Whether it’s a kitchen appliance that makes food prep quicker or a useful DIY tool, we all have our favourite gizmos and gadgets that make life that little bit easier.
Some clever inventors went one step further and created some amazing feats, including refuelling helicopters in mid-air or moving entire trees intact.
Rocket Science blog compiled some of the specialist tools from around the world that ‘look confusing at first glance’ but are incredibly useful in everything from practicing surgery to protecting babies from inury.
We have compiled a list of some of the strangest, most practical gadgets and inventions.
The pad is modeled after human flesh and allows students in medicine to learn how to make wounds.
This backpack was designed to protect the baby’s head. The bee’s circular head fits perfectly into the skull of the child’s back if they fell back.
Military helicopters can refuel in air using a Role Fit Probe. This allows them to land quickly and take off again.
This machine cleans street signs to ensure that they are visible by drivers.
Trees can be lifted by hydraulic spades to move them from one location to the next. The roots are then preserved for planting elsewhere.
These special scissors are used to teach children how to use the tools. The extra hole on either side allows an adult to insert their fingers.
Pregnant women can use this seat belt to improve car travel comfort and protect their bump from being crushed in an accident.
If you prefer to be cross-legged, the desk chair has the right seat for your needs. This can come in either one or two layers.
A parking enforcement device used in America, the ‘Barnacle’, stops drivers from driving until they have paid their parking fines. It is stuck to the windshield using suction pads.
This lift is for people with disabilities who need to access tall trucks.
This cow looks like it is eating a lot of sweetcorn. But these cows scratch their bodies on a cow brush. The cow brush helps to keep cattle clean and prevents parasites from developing.
Little and large: This is a massive Allen Key, also known as a Giant Allen Wrench, and is used for driving bolts and screws into a hexagonal socket, but this is designed for industrial machinery
The snow-clearing machine is used by larger vehicles such as buses and trucks in America to remove snow from the roof.
It is a nitrogen dry carrier and safely transports cryopreserved vaccines and stem cells.
These balls are known as baffleballs and they are used to stop water from slipping when water is being transported. When you’re travelling, they stop water from sliding sideways.
This titanium-coated butter knife has heat tubes that are made from copper alloy. It makes butter spread faster on bread and also heats up easily when it is in your hands.
Wall-vacuum can be used as a dryer for shoes. Simply turn on heat and place the pipes inside the shoes. Shoes will dry much faster than they would on the radiator.
In Berlin, Germany in 1927, this device was placed on cars’ fronts to capture pedestrians crossing roads.
Many industrial machinery has tires that are able to handle extreme heat from places like steel mills. They can even withstand temperatures as high as 2000 F.
You can use this label maker to help you note the contents of the bottles, as well the best-before dates.
This tool is ideal for air conditioners. It is a fin-comb which straightens fins on heat pumps and air conditioning units to keep them flowing.
It is also known as a Velometer. This measures airspeed within a particular area to ensure adequate airflow.