Science Projects And Inventions

Before the invention of an effective vaccine for anthrax, the disease was a major agricultural problem and economic burden. Anthrax is a potentially fatal disease that affects animals and humans and is spread via airborne spores. Before it was fully understood, the illness was referred to as "ragpickers' disease" or "woolsorter's disease" because it was mostly caught by people working closely with animal hides. In 1877, the Prussian physician Robert Koch (1843-1910) finally made a link between anthrax infection and a spore-forming bacteria called Bacillus anthracis. In the late nineteenth century, renowned scientist Louis Pasteur (1822-1895) developed a two-dose vaccine for anthrax that he had tested on sheep. However, storage quickly reduced the efficacy of the vaccine, and its effect was sometimes fatal. It was the Australian scientist John McGarvie Smith (1844-1918) and his research collaborator, John Gunn (1860-1910), who eventually developed a safe, single-dose vaccine. Though the the two more...

The belt drive is a vital component of most modern machines. In it, a ring of a flexible material is wound around two or more shafts. As one shaft rotates, the belt moves, causing other shafts to rotate as well. This simple pulley device has long been a versatile and reliable means of transferring power. In 100 B.C.E., while constructing Haterii's Tomb in Rome, workers used a treadmill-powered crane to lift heavy material. This was a historic moment for mechanics. In 1203, French innovators replaced the human workers who had been powering belt-driven technology with a team of donkeys. Introducing animal power was far from the final stop for the belt drive. Water-powered mills used belt drives to harness water power, and Industrial Revolution-era factories employed belt drives, called line shafts, to transfer power throughout the factory. Belt drives are also commonly used in engine designs. Belt drives can be more...

In 1000 B.C.E. it was recorded that King Wen of the Zhou Dynasty, ancient China, designed the first pontoon bridge. The invention was to be incorporated into his elaborate wedding ceremony, allowing the wedding procession to cross the Weihe River. King Wen's design was of a floating bamboo deck structure supported by boatlike pontoons to allow a water crossing. Since their invention, the floating bridges have become much more than just a decorative water crossing—they have become a military weapon. One of the earliest recorded pontoon bridges to be used in combat was built in 974 C.E. by the Song Army of ancient China, who constructed it in fewer than three days. However, such bridges take a lot less time to destroy or dismantle—a necessary practice to prevent the enemy from following, King Wen's design is still being used by the military to this day. In 2003 the U.S. Army's more...

"The vacuum cup may save many mothers from difficult and dangerous forceps deliveries." Time magazine (1960) The ventouse is a vacuum device that was developed to assist in the delivery of a baby when labor is not progressing well. It was developed in Sweden by obstetrician Tage Malmstrom (1911-1995) as an alternative to forceps. Malmstrom had the idea of using a bicycle pump to create the vacuum pressure. A bowl-like apparatus is attached to the baby's head in the birth canal. Air between the baby's head and the apparatus is then sucked out to create a vacuum. The doctor, who controls the amount of suction applied, synchronizes the pressure applied with the mother's contractions, enabling the baby to be delivered. The suction cups can be either flexible (soft plastic or-silicon) or rigid (hard plastic or metal). The ventouse may cause less maternal trauma than forceps, but is thought to be more...

LCDs (liquid crystal displays) are used in televisions, laptop computers, and many portable electronic devices. The properties of liquid crystals were first discovered in 1888 by Friedrich Reinitzer. He was measuring the melting point of a cholesterol-based substance and noticed that it had two melting points: it melted at 293°F (145°C) to give a cloudy, gluelike liquid, then again at 352°F (178°C) to give a clear liquid. Otto Lehmann, an expert in crystal optics, studied these phases and found that the cloudy liquid had similar properties to the solid crystal. In the solid crystal, the molecules are lined up neatly and in parallel. In the cloudy liquid, the molecules can move around. However they tend to line up like in the solid crystal, reflecting light to appear cloudy. Lehmann named the liquid fliessende Kristalle, or liquid crystal. In 1968 George Heilmeier (b. 1936) led a group at the Radio Corporation more...

"Later locks were so beautifully fashioned that the artist obscured the mechanical intention." F. J. Butter, Locks and Builders 'Hardware The Egyptians, and possibly other ancient peoples around the same time, invented the first mechanical locks some 4,000 years ago. The locks were a development of the simple wooden crossbeam that slides horizontally across the back of a door to bar entry. To hold the beam, or bolt, in place, a set of movable pins were located on the back of the door which dropped by gravity into recipient holes on the bolt as it moved into place. To unlock the door from the outside, a wooden key with matching pegs or prongs was inserted through a hole; the key raised the pins above the bolt, allowing it to be pulled back by a handle. Such keys could be up to 2 feet (0.6 m) long. The introduction of metal more...

"We were satisfied that, with proper lubrication..., a little more power could be expected."       Orville Wright, aviation pioneer Elijah McCoy (1843-1929) was the son of former African slaves who had escaped to slavefree Canada. At around the age of sixteen he traveled to Edinburgh, Scotland, where he studied engineering. Upon his return to the United States he worked as a fireman and Oilman on the Michigan Central Railroad. It was his job to ensure that the moving parts of the train's engine, as well as axles and bearings, were well lubricated. Locomotive trains suffered considerable wear and tear on all their moving parts. Engineers had already devised a way to keep the axles lubricated by encasing them within oil-filled chambers. But since many parts of the engine ran under the immense pressure of steam, oil would tend to get propelled away from the moving parts. It was more...

"Paper on which there are ...the names of sages, I dare” not use for toilet purposes." Yan Zhitui, The Family Instructions of Master Yan (589) The earliest recorded use of toilet paper comes from China in the sixth century when government official and scholar Yan Zhitui warned against using paper printed with philosophical utterances for the wiping of bottoms. By the end of the fourteenth century, when the rest of the world was using water, the Chinese were producing more than 700,000 sheets of aromatic toilet paper a year for the Imperial court. Prior to the advent of the first commercially packaged, premoistened toilet paper by Joseph Gayetty of New York City in 1857, how people used to clean themselves depended to a large degree on where and how they lived, and their standing in society. Coconut shells were used widely throughout an egalitarian Hawaii, while lace and hemp proved more...

'"Cannot access printer'? Why can't you... access printer? i've plugged you in!" Eddie Izzard, comedian Long-term computer users will be all too familiar with the frustration of having to switch off and reboot their machines. Thanks to USB (universal serial bus) connectivity, however, this scenario has become, largely, a distant memory. These days, almost every device you plug into a computer, such as a printer or scanner, comes complete with a USB connector, instead of a card. that, the machine has to- learn to recognize in a lengthy installation process. The impetus behind-the USB was toward a future where you could connect any device to any computer, using any port—because all the ports and plugs would match. The universal, three-pronged "trident" symbol is used on all plugs and sockets to indicate USB functionality. The reality, of course, is that there are still a few rogue devices that do not conform, more...

Coal mining is difficult and risky work, and one of the dangers in the mine shafts is flooding. While this is something modern equipment can easily handle, the best remedy for flooding in the late seventeenth century was baling with a bucket. The problem caught the attention of English military engineer Thomas Savery (c. 1650-1715), who set out to make draining faster and easier. Savery's solution was to fight fire with fire, or in this case, fight water with steam. Steam's power had been revealed by French physicist Denis Papin and his pressure cooker in 1679. Papin had observed that bottled-up steam lifted the cooker's lid, and he envisioned steam doing the same to a piston in an engine. Papin's work inspired Savery to put steam to work in the mines. In 1698 Savery patented "The Miner's Friend," a rudimentary steam engine for pumping water from mine shafts. Savery's device more...