Could flying cars soon be a reality? Their approach uses two large "lifting" fans positioned at the back and front of the vehicle, with each rotating in opposite directions. Two smaller fans sit side by side in the middle of the car (labelled 5 and 6 in the diagram above) to help control the car and keep it stable. Plates that sit under the two main fans can be adjusted to help provide directional thrust when flying. What is less clear from the patent is exactly how much space is left for passengers, but it appears to be an early design. Are you carrying any of these prohibited items? Going through airport security means enduring no end of unpacking and repacking of your hand luggage. You have to make sure your liquids are in a silly little plastic bag, that you have taken your iPad, laptop and Kindle out and laid them out in a plastic tray. And don't even think about taking your SLR camera or a hairdryer through without expecting to get your bag thoroughly searched. It seems airport security scanners are unable to cope with even the most mundane of everyday objects. But a new patent applications published recently suggest that X-ray scanners at airports could be about to get a lot more sophisticated. Engineers at Rapiscan Systems in California have designed a system that uses X-ray tomography to identify currency, narcotics, tobacco and liquids. Their device adapts the kind of three-dimensional x-ray scanning that is often used in hospitals to look for signs of cancer or bone defects. While this concept has been used before, it is slow and laborious - leading to long queues and angry passengers at airports. Rapiscan claim that by installing multiple rings of x-ray detectors they can rapidly image-slice through a bag and build up a picture of what is inside. They then propose using the images to match against a database to help the operator identify potential threats or illegal substances. They say the device can determine the volume of liquid inside a bottle and determine its density. Similarly it can also spot properties that are unique to narcotics and calculate how much currency you are carrying in your bag - or how many cigarettes. They say it can even be used to spot nuclear materials, should someone be attempting to carry them through in their hand baggage. Whether it will require all these items to be placed inside a clear plastic bag, however, the patent does not say. It can't rain all the time Sometimes an invention comes along whose beauty lies in its very simplicity. One such device has been dreamed up by Kevin Morgan (who appropriately enough hails from Watchet in Somerset), who has applied for patent for a motorised wiper blade to keep rain off helmet visors. We have windscreen wipers in cars, so why not on the visor of a motorbike helmet? It makes sense. However, unless you have a head shaped like a stickle brick, the chances are your helmet is likely to be curved. This presents a problem for the traditional rubber wiper systems and a number of innovative solutions have failed to adequately solve the problem. But Mr Morgan proposes using a flexible brush to sweep rain and snow away from the wearer's vision rather than a traditional rubber blade. Presumably it will also clear away the dust of other drivers that you will be eating as you fiddle to turn the thing on.