There was a day when everyone thought the future was with these inventions. But then reality happened. And the dream sank. But all is not lost: three of these ideas have a second chance. Microwave oven, airships, girobus: what didn't work? Sci-fi fans, keep your fingers crossed
Microwave oven
It may seem strange to start the list with an item that everyone has at home. But the fact is, the microwave has never fulfilled the mission it was created to do: replace the stove. It was with this promise that it began to be sold in the 1950s as a radar oven. The power of the radio would forever replace the primitive gas, which some cookbooks still seem to believe. The method of cooking, due to the agitation of water molecules, is too different from what happens with the old method. The microwave is used to make popcorn, defrost, heat old food or prepare junk food. But no one has given up the conventional oven for it.
Drives
They carried much larger loads than airplanes, at a fraction of the cost. The fact is that in the 1930s, only the United States was a source of helium. For this reason, the Germans used dangerous hydrogen. The Hindenburg disaster of 1937 ended confidence in airships. The giant 92-meter-long Airlander promises to bring them back, but has not yet entered commercial production.
Girobu
A Belgian invention from 1953, the bus operates by inertia, with a very heavy metal wheel that spins at immense speeds. It's the same principle as friction carts, but its wheel was set to rotate by magnetic induction and transmitted the motion to the vehicle. This made it possible to get rid of polluting wires and motors. It expended a lot of energy and was abandoned in three years.