The Orbital Sink

Build a bathroom sink whose shape is described by a -1/r function. The 'countertop' will join smoothly with the bowl, and the bowl joins smoothly with the drain (see the figure below). Best of all, the shape is the same as the potential function of a gravity field, so you can play orbital dynamics with a bar of soap! You should build it with an easily-accessible trap at the drain, because toothbrushes, etc. are going to fall in on a regular basis.

Responses from my friends

From: "Marc Moskowitz" 

You know, this would probably be more workable, and more interesting
looking in daily use, as a water fountain. You could angle the jet so that
the water, when uninterrupted, would follow a slowly degrading orbit. Also,
the shape is more appropriate for drinking over than for washing your hands
in.

From: "Kareem Kazkaz"

It'd also make one helluva water park attraction.  Imagine a 1/r sink 40 yards
in diameter or so, with huge jets set up.  People start moving kinda slowly at
the edges, then faster and faster as they move to the middle.  Have the thing
just open up above a deep pool (~10-12 feet), and make sure people get out of
the way once they get slurped through this black hole (no loitering under the
spout just so people can land on you).

I'd pay to do this.
September 11, 1997 (Happy Mars Surveyor Day!)

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