This ashtray would compose of a cylindrical tower around 15 cm in height and diameter. Inside, the cylinder is split into two 50% horizontal sections. The top section is open and filled with sand level to the brim. Stub out your cigarette in the sand and wait for the magic to occur. Within a few moments the ashtray will tremble and out from the sand a pair of hideous wormlike plastic jaws will open, engulf the extinguished butt and pull it down beneath the surface, never to be seen again! (that is, until you open the hatch in the bottom half of the tray where the cigarette ends will be collected for easy emptying.
-- HowardMarks, May 02 2005

Wonderfully geeky. Would it be possible to get it to eat little pictures of William Hurt, too?
-- shapu, May 02 2005


what if we prefer the david lynch version?
-- tokyofist, May 02 2005


Actually, that's precisely why it should eat William Hurt.
-- shapu, May 03 2005


The sandworm/ashtray parallel is great :-) [+]
-- contracts, May 03 2005


Wasn't that cool, that echo I saw in the movie?
-- DrCurry, May 03 2005


I just thought of this idea but my design has a tracked C ring on motorized base.

The base has height and angle degrees of freedom and the track rotates the ring back and forward. The reach means the rings circumference can reach any point on the sand's surface of the circular ashtray. All the gubbins are hidden by sand. The C ring is made up/painted to be the worm and can pretend to jump out of the sand to devour the butt. Microphones would have to be used to vector the butt.

periodically the sand shifts and its back is seen.
-- wjt, Aug 20 2014



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