Tintin Forums

I was always enchanted by the wide array of the Professor's inventions. Personally, I would really like the wall-bed because my room is pretty congested and it would free up some more space to keep my books. I would also not mind using the sonic sound producing instrument if I ever be in a bad mood. :-P

Which invention of the Professor would you really like to have?

Moderator Note: Those wishing to contribute may find our handy list of the Professor's inventions useful when considering their choice!
The Happy Tintinologist Team

Most definitely the self-propelled roller skates from the end of The Red Sea Sharks. 50 km/h!

Yes, but if I may repeat a great man's words, then we would need to install traffic lights on footpaths too!:-)

If we ignore the safety risks from seaweed propellor tangles, the shark submarine would be pretty cool.

Though if we're ignoring safety considerations altogether, I might be tempted by a trip to the moon in that rocket. If we'd learned all the lessons from the previous mission (ie: make sure to properly vet the chief scientist, properly check the cargo for enemy agents, properly check there are no extra people on board at take-off to avoid air shortages, make sure one of the crew isn't an alcoholic prone to getting uncontrollably drunk on expeditions) it ought to be possible to make a much more straightforward return trip. Although the blackout-inducing lift-offs don't look too much fun.

I wouldn't mind the tablets that put people off alcohol (see "Picaros").

So many people who drink heavily then get into drunken fights, have serious accidents or even cause accidents, such as when driving. Haddock's drunken outbursts may be amusing, but in real life they can be intimidating and dangerous.

Tablets like these which could moderate or even stop them drinking altogether would be beneficial - but then I am a teetotaler anyway.

I think that a miniature version of the soda-water maker would make as a good gift. Also, it would help with re-cycling, as it would mean that each time somebody needed their soda-water supplies replenished, they wouldn't need to buy more plastic bottles - they could just put a glass undernesth, and hey-presto.

However, I think that that and the anti-alchohol tablets would be the best of the choices.

I am also a teetotaler, but given my age, I don't see how it could have been otherwise.:-P

Drinking and driving is also pretty rampant in our country, and given its potential, Calculus' anti-alcohol pills would have been the most revolutionary invention of his in the contemporary world . Well, maybe except the Moon Rocket.

Crikey! Doesn't anyone want the clothes brushing machine?

After what happened to Haddock, it appears that using it means buying a whole new set of clothes!

The thing about Calculus's inventions is that none of them are particularly safe.

The clothes brushing machine may actually work, provided you aren't wearing the clothes whilst they're being brushed. The wall bed too, so long as you aren't standing underneath it when you release the lever. The soda-water maker may also be safe, but on the evidence thus far...

An electric-powered submarine with oxygen supplies for two hours' diving, now that would be a fantastic thing to have. Just steer clear of seaweed.

I would have no personal need for an ultrasound emitter, especially as all it seems to do is smash things to pieces. Motorised roller-skates also look extremely dangerous. Super Calcacolor TV is obviously bad for your eyes and the new breed of white roses, 'Bianca', bad for your nose (particularly if there's a bee still inside them).

I can't see much of a market for the cure he developed to counteract the pills the Thom(p)sons accidentally took. However, it worked!

Herbal tablets to cure alcoholism, you wouldn't catch me willingly taking those. Perhaps the most tempting invention to have would be the machine that replicates three dimensional objects, if only it actually worked. The one Calculus made was unstable and turned everything to gloop.

The Moon Rocket is probably the only thing that worked perfectly, and you wouldn't want to have any mishaps with that. However, the security at the Sprodj Atomic Centre was shocking.

All in all, apart from the rocket and the submarine (when it didn't break in half or get the propeller jammed), not as distinguished a career as you might have initially thought.