100 Amazing Inventions
56. Why was 1996 a very important year for science?
CLONING:
In 1996, a major scientific breakthrough stunned the world. This was the year that the first mammal was successfully cloned from an adult cell.
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| First Cloned Sheep |
First of all, What is cloning? Cloning is a process in which scientists extract the DNA from an animal cell, and implant it into an egg cell taken from another animal. Before implanting it, the DNA of the recipient cell is removed. This is how Dolly's life began - from a single cell taken from the udder of her mother.
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| Cloning |
The DNA in her mother's cell was removed, and transferred into the egg cell of another sheep. Five months later Dolly was born, creating medical history.
It was Ian Wilmut, Keith Campbell, and their colleagues at the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh, Scotland who were responsible for this remarkable achievement.
57. Why are hybrid electric cars important?
HYBRID ELECTRIC CARS:
Hybrid cars use an internal combustion engine - and can be fueled like normal cars - but have an electric motor and battery, and can be powered by electricity.
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| Charging a Car |
It was the oil crisis of 1973 that gave impetus to idea of saving petrol by using electricity to power cars. Over the next 25 years, auto manufactures spent billions of dollars of dollars on research of hybrid technologies. In spite of this, very few vehicles were produced that could both reduce the world's dependence on oil and compete with gasoline vehicles on price and performance.
It wasn't until Toyota released the Prius in Japan in1997 that a viable alternative emerged.
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| Car Charging Point |
In 1999, the Honda Insight became the first mass produced hybrid car in the United States. By using both a conventional engine and electric motor, the best hybrids achieve significantly better fuel efficiency than their non-hybrid counterparts. They also pollute less and save drivers money through fuel savings.
58. What is the significance of the Human Genome Project?
HUMAN GENOME PROJECT:
A genome is the genetic material that makes up a living organism. It is contained in chromosomes, which are the tiny thread like structures inside cells.
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| Human Genome |
Chromosomes are made from a chemical substance called DNA, and DNA is a sequence of smaller units, called bases. The DNA bases combine to form genes. These contain the instructions that are passed on from one generation of an organism to the next.
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| Human Genome Project |
The Human Genome Project, was an international effort to discover the exact makeup of the genetic material that controls the way human beings develop and grow. Thousands of scientists from many countries worked on the Human Genome Project. The first draft of the human genome was published in 200, and a more complete version was published in 2003.
59. Why are fuel cell bikes cool?
FUEL CELL BIKES:
Fuel cell bikes are a new invention - and a cool one at that. On an ordinary bike, you cannot travel very long distances, as you would get exhausted from all the pedaling.
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| Fuel Cell Bikes |
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| Fuel Cell Bikes |
The alternatives to this are electric bikes, and fuel cell bikes. An electric bike has a motor that is driven by electricity from a battery. A fuel bicycle, on the other hand, uses hydrogen as a fuel. The battery found on an electric bike is replaced by a compact fuel cell which generates electric power from hydrogen and oxygen, taken from the surrounding atmosphere. The Italian bike maker Aprilia has developed a fuel cell bike that stores compressed hydrogen in metal canister housed in the frame. With a top speed of 32 kilometers per hour, the bike weighs less than regular electric bikes and travels twice as far, about 69 kilometers, before it needs more gas.
Fuel cell bikes have the great advantage of offering an environment-friendly mode of transport.
60. Why is the artificial liver a life saving invention?
ARTIFICIAL LIVER:
The liver performs over 500 different functions! In fact, it is so important that we cannot live without our liver.
The quest for a device that can fill in for the function of the liver, at least temporarily, has been underway for decades.
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| Artificial Liver |
Early in 1956, the first experiment using a biological artificial liver was conducted, using a live dog's liver that was placed inside another critically ill dog.
In October 1958, the first human patient, a young man, was placed on the laboratory made biological artificial liver. This first case was very successful, resulting in the patient's recovery.
In 2001, Dr. Kenneth Matsumura and his team developed a functioning artificial liver that performed most of the activity of a normal liver because it was partially made of normal liver cells.
British Scientists have since created the first artificial liver tissue from stem cells. The resulting 'mini-liver' is the size of a small coin. The same technique will be further developed to create a full size liver.
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| Imaginary Artificial Liver |
In 15 years time, entire livers could be grown in the lab and then be transplanted into human beings. Isn't that awesome?