We’ve all been there: faced with a tedious job that could be knocked out manually with a modest investment of time, we choose instead to overcomplicate the task and build something to do it for us.

A recent report highlighted China’s latest invention: a sea cable cutter capable of operating at depths of up to 4,000 meters (13,123 feet). It is designed for both manned and unmanned submarines.

China has been repeatedly accused of deliberately severing Taiwan's undersea telecommunications cables. So when Beijing's powerful new cable cutter was revealed in March this year, it made headlines ...