Category Invensions & Discoveries

What is the backstory behind the invention of the Xerox machine?


Young Chester Carlson worked as a patent analyser for a manufacturer of electrical components. This required laborious paperwork – he had to submit multiple copies when registering his company’s inventions and ideas at the patent office. Each duplicate had to be written by hand. Carlson suffered from arthritis. He knew there had to be another way of doing his job.

Working in his kitchen during his free time, Carlson discovered that some materials changed their electrical properties when exposed to light called photo-conductivity. After years of research, he came up with a patent in 1942 for a reproduction technique based on this, which he named ‘electric photography. Another 20 years went by before he found a company interested enough to manufacture the machine. He was turned away by the likes of IBM, GE and RCA, until in 1960, the Haloid company finally thought his idea marketable.

The company was later named Xerox. The process became so popular all over the world that the word ‘xeroxing’ (a trademark) is used instead of the correct term-‘photocopying’!

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Who was Marie Curie?

Marie Curie (November 7, 1867-July 4, 1934) was a French Polish physicist and chemist, famous for her pioneering research on radioactivity and the discovery of polonium and radium.  She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the only woman to win in two fields, and the only person to win in multiple sciences. She was also the first female professor at the University of Paris (La Sorbonne), and in 1995 became the first woman to be entombed on her own merits in the Pantheon in Paris]

In 1867, Maria Sklodowska was born in Warsaw, Poland. She was a bright and curious child who did well in school. At the time, the University of Warsaw refused students who were women. But that didn’t stop young Maria! Instead, she learned in secret. She went to informal classes held in ever-changing locations, called the “Floating University.”

In 1891, the woman the world would come to know as Marie Curie made her way to Paris. There, she enrolled at the Sorbonne, a university that didn’t discriminate. Over the next few years, she completed advanced degrees in physics and mathematics. She also met French physicist Pierre Curie. The two married in 1895.

Marie and Pierre worked closely over the next decade. Marie’s biggest discoveries came from studying uranium rays. She believed these rays came from the element’s atomic structure. Curie created the term “radioactivity” to name the phenomena she had observed. Her findings led to the field of atomic physics.

Together, the Curies studied the mineral pitchblende. Through their experiments, they discovered a new radioactive element. Marie named it polonium in honor of her native Poland. The two later also discovered the element radium.

In 1903, Marie and Pierre Curie were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in physics. Marie was the first woman to receive a Nobel Prize. That same year, she also became the first woman to earn a Ph.D. from a French university. After Pierre’s death in 1906, Marie took over his teaching job at the Sorbonne. She was the first female professor at the institution.

In 1911, Curie became the first person—of any gender—to win a second Nobel Prize. This time, she was recognized for her work in the field of chemistry. Curie’s scientific reputation was known around the world. In fact, she was invited to attend the Solvay Congress in Physics. There, she joined other famous scientists of the day, including Albert Einstein.

After World War I began in 1914, Marie used her scientific knowledge to support France’s efforts in the war. She helped to develop the use of portable X-ray machines in the field. In fact, the medical vehicles that carried these machines became known as “Little Curies.”

Marie Curie never knew the toll her work would take on her health. She died in France in 1934 from advanced leukemia related to prolonged exposure to radiation. Today, Curie’s notebooks are still too radioactive to be safely handled. They are stored in lead-lined boxes in France.

Marie Curie left a great legacy of accomplishment and scientific curiosity. Her daughter, Irène Joliot-Curie, followed in her footsteps. Joliot-Curie received the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1935, one year after her mother’s death.

In 1995, Marie and Pierre Curie’s remains were placed in the Panthéon in Paris. This is known as the final resting place of France’s most distinguished citizens. Marie Curie was the first woman to be interred there on her own merit.

Credit : Wonder Opolis

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When and how the fist steam engines were built?

The invention of the steam engine during the eighteenth century had a fundamental effect on man’s progress. Some earlier forms of this machine had appeared during the previous century. The most famous were those of papin whose work provided a great stimulus for research into steam.

Papin built a boat with steam operated paddles, but builders of sailing boats were hostile to this new craft and papin could not make much progress with it. However, he had proved what a powerful force steam could be in locomotion. Thomas newcomen built a steam engine in 1705. It began to be used for pumping water out of mines about six years later, and by 1725 the engine was widely used in collieries. It continued in use for many years although it was not very efficient and worked slowly. It was James watt (1736-1819) who examined all the previous efforts and perfected them into a steam engine that worked fast and efficiently. For this engine watt invented a steam condenser that was separate from the cylinder which worked the piston.

The steam engine had a sensational success and proved itself enormously useful, especially in factories where it replaced machines that had previously been worked by water or animal power. It was eventually used as a locomotive to pull wagons.

 

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By whom the electric light bulb was born and how?

Thomas Edison had discovered in his experiments that there were certain bodies through which electric power flowed more easily. He called these good conductors and other bodies that resisted the flow of electric power he called bad conductors. When electricity tried to travel along a bad conductor the latter would resist so much that it glowed until became white-hot.

A carbon filament, for example, gave out a good deal of light; but the light did not last very long because the carbon would soon burn itself up as it was in contact with the oxygen in the air.

Edison then carried out an experiment inside a glass bulb from which he had removed all the air. This time the light of the glowing filament lasted much longer and the fist electric light bulb was born.

Carbon filaments have now been replaced by tungsten wire as its high melting point, low rate of evaporation and low electrical consumption make it most suitable for use in light bulbs. A further improvement has been the introduction of an inert gas in to the bulb. This was at first nitrogen but is now a mixture of 88 per cent argon and 12 per cent nitrogen.

 

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What are water trucks used for?

Water trucks are a vital part of mining and construction operations. Dust control, compaction, even fire prevention are among the uses of these powerful machines. Water trucks are different from regular trucks in that they have special tank specifications, custom chassis design and mounting apparatuses, and associated pumping equipment.

Water trucks come in a range of sizes and designs, with larger trucks able to haul as much as 36,000L. Some are even specially designed for mining applications and come with off-road tyres, safety equipment and are reinforced for stability over rugged terrain.

The spraying and filling capabilities also vary from truck to truck, depending on the purpose. For starters, filler pipes are typically mounted on the truck’s near side or via an opening on top of the tank. As for spaying capabilities, spray nozzles can be situated on the front, side and/or rear of the truck, and are typically controlled from inside the driver’s cab. There are also drip bars, hose reels, water cannons and more.

 

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How does a garbage truck work?

Basically, a garbage truck is a machine that making our waste squeeze and minimize the space that trash take.
A garbage truck that aims to reduce the size of your waste on landfills works easily. The garbage thrown into the garbage compactor is divided into small and collectible pieces with a metal mallet, then these garbage pieces are collected in groups in a bag or compacted.

Garbage trucks produced for the purpose of cleaning neighborhoods, streets, and cities are used by garbage disposal workers to clean the places we live in. The garbage collected by the sanitation engineers is loaded into the back of the garbage truck or the garbage containers are transported by the garbage machines and dumped into the back chamber of the garbage truck.

Later, the garbage loaded into the rear chamber of the truck is pushed to the middle part of the garbage truck by hydraulic cylinders. The press assembly at the rear of the truck shreds or compresses the waste. Later, when the garbage truck is full, the garbage collectors take it to waste collection centers. During unloading, the rear of the truck lifts up and the garbage is discharged from the rear chamber of the truck, accompanied by a hydraulic cylinder.

 

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