Sometimes, the simplest technology can be the hardest to improve upon. Nevertheless, inventor Dang Minh Tran of San Diego California has re-invented the chopstick(s) :
“A pair of chopsticks are commonly used as eating utensils. Each chopstick commonly has two sections, one section for picking up food that can be referred to as an eating section and the other end for holding by a user that can be referred to as a handling section. In use the section for picking up food, also the chopstick eating section, may become covered with bits of food or sauce. When not in use, chopsticks may be placed flat on a horizontal surface, such as a tabletop commonly causing an area of the chopstick eating section to contact the horizontal surface. To avoid contaminating a chopstick eating section or a selected horizontal resting surface area (i.e. table), a user may rest or lean the chopsticks on a chopstick rest or other item to prevent undesired eating section contamination. It may be inconvenient and wasteful to employ a separate object to rest a chopstick. The present invention eliminates the need for a separate rest object.”
See: United States Patent 10,058,202, August 28, 2018, Self-elevating chopsticks
[ Research Research by Martin Gardiner ]