Some of the greatest inventions & discoveries
Mobile Phone Inventor Charles E. Alden claimed, in the 29 April 1906 issue of the New York World, to have invented a device called the “vest pocket telephone� although Alden never had the chance to produce this device in large quantities. The first mobile telephone calls were made from cars in 1946. Bell System's Mobile Telephone Service was made on 17 June in St. Louis, Missouri, followed by Illinois Bell Telephone Company's car radiotelephone service in Chicago on 2 October.
The
MTA
phones
were
composed of vacuum tubes and relays, and weighed over 80 pounds (36 kg). There were initially only 3 channels for all the users in the metropolitan area, increasing later to 32 channels across 3 bands. This service continued into the 1980s in large portions of North America. Due to the small number of radio frequencies available, the service quickly reached capacity. In 1956, the world’s first partly automatic car phone system, Mobile System A (MTA), was introduced in Sweden. John F. Mitchell, Motorola's chief of portable communication products in 1973, played a key role in advancing the development of handheld mobile telephone equipment. Mitchell successfully pushed Motorola to develop wireless communication products that would be small enough to use anywhere and participated in the design of the cellular phone. Martin Cooper, a Motorola researcher and executive, was the key researcher on Mitchell's team that developed the first hand-held mobile telephone for use on a cellular network. The new invention sold for $3,995 and weighed two pounds, leading to a nickname "the brick". The world's first commercial automated cellular network was launched in Japan by NTT in 1979, initially in the metropolitan area of Tokyo. In 1981, this was followed by the simultaneous launch of the Nordic Mobile Telephone (NMT)
system in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. Several countries then followed in the early-to-mid 1980s including the UK, Mexico and Canada.
Features All mobile phones have a number of features in common, but manufacturers also try to differentiate their own products by implementing additional functions to make them more attractive to consumers. This has led to great innovation in mobile phone development over the past 20 years. The common components found on all phones are:
A battery, providing the power source for the phone functions.
An input mechanism to allow the user to interact with the phone. The most common input mechanism is a keypad, but touch screens are also found in some high-end smartphones.
Basic mobile phone services to allow users to make calls and send text messages.
All GSM phones use a SIM card to allow an account to be swapped among devices. Some CDMA devices also have a similar card called a RUIM.
Individual GSM, WCDMA, iDEN and some satellite phone devices are uniquely identified by an International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number.
Low-end mobile phones are often referred to as feature phones, and offer basic telephony. Handsets with more advanced computing ability through the use of native software applications became known as smartphones.
A printed circuit board inside a Nokia 3210
By André Oliveira
Mouse When it was invented: The computer
on the Apple Lisa computer. Today,
mouse as we know it today was
the mouse is now found and used
invented and developed by Douglas
on every computer.
Engle Bart during the 60's and was patented on November 17, 1970.
How it was made: The unit was linked to the computer by a cable so
While creating the mouse, Douglas
the
was
electrically
working
at
the
Stanford
motion
Research Institute, a think tank
computer
sponsored by Stanford University,
monitor.
and originally referred to the mouse as a "X-Y Position Indicator for a Display System." This mouse was first used with the Xerox Alto computer system in 1973.
signals transmitted
for
viewing
could
be
to
the
on
the
Impact in our lives: A mouse is an input device that allows the user to move a pointer on the screen and interact with the computer system. It controls the position of the cursor.
However, because of its lack of
It activates application procedures.
success the first widely used mouse
It dispatches mouse down events.
is credited to being the mouse found By Gustavo Correia
GPS (Global Position System) Introduction GPS or Global Position System was created during the World War II to solve the problem of accurate location, and to combat this problem several projects were created over time, to reach the nowadays GPS.
A brief History of GPS Although the history of GPS begins with the military, scientists, fisherman, ambulance drivers and even hikers now use GPS units. From cell phones to commercial aircraft, GPS use is increasing at an incredible rate. 1. GPS: The Little Satellite In 1957, the Soviet Union launched a beach ball-sized satellite named Sputnik. Scientists in the US, who were tracking the device, noticed that changes in the radio signals it emitted allowed them to predict Sputnik's location. The concept of satellite navigation quickly followed. The US Navy built the first satellite navigation system, TRANSIT, in the early 1960s. TRANSIT used five satellites and took several hours to update positions. The Navy upgraded to the TIMATION system in the late 1960s to help with submarine navigation
2. A Military Solution In the 1970s, the US Department of Defense began an effort to combine Navy and Air Force systems into a single system that could provide global navigation capability to all forces. System development continued and in 1978, the first NAVSTAR satellite was launched. Over the next several years, 10 satellites were put into orbit. Each satellite contained a radio transmitter and an atomic clock used to provide the timing accuracy needed to make the system work.
that resulted in an accuracy of only 100 meters for civilian users. While this level of accuracy was fine for commercial navigation, it provided little practical use at the personal level.
3. Tragedy Opens Up GPS In 1983, Soviet fighters shot down a Korean airliner that had strayed into restricted space due to a navigational error. US President Regan quickly announced that the GPS system would be declassified for civilian use. Although available for civilian navigation, GPS accuracy was restricted for non-military use through a process called Selective Availability (SA). SA introduced intentional errors
4. The Modern GPS Era In 1996, US President Clinton issued an order rescinding Selective Availability; in 2000, the order was carried out, increasing the accuracy of civilian GPS units by a factor of 10. Today, GPS receiving capability fits on a single chip and GPS receivers are in use in all forms of transportation and in handheld and cell phone devices.
After reading its history, what can we conclude about GPS? GPS is a radio navigation system that allows us to know the exact location of a point through information from the satellites. Operates under all weather conditions, through signals sent by a constellation of 24 satellites revolving around the Earth in six different orbital planets. It takes 12 hours for a ride to Earth.
By Diogo Nuno Pontes Encarnação
TV set Everybody likes to be distracted, but sometimes we don't know how to do it. The television it's always a good option. We sit on a comfy sofa, turn the television on, until here it's all very simple. But it wasn't very simple to create this device that captures millions attentions in this world. To reach these days, the television needed science and many years of study. Today, we never think about the work and the number of people who work many hours to give us the privilege to see it. This work will show us the history of this revolutionary device, called television. What is a TV set? How it was made? And when it was invented? A television set (also called a television, TV set, TV, or "Telly" (UK) ) is a device that combines a tuner, display, and speakers for the purpose of viewing television. Television sets became a popular consumer product after the Second World War, using vacuum tubes and cathode ray tube displays. The addition of color to broadcast television after 1953 further increased the popularity of television sets, and an outdoor antenna became a common feature of suburban homes. The ubiquitous television set became the display device for the first generation of home computers. Televisions were made in 1923. Who invented the TV set? Mechanical televisions were commercially sold from 1928 to 1934 in the United Kingdom, United States, and Soviet Union.The earliest commercially made televisions sold by Baird in the UK in 1928 were radios with the addition of a television device consisting of a neon tube behind a mechanically spinning disk (patented by German engineer Paul Nipkow in 1884, see Nipkow disk) with a spiral of apertures that produced a red postage-stamp size image, enlarged to twice that size by a magnifying glass. The Baird "Televisor" was also available without the radio. The Televisor sold in 1930–1933 is considered the first massproduced television, selling about a thousand units. The first commercially made electronic televisions with cathode ray tubes were manufactured by Telefunken in Germany in 1934 followed by other makers in France (1936), Britain (1936), and America (1938).The cheapest of the pre– World War II factory-made American sets, a 1938 image-only model with a 3inch (8 cm) screen, cost US$125, the equivalent of US$ 1,863 in 2007. The cheapest model with a 12-inch (30 cm) screen was $445 ($6,633).
An estimated 19,000 electronic televisions were manufactured in Britain, and about 1,600 in Germany, before World War II. About 7,000–8,000 electronic sets were made in the U.S. before the War Production Board halted manufacture in April 1942, production resuming in August 1945. Television usage in the United States skyrocketed after World War II with the lifting of the manufacturing freeze, war-related technological advances, the gradual expansion of the television networks westward, the drop in television prices caused by mass production, increased leisure time, and additional disposable income. While only 0.5% of U.S. households had a television in 1946, 55.7% had one in 1954, and 90% by 1962. In Britain, there were 15,000 television households in 1947, 1.4 million in 1952, and 15.1 million by 1968. What impact it has on human life? Television has the power to inform, educate, and sometimes violate people's privacy. The television is also a useful means of communication very significant. It could even be said of a great public utility. It offers us a vast amount of information that allows us to be updated in real time. As for education, it let us know a little more about subjects. As for culture, it also informs us in all kinds of topics. In conclusion, television is a medium of communication per excellence, important for the development of the world. By Miguel Faria
Email is a method that lets you compose, send and receive messages over electronic communication systems. The term e-mail applies both to systems that use the Internet and are based on the SMTP protocol, as those systems known as intranets that allow the exchange of messages within a company or organization and are typically based on proprietary protocols. When it was discovered The email was invented in 1965.
or
invented?
Who invented the email? The email was be invented by Ray Tomlinson. What impact is has on human life? When the email came, his purpose was to be a fast and easy way to use so that people can exchange information within a group. Still no internet, there was no concept of instant messaging as we understand it today, it did not exist and neither VOIP phones. The e-mail then became the most advanced and adjusted way to send information to someone. A letter would take hours or days to reach the recipient making information loaded unnecessary or obsolete. But the e-mail looked fantastic, it's like a desk your errands and delivery, without mistakes, when you can get them. The practical appeal of the e-mail was so strong that today, 40 years later, it remains a form of intra-personal communication used by people more accustomed to computers. The internet has transformed the email in media popularity and spread by all the possibility to exchange information quickly and easily in a way never seen before. The importance of email nowadays: Email is a quick and easy way to stay in touch with family, friends, business contacts, and strangers. It doesn't cost the price of a stamp and you don't have to wait for days to get a response or answer. In the business world, it is any easy, fast way to keep in touch with co-workers and employers. Emails keep us from wasting valuable time being placed on hold when you need to contact someone regarding business or pleasure. By Mรกrcia Silva
History: In 1802, Humphry Davy had what was then the most powerful electrical battery in the world at the Royal Institution of Great Britain. In that year, he created the first incandescent light by passing the current through a thin strip of platinum, chosen because the metal had an extremely high melting point. Joseph Swan (1828–1914) was a British physicist and chemist. In 1850, he began working with carbonized paper filaments in an evacuated glass bulb. By 1860, he was able to demonstrate a working device but the lack of a good vacuum and an adequate supply of electricity resulted in a short lifetime for the bulb and an inefficient source of light. By the mid1870s better pumps became available, and Swan returned to his experiments. With the help of Charles Stearn, an expert on vacuum pumps, in 1878, Swan developed a method of processing that avoided the early bulb blackening.
Commercialization: From 1880 he began installing light bulbs in homes and landmarks in England. His house was the first in the world to be lit by a lightbulb and so the first house in the world to be lit by hydroelectric power. The home of Lord Armstrong at Cragside was also among the first houses to be lit by electricity. In the early 1880 he had started his company. In 1881, the Savoy Theatre in the City of Westminster, London was lit by Swan incandescent lightbulbs, which was the first theatre, and the first public building in the world, to be lit entirely by electricity.
Efficiency: Approximately 90% of the power consumed by an incandescent light bulb is emitted as heat, rather than as visible light.
1.-Outline of Glass bulb 2.-Low pressure inert gas (argon, nitrogen, krypton, xenon) 3.-Tungsten filament 4.-Contact wire (goes out of stem) 5.-Contact wire (goes into stem) 6.-Support wires (one end embedded in stem; conduct no current) 7.-Stem (glass mount) 8.-Contact wire (goes out of stem) 9.-Cap (sleeve) 10.-Insulation (vitrite) 11.-Electrical contact
By JosĂŠ Leandro
2012/ 2013
Antibiotics
Jo達o Freitas ESFF
What is an antibiotic? An antibacterial is an agent that inhibits bacterial growth or kills bacteria. The term is often used synonymously with the term antibiotic; Today, however, with increased knowledge of the causative agents of various infectious diseases, antibiotic(s) has come to denote a broader range of antimicrobial compounds, including anti-fungal and other compounds.
The term antibiotic was first used in 1942 by Selman Waksman and his collaborators in journal articles to describe any substance produced by a microorganism that is antagonistic to the growth of other microorganisms in high dilution. This definition excluded substances that kill bacteria, but are not produced by microorganisms (such as gastric juices and hydrogen peroxide). It also excluded synthetic antibacterial compounds such as the sulfonamides. Many antibacterial compounds are relatively small molecules with a molecular weight of less than 2000 atomic mass units.
The first Antibacterial Alexander Fleming, medical microbiologist at St. Mary's Hospital, London, there were already some researching substances that could kill or prevent the growth of bacteria in infected wounds, research justified by the experience of the First World War from 1914 to 1918, in which many soldiers died of infection in wounds and ill-treated due to lack of proper treatment. In 1928 Fleming developed staphylococcal research when he discovered penicillin. The discovery of penicillin took place under very peculiar circumstances, thanks to a series of unforeseen and surprising.
In August 1928 Fleming took a vacation, and forgetfulness, left some plates with cultures of staphylococci on the table, rather than keep them in the fridge or unusable them, as it would be natural. Upon returning to work in September of the same year, he remarked that some of the plates were contaminated with mold, this fact relatively common. Then put them in a tray for cleaning and sterilization with lysol. Right
then joined a colleague in the lab, Dr. Pryce, and asked him how their research. Was Fleming took the plates back to explain some details to his colleague about the cultures of staphylococci that was performing when he noticed that there was, in one plate, a transparent halo around the mold contaminant, which seemed to indicate that this fungus produced a substance bactericide. The matter was discussed between both Fleming and decided to make some fungus cultures for further study.
The fungus was identified as belonging to the genus Penicillium, from which derives the name given to the substance of penicillin produced by him.
It was the first reaction penicilĂnica test performed in the laboratory. Furthermore, the discovery of Fleming not did arise great interest and initially no concerns in using it for therapeutic purposes in cases of human infection to the outbreak of World War II, 1939. In that year, and as a result of the conflict itself in order to avoid unnecessary is low, were then amplified from polls about penicillin and its human use.
Medical uses: Treatment Bacterial infection Protozoan infection, e.g., metronidazole is effective against several parasitics Immunomodulation, e.g., tetracycline, which is effective in periodontal inflammation, and dapsone, which is effective in autoimmune diseases such as oral mucous membrane pemphigoid Prevention of infection Surgical wound Dental antibiotic prophylaxis Conditions of neutropenia, e.g. cancer-related
Side-effects: Adverse effects range from fever and nausea to major allergic reactions, including photodermatitis and anaphylaxis.[citation needed] Common side-effects include diarrhea, resulting from disruption of the species composition in the intestinal flora, resulting, for example, in overgrowth of pathogenic bacteria, such as Clostridium difficile. Antibacterials can also affect the vaginal flora, and may lead to overgrowth of yeast species of the genus Candida in the vulvo-vaginal area. Flouroquinolone antibiotics, such as moxifloxacin, are especially notorious for their side effects, which include prolongation of the QT interval and toxic psychosis. Additional side-effects can result from interaction with other drugs, such as elevated risk of tendon damage from administration of a quinolone antibiotic with a systemic corticosteroid. There are new evidence shown that the indiscriminate use of antibiotics alter the host microbiota and this has been associated with.