Archives August 2013

In 1797, Robert Fulton (1765-1815), a Pennsylvania- born artist and inventor, offered to build a submarine for the French, who were then engaged in a bitter war with Britain. He proposed to use the vessel to sink Royal Navy warships blockading French ports. The French government hesitated to become involved in what they regarded as a dishonorable style of warfare. Undeterred, Fulton went ahead with developing his machine, gaining French financial backing after Napoleon made himself First Consul in 1799. Fulton's "mechanical Nautilus" was launched on the River Seineat Rouen in 1800. Its inventor described it as "six and a half meters long and two meters wide... built entirely of wood." It had a mast and sail for propulsion on the surface, which were lowered when it submerged by filling its water tanks. The crew of two to four could stay underwater for around four hours thanks to a supply more...

"[The Hamilton Beach drink mixer] became as much a tradition as hot dogs, apple pie, or baseball." Goodman's online shopping catalog Chester Beach grew up on a Wisconsin farm, and it was there that his natural aptitude for repairing and fixing machinery was nurtured. He met his future business partner L. H. Hamilton, when they were both working at an electrical motor company in Wisconsin in the early 1900s. Realizing their potential for a profitable future, the pair formed the Hamilton Beach Manufacturing Company. What made the company so successful was essentially Beach's invention of a high-speed, lightweight universal motor. The motor was able to safely and consistently achieve up to 7,200 revolutions per minute and its ability to run on both AC (alternating current) and DC (direct current) meant that it was extremely adaptable. The motor was used in their food mixer—which was a huge success for the company—and more...

“What have you done with my child [the radio broadcast]? You have debased this child..." Lee De Forest, Chicago Tribune (1946) In 1904, British physicist-John Ambrose Fleming (1849-1945) developed what he called an "oscillation valve." Later rechristened the "diode," it Is universally recognized as the first true electronic device. Two years later, building on Fleming's work, American electrical engineer Lee De Forest (1873-1961) created the Audion vacuum tube—the first valve amplifier. De Forest's major innovation was in creating a valve that would not only rectify the AC current, but boost it. The Audion contained the same filament, cathode and plate/anode design of the Fleming valve, but placed between them was a zigzag of wire called a grid. A small electric current applied to the grid would result in much current shifting from the filament to the plate. Thus was born the first electrical amplifier. With its three active electrodes, De more...

A horse is one of the most faithful animals. In ancient times, horses were very popular with kings. They were used in the battle field that saved their masters' lives at the cost of their own. It was commonly used as a means of transport in the past when there were no buses and trains. Presently, a horse is used for riding, drawing carts. handsome domestic animal, it is found all over the world, but Arabian horses are the best. A horse may be of various gray or a mixture of different shades. It has four strong legs. Its hoofs are not parted in the middle like those of a cow. There is thick black hair in its tail. It has a mane on its neck. Its ears are very large. A horse eats green grass, straw, food grains and leaves. Without proper training, a man cannot ride on the more...

The idea of creating a man-made diamond is a very appealing one—a kind of alchemy (the process of turning base metal into gold), but one that is, remarkably, achievable. Synthetic diamonds actually come in two kinds—simulant (which are diamond-like in looks and structure) and synthetic, where the chemical structure of the stone is also the same. The latter is a "true" synthetic diamond. Simulant diamonds made from silicon carbide were first discovered by Henri Moissan in a meteorite crater in 1893.They were later reproduced by him and others in the lab, most fampusly Willard Hersey, whose diamond can still be seen at the McPherson Museum in Kansas. It was not until 1953, however, when a team led by Baltzar von Platen (1898-1984), working in secret for the Swedish electrical company ASEA, actually succeeded in generating sufficient heat and pressure to create the first synthetic diamond. Their machine generated 83,000 atmospheres more...

Humphry Davy 0778-1829) first noted the anesthetic effects of nitrous oxide—a colorless, almost odorless gas—while experimenting at the Pneumatic Institute in Bristol, England. Davy (best known for inventing the miner's lamp) realized that nitrous oxide both made him want to laugh (coining the term "laughing gas") and relieved his toothache. In 1800 he published a book stating that the gas might "be used with advantage during surgical operations." After Davy's observations, nitrous oxide became popular at laughing parties and fairground shows, but it was not used in surgery for another forty years. At one fair in the United States, Horace Wells, a Connecticut dentist, observed a man who gashed his leg while under the influence of nitrous oxide. He seemed to be pain-free, and Wells immediately had one of his own teeth removed while breathing in the gas. In January 1845, Wells demonstrated the use of nitrous oxide in a more...

The most sticky, hot, and humid places in the world tend to be found in Southeast Asia, near coastal regions around the equator. Anyone who is not used to the heavy, damp, often motionless air can find them to be very uncomfortable places to live. Humidity, the moisture content of the air, tends to be high in these places because the heat of the sun causes the air to absorb increased moisture from the surrounding seas and oceans—the air in cold latitudes is relatively dry. But it was not until the 1600s that people were able to measure air humidity. Technically, Leonardo da Vinci designed the first crude hygrometer in the 1440s, but in 1664 the first practical hygrometer, used to measure the moisture content of air, was invented by the Italian scientist Francesco Folli (1624-1685). Folli's invention was a finely decorated device, made of brass, that contained a mounted more...

Delhi has always created its own history. It has wonderful monuments and architectural heritage. It has wide roads and a number of flyovers, the unique Red Fort, Rashtrapati Bhawan, Qutub Minar, Chandani Chowk are some of its great glories. Metro is its crowning glory which adds a new speed to its progress.   Delhi MRTS (Delhi Mass Rapid Transit System) or Delhi Metro is a rapid transit system in Delhi operated by the Delhi Metro  Rail Corporation Limited. With a view to reducing the problems of the Delhi commuter, the launching of an Integrated Multi Mode Mass Rapid Transport System for Delhi had long been under consideration. The first concrete step in this direction was however taken when a feasibility study for developing such a multi modal MRTS was commissioned by GNCTD (with support from GDI) in 1989 was completed by RITES in 1991. It recommended a 198.5 km predominantly more...

Population of a region means the number of people living in that region, in which they share their basic needs like land, water and other resources. The whole of the world has 71% water while only the rest has the conditions to sustain life, meaning here by we have a very little of land to live on. In the same way, we have other resources for our use. Resources are very limited while the population is growing rapidly. The world population has almost doubled in 40 years from 3 billion in 1961 to 6 billion in 2001. The situation is greatly alarming. At the time of independence, India's population was not more than 40 crores. In a span of 57 years, we have multiplied manifold. The present number is very grim and critical. India, a developing country has one of the largest reservoirs of natural resources but is still lagging more...

"In the mid-1980s... music networking through things called audio cassettes was at its peak." Carl Howard, alternative music network pioneer Like SMS (short message service) text messaging three decades later, the audiotape cassette (or "compact cassette," to give it its official name) is a classic case of an innovation created for one purpose that finds unexpected success for another. Although the cassette (derived from the French word meaning "little box") was an audio storage medium, Philips saw little potential for its use within the high-fidelity music market. It had, in fact, been designed primarily for use in dictation machines and cheap portable recorders. Introduced in 1963, the cassette slowly established itself in the decade that followed. Its success was largely due to Philips's decision to license aspects of their technology free of charge. The tape used in the early cassette cartridges was thin, low-quality, and only half the width of more...