At the end of the original version of The Italian Job (yes, this will contain a spoiler so don’t read on if you haven’t seen it) the gang is left perched atop a cliff in their bus, with them at one end and their gold at the other. (Literally, a cliffhanger.) Knowing that it would be impossible for them to get to the gold without tipping the bus off the cliff, they make the wise decision and abandon hopes of endless riches.
However, the Royal Society of Chemists wasn’t convinced that the gang needed to leave without the best of both worlds, and created a competition to see who could come up with the best solution.
In the end, John Godwin came up with an idea that’s as genius as it is plausible, and won himself a trip to Turin with the following solution:
Break the windows at the back to reduce weight; break the windows at the front inwards to save weight; hold one gang member upside-down out of the window to deflate the front tires and stabilize the vehicle; drain the rear fuel tank through an access panel at the bottom of the bus; gang members leave one by one from the front, collecting stones to replace their weight; keep adding stones until someone can safely go to the rear to retrieve the gold.
Easy, right?
In addition to John’s entry, more than 2,000 people submitted their own ideas, so be sure to visit the RSC website for more, or download Godwin’s PDF if you’d like to see all the science behind his daring gold rescue.
Adidas must have some creative geniuses working for them on a pay for creativity basis, because their latest run of commercials is fantastic.
On the heels of their Adi Dassler spot, they released this one called “Original Games”, and it should ring true for anyone who has ever taken what’s around them and turned it into a game of some sort.
Despite its simplicity, Cursor*10 is actually an incredibly innovative and challenging game.
To win, you must partner with yourself.
You’re given 10 cursors, and each cursor lasts for a certain amount of time. Then, on the next round, you are put in control of a brand new cursor, but your old cursor is still there, and it does the same thing that you did with it in the last round.
If it sounds confusing, that’s just because it’s difficult to explain, but once you give it a shot, you’ll quickly get the hang of it, and then you’ll soon see the genius behind the idea.
