Wasted crops

Fields of crops often have strips of flattened crops where the farmer has driven his tractor to spray the crops. This obviously creates waste. A solution would be an automated unmanned crop spraying helicopter.

Using pre-definied GPS coordinates this helicopter would spray an area, occasionally returning to its base station to refuel and take on more spray.

Baby zorber

Babies benefit from exercise; parents don't benefit from constant supervision. How can these two be reconciled?

Put the baby in a small zorb on a concave roller bed (bed of ball bearings). It can crawl as much as it likes but it's not going anywhere.

Additionally, a circular screen around the roller bed, coupled with sensors monitoring motion of the balls, would allow the baby to explore a virtual world.

It may even be possible to generate a small amount of electricity from the movement of the ball bearings, which would help power the screen.

Every silver lining has a cloud

Having something you really like to do makes doing the things you don't like doing worse. Is it better to have that something or not?

Unemployment

Is it more costly to rehabiliate the non-worker than to subsidise an unacceptably low quality of life?

Landlords

Private home ownership and rental by small-time landlords is an example of failure of the capitalist system. Homes should be owned by large corporations and administered by them. In the interest of customer relations the corporations would provide better customer service (such as maintenance) than current small landlords whose exposure to reputational risk is limited.

Deliberate reintroduction of species

England's red squirrels retreated to the North in the wake of the grey, its cities are plagued by pigeons. Can these problems not be solved through reintroduction of species?

Red squirrels could be mass bred in captivity and sold to people wanting them. Whilst they wouldn't be pets as such the squirrels could be semi-dependent on humans by having specially designed feeding stations for them that their "owners" filled. This could provide the squirrels with the edge needed to regain their lost ground.

Similarly, peregrin falcons and sparrow hawks are endangered species and yet cities are full of food. A mass breeding programme could reintroduce these birds to city life bolstering their numbers and reducing the number of flying rats.

Rehabilitation of islamic extremists

Rather than locking islamic extremists in Guantanamo and torturing them, would it not be better for all if they were re-educated in moderate Islam (whilst being kept securely)?