Inventions can be the stuff dreams are made of

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INVENTIONS CAN BE THE STUFF DREAMS ARE MADE OF

A panel of kids discuss inventions and their creators and try to imagine a world without power.

October 24, 1994

When you think of inventors, you think of Benjamin Franklin or Thomas Edison. But these guys are dead.

Who are the inventors today? Who invented in-line skates, for example? Hardly anyone knows because inventors don't get the press they used to.

Some Children's Express members recently talked about the inventions they use and the inventions they dream of.

WHAT WOULD YOU INVENT?

MELISSA, 13: I would like to invent warp speed engines, which could travel at the speed of light and higher.

ALLISON, 14: I would invent a time machine for my own personal use.

PATRICK, 10: I would invent a bubble gum that wouldn't stick to my upper lip because it gets in my nose and stuff.

MARK, 11: I'd make a talent machine. You could type in a talent and have it for a day or so.

SCOTT, 9: I would invent a machine that could do my homework for me so I could get it done faster.

MONIQUE, 11: I'd invent a robot to go to school for me so I wouldn't have to get up.

IF YOU COULD CHOOSE ONE INVENTION . . .

PATRICK: I would keep the microwave because you can make all this microwaveable stuff instead of putting it in the oven and waiting 45 minutes.

SHERA, 10: Microwave, 'cause I can heat up my food whenever I want to.

MARK: IF I didn't have a TV, I'd implode.

ALLISON: The printing press, because books and newspapers are a main part of my life.

PATRICK: I think that if I didn't have a CD player or a TV or a phone, I'd probably be outside more. I don't think I would really need all this stuff, but . . . when you're inside and it's really cold out or it's raining, it makes being inside more fun.

WHAT IF THERE WERE NO ELECTRICITY?

MELISSA: If the electricity was gone, then the stores would all go out of business because the food would spoil quicker.

PATRICK: That would change your life because you either have to like cook out or put stuff in the fire or something. And you'd have to grill everything you wanted to eat and you'd have to have like five blankets to go to sleep.

MONIQUE: It'd be like you were blind 'cause you'd run into everything 'cause you couldn't see.

MARK: If electricity was gone, I think we'd use batteries a lot more.

EDITED BY: Joe Huser, 16; Jon Katz, 16

(ZZCPYRT)

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