Gadgetory

you look at any modern piece of technology and you can bet that there's a fan out there who can trace that thing back to a Star Trek episode science fiction is where we dream up tomorrow's big inventions and we've dreamed up some awesome stuff that we already take for granted but there are some hotly coveted science fiction gadgets that I'm really happy don't exist I'm Donnell Bell and this top 5 i'm counting down the 5 most awesome unrealized inventions of science fiction that you think you want but really aren't practical starting off at number 5 the hoverboard from Back to the Future 2 we all saw that spoof video that tried to convince us that the hoverboards time had come but all it did was remind me what a horrible idea this is even if we find ways to bend the laws of physics and make this work can you imagine the parking lot filled with kids riding these first it would look about as cool as a segway polo league and second it would only take minutes before the lot is covered in bones and tears and lawsuits forget it this next one really breaks my heart to admit but at number four the lightsaber obi-wan calls it an elegant weapon from a more civilized age but a real version would be a total nightmare I mean a blade of pure plasma that can cut through people like butter what could go wrong if Jedi's were real they'd all have less fingers in your woodshop teacher but at least they'd have professional training most of us would be picking these up at Walmart and decapitating ourselves before we make it to the car no thank you at number three the neuralyzer from men in black also known as the memory eraser can you imagine the shenanigans we'd be up to if all we had to do is flash a little light in someone's eyes to make them forget a few hours or a few days and I don't mean Will Smith using it prudently I mean the cast of Jersey Shore wouldn't just be annoying it would give us all existential paralysis no one would know if they're mine was their own anymore and we'd all have to walk around with blinders on our face so I guess we're kind of heading that way anyway coming in at number to the holodeck from Star Trek The Next Generation he here's another brilliant invention that just isn't compatible with human nature yes some of us would use it to stroll through Victorian England or meditate in the rainforest but let's be real most of you would use this thing like an interactive masturbatorium human reproduction would grind to a halt so if anyone ever invites you to a holodeck bring hand sanitizer in some clothes toed shoes alright and now the number one sci-fi invention that sounds cool but would ultimately kill us all time machine whether we're talking about doc brown's DeLorean or Bill and Ted's phone booth or hot tub only bad things happen when you interfere with the continuum of space and time now assuming time travel is even possible if the law of causality holds true you can't even fart in the past without disrupting the course of the future possibly wiping out everyone you know and love want to travel to a future that's full of hoverboards well there's equal chance that you'll arrive in a post-apocalyptic wasteland where you're quickly murdered with a lightsaber and rendered down for the precious non radioactive water in your body so there you are five reasons to stop whining about all the sci fi tek you wish you had it's not as great as you think but if you beg to differ you can tweet me at donald or head over to top five CNN com for all the rebuttals that take more than 140 characters Donal Bell thanks for watching