Science Projects And Inventions

The human torso contains up to 26 feet (8 m) of intestines. When someone suffers a disorder of the gastrointestinal tract, it can be a difficult task to locate the problem in such an expansive length of tissue. A traditional endoscopy involves a thin fiberoptic tube being Inserted into the patient and images of the walls of the subject's innards being relayed to a television screen. It is a minimally invasive procedure and can cause the patient spmemild discomfort.   However, as the technology of digital cameras has become smaller and more compact, an alternative has appeared. Created by a team of doctors led by Dr. Tarun Mullick in Baltimore, Maryland, the first wireless capsule endoscopy unit came into being in 1985. The camera-in-a-capsule is useful for spotting things such as vascular lesions, tumors, celiac disease, and Crohn's disease in areas that other noninvasive methods fail to reach. The capsule more...

With the transition from horse and buggy to more modern modes of transportation, faster vehicles capable of longer distances of travel became the norm. The wheels on such vehicles obviously became quite important—the wood and metal constructs that initially performed well on wagons were not as well suited to automobiles, motorcycles, and bicycles. Needing a material with added durability and also cushioning, early tire manufacturers turned to rubber. Initially composed of solid rubber, the first tires were durable, but also heavy and rough on roads. Though it had been invented earlier, the pneumatic tire found a niche again in the early 1900s in the form of bicycle tires. The idea soon spread to cars, where the new inflatable tires were lighter and provided better shock absorption, allowing for a smoother ride. These early tires consisted of an inner inflatable tube paired with an outer tire that provided protection and traction. more...

"The valves and chambers were not unlike the moving eyes and dosing mouth of a puppet." Paul Winchell The artificial heart is a machine that pumps blood around the body and is designed to replace the natural heart when it no longer works efficiently due to conditions such as heart failure. Paul Winchell (1922-2005), a U.S. television ventriloguist, was the unlikely inventor of the artificial heart. At a cast party, Winchell met surgeon Dr. Henry Heimlich, inventor of the Heimlich maneuver for choking. After observing Heimlich in his operating room, Winchell thought that an artificial heart could keep blood pumping in during difficult open-heart procedures. With Heimlich's advice, Winchell designed an artificial heart and built the first prototype. He filed for a patent in .1956, which he received in 1963. Winchell donated the rights to his design to the University of-Utah, allowing Robert Jarvik and others to build an artificial more...

"On their new 150-inch screen; 'Can you imagine watching the Olympics on this baby?'" Toshihiro Sakamoto, Panasonic president The plasma screen was invented in 1964 by Donald Bitzer, Gene Slottow, and Robert Wilson at the University of Illinois. It was an alternative to the traditional television set that used an electron gun inside a glass tube to excite atoms of phosphorous coated on the inside of the screen, making them glow. The need for the electron gun and tube meant that a normal television set required depth, making it bulky. The plasma screen uses different technology. Just behind the screen are hundreds of thousands of tiny cells containing xenon and neon gas, with electrodes behind them. An electric charge from these electrodes cart make the gas temporarily become a glowing ionized gas—a plasma. The same physics underlie the tendrils in a plasma ball, as well as the aurora. Unlike traditional more...

Around 9500 B.C.E., in a number of populations distant from one another, people began to select and cultivate plants for food and other purposes. These people were the first farmers. In what is now known as the Fertile Crescent in Southwest Asia, small populations engaged in small-scale farming and began to grow the eight founder crops of agriculture—emmer and einkorn wheat, hulled barley, bitter vetch, peas, chickpeas, lentils, and flax. However, it took thousands of years before the farmers developed the practices and technologies necessary to enable cultivation of the land on a larger scale. In 5500 B.C.E. the first plow, a tool used to prepare the soil for planting, was developed in Mesopotamia by the Indus Valley Civilization. It was known as the scratch plow and represented one of the greatest advances in agriculture. It consisted simply of a wooden stick attached to a wooden frame, but was able more...

The electric drill embodies do-it-yourself (DIY). Factor in its significance in the construction and manufacturing industries, and the invention of the electric drill is highly important. For this we can thank electrical engineer Arthur Arnot (1865-1946), who built the first electric drill for use in the mining industry The concept of the drill is thousands of years old— bow drills were used by the Egyptians to make fire through friction as well as boring holes in wood. The action of a rotating head, moved by a "bow" wrapped around the shaft of the drill, was sufficient to make a hole into the surface. In essence, modern electric drills operate on a similar principle, except the power is supplied by electricity ratherthan by hand. Arnot was born in Scotland and studied as an electrical engineer before going to work at the Grosvenor Gallery Power Station in 1885. Four years later, Arnot more...

When engines were invented in the early nineteenth century, they were quickly adapted for use in farming—at first just to drive farm machinery, using the engine to move other equipment, but not itself. When steam-traction engines were introduced in 1868, they were used only on the roads to haul timber and other heavy loads around. Gradually, however, they came to be used in the fields, dragging plows behind them. One of the biggest obstacles facing the traction engines was their wheels. On soft soil, thin wheels just sank, so the wheels were fitted with wide metal tires to spread out the weight. These wheels lacked grip and got people looking for other ways to spread the weight. In 1904, Benjamin Holt (1849-1920) tested the first tractor with tracks instead of wheels and went on to form a company that became Caterpillar. In 1932 the metal tires were replaced with rubber more...

The invention of the ski has contributed greatly to society for the past 5,000 years. Unlike today, early skis were not used for fun and leisure but for work and transportation, playing a key role in both hunting and warfare. They were made of wood and were not designed for speed: They simply served the purpose of keeping the traveler on top of the snow, with walking sticks employed to keep balance. Hunters have been using skis to chase animals in ice-covered terrain since around 3000 B.C.E., when the Lapps from Sapmi (a territory incorporating parts of present-day Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia) began to use skis extensively. However, it is not clear who invented skiing. The world's oldest surviving ski dates back to around 3000 B.C.E. and was discovered at Kalvtrask, northern Sweden, in 1924. It is 80 inches (204 cm) long and 6 inches (15.5 cm) wide, that more...

"Soap is... the first manufactured substance with which we come into contact in our lives...” John A. Hunt, A Short History of Soap Soap, in the form we know it today, was first produced by the Babylonians in around 2800 B.C.E. Clay cylinders containing a soaplike material were found during excavations of Babylon. Engraved in the side of a cylinder was a recipe for boiling fats with ashes. Soap works by acting as an emulsifying agent. Each soap molecule consists of a long, fatty tail and an electrically charged "head." In water the soap molecules form small spheres, called micelles, where the charged heads are on the outside and the water- repelling fatty chains are in the middle. As dirt and grease are not soluble in water, they are contained within the micelles. The micelles can then be washed away, leaving behind a clean surface. True soap was made by more...

It is unknown who first irrigated his crops with water brought specially from a nearby river, but archeological evidence suggests that, wherever farming began to take place, irrigation soon followed. There is evidence of irrigation from around 6000 b.c.e. in Sumer in Mesopotamia, and also on ancient Egyptian farms near the Nile. Some 2,000 years later, irrigation occurred in Geokysur in South Russia, and in the Zana Valley in the Andes Mountains of Peru. By 3000 B.C.E.,  the the same techniques were used by the Indus Valley Civilization in what is now Pakistan. When, at around 6000 B.C.E., the first farmers in Mesopotamia planted their crops of barley, wheat, and other plants near the Tigris or Euphrates rivers, they relied on rain, the occasional flood, and the ability of the soil to hold water to ensure that their crops grew from seed to, harvest. Water could be carried in buckets more...