked to see what everyone had been staring at.)
Bibby Binky

Rear view mirrors at cash points. You would then be able to see if anyone was acting suspiciously behind you.
Kip, Norwich, UK

How about a sticky, flat surface mounted on shopping trolleys, on which shoppers can temporarily fix their lists and tick off their purchases as they go round? It's irritating having to carry your list around with no hard surface to write on.
Andy Coghlan, England