If we can send a man to the moon, why can’t we invent tobacco that’s not bad for us?

We can all think of blockbuster discoveries that we’d like to see coming from science. Cures for terrible diseases would rank very high on the list. So would abundant supplies of cheap, reliable, and clean energy. Add in methods for controlling hurricanes, tornadoes, and other destructive natural phenomena. Of this partial wish list, we can be sure none will be quickly delivered.

Meanwhile, as work proceeds on these prime problems, we might realistically hope for swifter solutions to far-smaller problems. Though of lesser importance and difficulty, their solution would make life a bit nicer, easier, convenient, and congenial. For some of these problems, solutions may already exist but remain poorly or not at all implemented; research on others might have to start from scratch.

For an unmet simple need, consider public-address systems in airports, train stations, and other public places. Unintelligibility is common, even in the Washington Metro, which is one of the world’s most-modern subway systems. “What did it say?” puzzled travelers ask each other after a burst of loudspeaker crackle. “I didn’t get it,” comes the reply. Maybe it was, “All trains cancelled until further notice.” You don’t know. Message to acoustical engineers: Help!

Then there is the need for accessible, easy-to-enter, easy-to-exit automobiles for our increasingly aging, arthritic population. The wide-entrance, traditional London taxi cab is superior to all other mass-produced vehicles for meeting these criteria, but we need even better. Best of all would be seats that partially slide out the door so that the passenger can be seated outside the cramped confines of the vehicle and then slide in. This suggestion offered gratis to foreign and domestic auto manufacturers.

Now for a troublesome research goal: Taking the harm out of sinful activities, such as cigarette smoking and excessive alcohol consumption. The quest for a “safe” cigarette has so far proven futile, as have enormous efforts to deter a still-substantial number of smokers from continuing with the nasty habit. Since prohibition is politically and culturally unattainable, the solution is clear: Create a cigarette that is harmless and satisfying — a formidable objective that would require a mini-Manhattan Project. The costs, however, could be assigned to the cigarette industry, which would reap a fortune from success. While they’re at it, maybe they can clean up pipe tobacco, too. I miss my pipe.

As for alcohol, that’s another tough problem, but, as the saying goes, if we can land a man on the moon, why can’t we — you finish it. The need is to retain the pleasure of imbibing — including the buzz — without the deleterious effects on health and morning-after clarity. Here, too, the industry that will benefit from success can foot the bill, in happy expectation of success producing a bonanza.

Finally on my list, there’s the problem of weight control in a society glutted with fattening food, available at relatively low prices. Marketed with great ingenuity, this abundance is largely responsible for the obesity epidemic that is now a major public-health concern. The food industry has in the past tinkered with little success with “non-nutritive” food. What’s needed is a major effort to create the taste, feel, and satisfaction of popular foods, minus calories.

Impossible? There’s an old saying in science and engineering: Never say never.

What’s on your list?

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