Entry 3841: The best patent realize
My Dear Sir,
The best patent invention realisation up to now is the Machine build by Nikolas Tesla to make free Energy for the basic living on Earth...The patent paper as been hiden and stolen by the banks and the US Goverment as you my know by now. But will surface very soon in the US and Canada by july 2007.
This is my choice : Free Energy Generator by Nikolas Tesla
Submitted by: Pierre Brunet
Submitted on 2007.02.04
Entry 3842: Written word
Although most people don't think of it as an invention, the most useful invention of all time would be written language. The ability to convey our thoughts in writing has allowed ideas to be spread across the world; our ideas themselves are able to be communicated more clearly due to our understanding of grammar and syntax. The written word allows us to record the passage of time and events so that we can learn from them later; it allows us to fabricate entire worlds of fanciful imagination; it creates a preservable record of our lives, thoughts, and actions. Most importantly, it allows ideas to become portable: which allows people to learn from one another, develop new ideas, collaborate, and answer questions.
Submitted by: Solange Thomas
Submitted on 2007.02.04
Entry 3844: Nylon
Nylon, the material with endless possibilities. Used as a fabric, mechanical parts, engineering material, packaging and military supplies. A replacement for silk. A powerful material with huge economical value. Some of the products are stockings, toobrush fibres, parachutes, vehicle tires, ropes, clothes, tents, guitar strings, tennis racket strings, clothing, footwear, airbags, fishing lines, carpets, wrapping (the 250 words are not enough to name even most of them...). Patented in the '30s it won the ladies hearts, boosted the econony and made life easier. It did change everything, take a look around, it's everywhere...
Submitted by: Panagiotis Tsiknis
Submitted on 2007.02.04
Entry 3845: Conductivity
I think the best invention conductivity.As a result of this electricity is useable.Now the life is passing arround the conductivity.Computers,washing machines,cars, like etc.
Submitted by: Hüseyin Tahir ERŞAN
Submitted on 2007.02.04
Entry 3853: robotic cow milking
All patents concerning the milking of cows by robots in stead of farmers have given a better and healthier life to the animal.
By the robot the farmer no longer determines when the cow will be milked but the cow herself can go for milking when she wants.
The robot enables the cow to become the manager of her own production process which means a breakthrough in robotics.
Human beings never used robots to become more productive but animals know better!
Submitted by: wendela wapenaar
Submitted on 2007.02.04
Entry 3855: Artificial Intelligence in the World Wide Web
Joseph Marie Jacquard, a master solk-weaver in Napoleonic France, invented a loom that was to spark the beginning of today's information age.
This astonishing new loom anabled the master weavers of Lyons to create their beautiful silk fabrics 25 times faster than had ever been possible before
This device used punched cards to store instructions for weaving the required pattern or design.
This light the historical links that reveal the extraordinary relationship between the nineteenth century world of ''weaving'' and today's computer age.
Submitted by: Veronica Formenti
Submitted on 2007.02.04
Entry 3859: The Unicycle
All other entries would be inventions that revolutionized the world, mine is one that could simplify the world's problems!
People are always being told to find other ways of transport than cars, and people are starting to listen. There are estimated to be about a billion bicycles in the world, double the amount of cars! 20 million of these are owned in the UK, meaning 1 in 3 adults own 1. The point is that a unicylce weighs half a bike and also take up less than half the room. Meaning there are room for twice as many unicycles than bikes. Only having 1 wheel means repair costs would be a lot less. You also wouldn't have to pay tax like you do a car.
The world is in a very delicate state and if we don't act soon it will be too late. If just one person reading this decides to pick up a unicycle and get on their way, then it will be well worth it.
Thank You For Reading!
Submitted by: Michael Gallan
Submitted on 2007.02.04
Entry 3861: The Crank
Best Invention of all time, of course, is the wheel -but not patented as far as we know.
The Crank is the best patented invention because it allows the conversion of linear movement into rotary movement. In this way the power of expanding steam, and subsequently of expanding petrol
Submitted by: Phil Collins
Submitted on 2007.02.04
Entry 3863: Life
Life is the best invention, because it's the only invention its patents (us) can be aware of it.
Submitted by: Tolga Muderrisoglu
Submitted on 2007.02.04
Entry 3864: The Computer paves way to brilliant
I have been so impressed by many earlier inventions, but the computer does and will have more of a profound influence on our lives, our planet and our universe. It already has done more for medicine and industry in leaps and bounds than any other method of discovery. The data that goes into the computer is unlimited, bringing about better ways of everything we do. We actually use it to invent better ways and in a much quicker fashion than before its existence. Maybe we wouldn't have this contest without it, or at least the number of people it reaches. The future will prove me right although we have so many pieces of evidence already. One can touch or see something within a few feet that a computer had some involvement in.
Submitted by: Carl Rollberg
Submitted on 2007.02.04
Entry 3866: Ad Astra per Aspiration - to the start through a gasp!
John Dunlop, a vet, familiar with gastric problems in cattle, gas and guts, at a time when iron rimmed bicycles or horse driven carts rattled a Scotsmen's sporran as he drove across poor roads to play Golf. Dunlop placed his gut tube around a rim and blew – and everyone gasped. His tyre turned cycling into a pleasure, freeing men and women from the confines of railroad tracks and canals. The bicycle wheeled motor-carriages were likewise released in time and space. Vulcanised rubber became the material of choice for the outer cover. Treads gave grip. Treads crossed India, Africa, bringing spices and chocolate. America was given its soul - Motown. Off-road driving was enabled. The model T followed and the 'treads of history' were woven. Tyres united the world, brought cultures together for the first time, they clashed, and armies survived on tyres. Pneumatic tyres enabled materials for production to arrive at factories and distributed their products. Without the air filled tyre, there would have been no electronics, no radios for the masses, no fuel distribution. The first successful powered flight (also from a bicycle shed) landed on pneumatic tyres, if those tyres had failed the aircraft industry would never have happened. All flights begin and end on pneumatic tyres. The space shuttle itself is only reuseable because one vet, a gasp of air and a tube were patented in 1888. NASA full moto should be Ad Astra per Aspiration.
Submitted by: Leslie Gornall
Submitted on 2007.02.04
Entry 3868: A different handle on it
My suggestion for the greatest ever patented invention is the Handle! I am sure it has been patented in many different variations for many different jobs but lets face it what would you do without it? For starters you would not be able to open the door to go to the toilet or flush the toilet after you have finished! How would you pick up Alexander Graham Bells telephone to speak without one or get your pencils or paper clips out of the drawer? Your not going to tell me that the Wright Brothers first flight was not controlled by Handles or that the first printing press did not have some kind of Handle to operate it! When you bought your new high power personal computer so you could surf the all powerfull internet how did you get it home from the store? A plastic carrier bag or box did they have handles? Did you travel home in the car? how did you open the door. You see my point ? The Handle is something you and everybody uses everyday of your lives without giving it a thought ! Heres a suggestion try counting how many times in one 24 hour period you open/close/lift/turn/move/adjust/switch on,off/fit/remove something using a Handle? I bet you can't ! In fact the Handle is now and has been for centuries before a fundemental part of the human races evolution and technological development . I rest my case send me to space !!!!!
Submitted by: paul clark
Submitted on 2007.02.04
Entry 3869: Printing Press
Because of the printing press, mass production of instructions, records, books etc were able to be mass published/printed
Essentially, without the printing press, almost all other patents/inventions would almost not get off the ground because the life cycle of the patent/invention process i.e. getting the instructions/technology to clients/consumers would be almost limitless, hampering innovation significantly
They say knowledge is power, and just like the internet, the printing press allowed technology and knoweldge to be accessible to anyone and everyone.
Submitted by: Andrew Wilson
Submitted on 2007.02.04
Entry 3870: Sound of energy
The best patented invention by far has to be the "electric guitar".
If we accept the notion that inventions give human beings the ability to project power, the ability to effect their surroundings better, then the electric guitar is the ultimate power instrument which gave the following generation much its enthusiasm for life, inventions and adventure through the music it inspired. I
know this is certainly true for my generation because the this guitar, with its distortion sound that let a musician to project more power than the brass section of a big-band, made the rock music not only possible but also enjoyable. I love this instrument, because it happens to represent the coming of age of another great invention, the electricity which changed music in more ways
than one - through recording equipments, amplifiers and sound synthizers, but only throught the electric guitar can we feel its presence, its tangling feeling, its maddening energy that runs through us like a current through a wire. I love the electric guitar not only for what it can do, but for what it represent: Technology, future, energy and optimism.
Submitted by: Burak Bayramli
Submitted on 2007.02.04
Entry 3871: Building on invention
In 1849 Joseph Monier reinforced a tub of concrete with iron mesh. He was awarded the patent for reinforced concrete in 1867. The ability of this material to combine the tensile strength of metal with the compressional strength of concrete makes it, quite literally, the foundation of society. There isn’t a modern bridge, tunnel or skyscraper which isn't built upon an underpinning of reinforced concrete.
Reinforced concrete is usually hidden from everyday view, being an integral part in the construction of building foundations and sewer systems, but there is no doubt that anyone living in a city depends more than they know on this combination of materials. The construction of many modern buildings which incorporate large open indoor spaces topped by vast beams and arches have Monier’s metal mesh at their heart.
Submitted by: Colin Robinson
Submitted on 2007.02.04
Entry 3872: Toilet Paper
Toilet paper
Where would we be without it? (It would be advisory not to think too deeply about the answer)
Toilet paper is used globally by mankind, from the local newspaper to doc leaves, to assist the excretion process. It has been revolutionized through the past years to scented varieties of many colours, and smooth silk textures to the touch. Toilet paper is not valued until you run out but it is heavily dependant upon when in need. It is the item that links people together, it is what most of us have in common. Toilet paper represents the disposal of the corrupt, the immoral and poverty. It offers a fresh beginning, a clean slate and hope for the future in this age of global concern.
Toilet paper includes plenty of patents from the glue on the log to the dispenser itself.
This is why toilet paper is the best patented invention!
Submitted by: Daniel Griffiths
Submitted on 2007.02.04
Entry 3873: The hypodermic syringe
A mark of a great invention is that it is taken completely for granted. The humble hypodermic syringe has been, without doubt, indispensable in saving the lives of millions of people across the globe.
We often praise vaccines for the quality and length of life they have provided us, but most would not get very far without the use of the syringe. Without them, taking blood would no longer be the relatively easy and painless process it is, it would involve a larger operation increasing the risk of excessive blood loss and infection. How would we administer local anaesthetic? Even the smallest operation would then require either a general anaesthetic or an awful lot of pain.
And who could forget the horror film industry? Where would we be without the classic ‘flick and squirt’ of the syringe by the homicidal doctor? Clearly underwhelmed I should say.
Submitted by: Ruth Newrick
Submitted on 2007.02.04
Entry 3875: Storage
My chosen invention is disk storage. Back in early 1950's when the tape storage was invented it is amazing how it progressed over last 50 years, with disk drives, hard drives being created larger and larger between a short period of time year to year. It is easier to reach TeraBytes now but back a few years ago this was unthinkable.
A lot of this work is dedicated to media use for music and video, and yet they struggle to keep up with so much given space to use it with. Lately new form of disk storage was released which supports HD (High Definition) video and similar disks called Blu ray which support massive amounts of storage for high quality pictures, these disks can withstand 20 Gigabytes of data and up to 60 gigabytes with new Blu ray disks.
Being a fan of sci-fi I seen a lot of holographic projections on television which will not surprise me if these sort of gadgets will be developed into real life usage. With the amount of storage the disks posses at the moment I believe it is possible to have all that storage to project holographic messages it’s just a matter of time when it happen.
I believe this storage invention is import to the new age of technology for us, as many of us use it be it for music on daily bases or watching videos, it keeps us entertained and this is why I think it’s the best patented invention.
Submitted by: Boris Tomson
Submitted on 2007.02.04
Entry 3877: Hydrogen
The utilization of fracturing water created by professor Stanley Meyer in America. The process uses less energy than is actually in the bonds of H20 itself. Due to hydrogen being costly to create and dangerous to store/transport Stanley Meyers' invention removes the necesity for hydrogen fuel cells in cars and could easily reduce Co2 emissions in a predictable time scale. Although other devices clearly cant carry buckets of water around the main cause of pollution and our atmospheric decline could be demolished relatively quickly - the technology is there, why dont we use it? The fuel and energy companies are partly to blame aswell as car manufacturers. A fatal problem is ofcourse we need water to live so its not 'sustainable' theoretically as we will run out of the liquid we need the most.
Iain Bowes, 19 years of age, Lancaster Uni, UK.
Submitted by: Iain Bowes
Submitted on 2007.02.04
Entry 3878: Energy Bikes
Before I start it is important to look at the three most topical news stories in current affairs a) pollution b) obesity c) renewable energy. Energy bikes are the solution to all these problems. Think about it a small generator in each bike which is similar to the ones in wind generators straight away a renewable energy source, humans. It sounds crazy but then people are wasting their time in the gym anyway. This would also solve obesity problems and as an incentive to cycle they can recieve a discount on their bill for every watt generated. The thousands of other inventions have just added to our greed without looking at the future. This is a solution to all of the worlds problems. Stop living in the past people! These bikes have already been developed and are the future.....
Submitted by: Robert Joy
Submitted on 2007.02.04
Entry 3879: Precision
Obviously several inventions patented have helped to change the course of society. Some invented patents will likely change it even more. Consider the patent on the body network, which will likely shift the paradigm in how we interact with our computers, or the companies that patent specific genetic code lines. Dubious. I prefer tangibles. The auto has literally changed the face of the earth. The stand alone winner will probably be the semiconducting transistor. You can build a binary calculator out of legos, but a calculator with transistor power is millions of times smaller and billions of times faster. But even that is not my fave. My favorite invention is the humble ballscrew, or really any similar physical placement mechanism. A central processing unit could never be built if its millions of circuit paths were not etched in exactly the right configuration. Cars can built without precision automation, but not efficiently in terms of labor or cost effectiveness, and certainly not well without at least employing the leadscrew, the predecessor to the ballscrew. I would not want fly in space if my flight path were calculated to the ninth digit using a slide rule and a sheet of paper, instead of a computer, but even that wouldn't be as big a deal, at least to me, as dogging a hand made airlock and hearing a hiss.
Submitted by: Adam Stewart
Submitted on 2007.02.04
Entry 3880: ,The Electronic Signal,
The humble invisible, transmitted and received signal, is the most important invention of all time. Without it mankind could not have progressed as far as he has in such relitive safety and could not progress further without it, How could you say "Hello, I will be late, I am er, let me just check my sat-nav" when you are on your own, miles from civilisation.
It is so intertwined in todays everyday life and we just take it for granted. Not just the usual music radio or television, but think broader. Mobile phones, Radar, Air traffic comunications, Bluetooth, Wireless networks, The Plip key, The Proximity warning bleepers at the back of your car. Some we can manage without sometimes. Some we wish we could do without frequently. Whatever they may be, we are glad they are there, just in case.
Submitted by: Simon D R Stevenson
Submitted on 2007.02.04
Entry 3882: The best invention by rob o'brien
I feel the best and most important invention is the pump, I wonder where we would be without the pump.Every day they are used everywhere from washing machines to cars and even saving lives with pacemakers.All around us they work constantly twenty four ,seven mostly without us even knowing, feul ,sewage and water pipes all with pumps working around the clock.I bought the kids a new paddling pool last summer and i can tell im very happy pumps were invented.If you took all the pumps away it would not take long before the country would be at an utter stand still with dramtic consecences.I surpose you could say that life it's self would not be possible as our hearts are just pumps made of mussle with out our own body pumps we could not survive.Developing countrys use water pumps to draw much needed water to help them survive , there are lots of inventions that have a good shout at being the greatest or most useful so it is only in my veiw but think on this ,I do not know much about the in's and out's that the trip into space you have up for grabs but take away the invention of the pump and would you still be able to offer such a fantastic prize.I THINK NOT
Submitted by: robert o'brien
Submitted on 2007.02.04
Entry 3883: Transistor
It has quite simply revolutionised the human race and is often overlooked. With roughly 42 million Transistors on a pentium 4 processor along with the huge modern reliance on the computer how can anything top it?
Submitted by: Martin Erents
Submitted on 2007.02.04
Entry 3892: Rubik's Cube
The world's best patented invention is the Rubik's Cube, invented in 1974 by the Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture Ernő Rubik.
The 3×3×3 version, which is the version usually meant by the term "Rubik's Cube," has nine square faces on each side, for a total area of fifty-four faces, and occupies a volume of twenty-seven unit cubes. Typically, the faces of the Cube are covered by stickers in six solid colours, one for each side of the Cube. When the puzzle is solved, each side of the Cube is a solid colour.
It is world's best patented invention because the Cube is an imitation of life itself, or even an improvement on life. The problems of puzzles are very near the problems of life, our whole life is solving puzzles. If you are hungry, you have to find something to eat. But everyday problems are very mixed, they're not clear. The Cube's problem depends just on you. You can solve it independently. But to find happiness in life, you're not independent. That's the only big difference.
Submitted by: K. V.B.
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 3894: Money
It is said that money 'makes the world go round'. We crave for it; suffer for it; live for it. This is an invention that changes moods, determines lifestyles and set standards among mankind.
Though it can sometimes corrupt, it can more often motivate and improve those who desire for and use it. Arguably, not even faith can change people as swiftly as those little green pieces of paper can.
Whilst the pursuit of money today can be seen as obsessive, lest we forget that it can provide a great source of comfort and joy. With money, the world can work together to make exciting new discoveries and invent fabulous new things. Without money, the people of the world would not be able to benefit from past, great inventions or help each other in the ways that are possible today.
Those who possess too much of it, wonder what to do with it; those who possess too little of it, wonder how to make more of it. In the end, everybody has their own threshold of wants and needs, but money is what made the world is today and is what will determine how the world shapes for tomorrow.
Submitted by: Hans Kumar
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 3895: Food for All
The Tin Can as it is popurlarly known, has nature beat. The cooking and sealing of food into cans and containers has helped the world beat nature at is own game, preserving food for indevinate periods and making produce available all year round. It has enabled peoples of the world to sample fayre that wouldnt survive the journey from place of origin to table. Just think how many enterprises would have failed but for the humble tin can. WWI and WWII, cant feed the troops. What shape would this planet be in if success was hampered by inability to feed the fighting man. What would the modern world be like if we had to forage in winter for local food stuffs and couldnt rely on the tins in the store. What level of technology whould we be at right now? Maybe not stone age but sure as stewed apples is apples, exploration would not have occured and maybe there would still be untouched places on this world where man had not been able to say "Why, because it's here". Antartica, Everest, The Panama Canal, Suez. No food, no venture.
Submitted by: Chris Johnson
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 3896: the possibility era of computer
microsoft operating system could be the world's best patented invention of all time. it brings people closer all around the world . it open and create the possibility era of computer.
with a task that can be easy to use, faster, securier and better for all use on different area such as accounting, TV, multimedia , instant messaging,Music and video, working remotely, home and small office networking
Submitted by: Tai Ju Huang
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 3897: A levitating magnet
A few days ago I found an interesting topic on the internet about a levitating magnet. This really blows my mind. No strings, electricity or other objects are used. Just two magnects. One of them is bigger and called base magnet. The other is a smaller one and rotating two or three inches above the bigger magnet. What a man always wanted to do - levitate, nows becomes more and more acceptable idea. This is really worth experimenting and achieving more unbelievable results. Maybe one dayg we will have cars, shoes based on this theorem and really could levitate above the ground.
Submitted by: Andrius Ignatjevas
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 3899: The Letters
There's the letters.
It could record our mind without memorizing.On the other hand,the invention of writing gets our existence more convenient.
Certain,the verbal reports are less authentic than the letter reports.
The most important of all,it administer a channel to affranchise for our soul.
If there were not the letters,there was no Shakespeare,Goethe...etc
What a boring world if there were no the letters!!!
So I conceive the greatest invention is the letters!
Submitted by: Adolph Chou
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 3902: patented invention
I feel the best patented invention is that of the printing press because it has saved time in writing.
Submitted by: anupama sukhlecha
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 3906: Space
The greatest and explanatory invention of mankind-it dynamite Нобеля!(Nobel)I consider that this invention great and will always have application in the present and the future on the ground and outside of it!!!
Submitted by: Maxim Orlovskiy
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 3907: The Inimitable One
The best patented invention is everyone of you who invented by your mom and dad.
The inimitable one in the world. Even trying to copy your DNA but can't have a copy of your soul.
Submitted by: Juyin Tsai
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 3909: ABS
ABS - Anti Block System, I think. That is the best invention because it has saved over million lives, humans or animals, and I think that this is the most important issue by wich patents must be graded.
Submitted by: matija meštrović
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 3918: Light bulb
The light bulb has to be the best invention ever patented. It paved the way for domestic light bulb use which basically completely changed the way we live.
It also gave a reason to begin electical power distribution to the home, which has obviously in turn opened the door for the use of other domestic electrical products which have also transformed our lives.
Without the light bulb we would still rely on candle light, which is a massive fire risk, so it is fair to say that the light bulb has saved lots of lives. We now take the light bulb for granted, but without it our lives would be very different.
Submitted by: William Buchanan
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 3920: Tarmac
Tarmac is my favourite entry, because it provides for all my other liked inventions... which include anything on four wheels that go fast!
Submitted by: Paul Ascroft
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 3921: Insulin
I think that the best invention of the mankind is insulin. It saves thousands of lives every day. I think that there is nothing more important than human life in this world.
Submitted by: Igor Mazurov
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 3922: The Microchip Processor
Electronic Society, computers, cars and more, washing clothes, cups and plates, cameras on the door, hands free communication, images from around the globe, microwaves and aircraft, medical things that probe, all made from one invention, that opened up a door, to an electronic revolution, like man had never seen before.
Submitted by: anthony martin
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 3924: Computer
I think that the best invitation ever made is the computer which influence on our life is increasing each day.
Submitted by: Botyan Vladimir
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 3925: 191255
Hi!...Audi Q10 2010 NEW...I"m crazy about it
Submitted by: Aboymov Sergey
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 3926: The Mendeleev Periodic Table
I think that The Mendeleev Periodic Table is the most important invention. Cause it is used in many fields of chemistry, and is useful in people's life. All what we can have now is made on the basis of this periodic table.
For example AUDI is a very comfortable car. During creating this car engeneers used The Mendeleev Periodic Table , just to rich the best results. We use chemistry everywhere: in cooking, building, medicine... in everyday life. By The Mendeleev Periodic Table we get the ordered circuit of chemical elements (it helps to facilitate the creating things, including cars).
Submitted by: Maria Korzhakova
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 3931: New World
The worlds best ever patented invention was undoubtedly the monolithic integrated circuit or micro chip.
Invented by Jack Kilby in 1958 patent no.#3,138743 it was the size of a fingernail and was one of the most innovations of mankind indeed many of the electronic products of today could not have been developed without it.
The pocket calculator p.c. fax machine cellular phone satellite t.v. would not exist today if it wasnt for the micro chip.
It was also used in Air Force computers and the minuteman missle and without it man would be unable to explore space.
The chip restructed communications between people businesses and nations.
It has touched education transport manufacturing and entertainment and is an invention of a genius that changed our world for ever and will continue to change our lives now and in the future for all mankind a truly historic event.
Submitted by: russel davie
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 3938: She is electric.
Without electricity many inventions of todays world could not exist. The internet, cars, handheld torches, and trips to space could not be possible without it!
Electricity has always existed in nature phenomenoms like lightening, how to harness electric from nature puzzled mankind forever. Benjamin Franklin 1706-1790 demonstrated this with his kite experiment thus proving electricity can be harnessed from nature.
This gave way to many other educated men who patented their ideas on electricity, and were smart enough to have made an income from electricity.
Although some people did not conduct experiments James Watt 1736-1819 was highly significant in the transfer of kinetic energy to electric energy and introduces it to machinery for the first time. Electric is now measured in Watts for example the light bulb invented by Thomas Alva Edison 1847-1931 also patented over 1000 inventions.
Nikola Tessla was a man with a great sense of hydroelectricity by harnessing electricity from the niagra falls 1886.
Of late, Albert einstien, who died 1955, made the major contribution of E=mc2 .
Submitted by: Aaron Og Barr
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 3939: The Spinning Jenny
In 1764, James Hargreaves invented the Spinning Jenny, a yarn spinning machine which allowed a single labourer to work several spools of yarn at once. It was not until 1770, on July 12th, that the spinning Jenny was actually patented, and by this time Hargreaves had been producing and selling his machine for six years. However the machine, it can be argued, was the catalyst for the British revolution in the cotton industry and was, to some extent, the catalyst for the British Industrial Revolution proper. It enabled cotton manufacturers to meet demand for cotton goods, encouraged entrepreneurship, reduced the requirement for labour and developed large-scale cotton production in factories, the likes of which had never been seen in Britain before. The Spinning jenny is the most important invention in the history of British industry because of the large-scale production it enabled, and should always be remembered as such in the modern world. The machine enabled the cotton suppliers of the North of England to produce cotton in larger quantities at lower prices, which rapidly expanded the middle class in the North, and indeed wherever there were factories in the UK, and allowed other inventors and entrepreneurs to expand the jenny to greater spools, and invited the eventual conception, invention and patent of the Spinning Mule, a more effective and efficient cotton weaving machine. Clearly the Spinning Jenny is far more important than people believe and is under credited for its role in beginning the industrial revolution in Great Britain.
Submitted by: Tom Graddon
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 3942: Most patented invention
I think the telescope is the most patented invention. It created a curiosity in people to look more ahead into the space. If the telescope would nt hv ben invented, then people would have circumscribed their vision with their naked eyes only. Day by day, more powerful telescopes are being invented to look more ahead of what we have seen with a telescope of lesser power. So this craze for looking ahead is never going to end, and more powerful telescopes are going to be invented. I hope one day the scientists are able to make it feasible for a space ride for everyone. It shouldnt be limited to some lucky people.
Submitted by: sanju varghese raju
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 3943: Marbles
The simplest of inventions, it encapsulates much more than the sum of it’s parts. It charts invention through history, it reflects the leaps in discovery we have made as a world. The major examples being first Stone, Clay then Brass, Steel and Glass. All hugely important discoveries and inventions on their own.
More than that, they represent our ability to work together. Children can learn hugely important and complex social lessons through a painless game of marbles. They invest, risk, gamble, cooperate, swap, learn, legislate, barter, win
Submitted by: david jackson
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 3945: Catseyes
Cats eyes, the reflective glass lenses set in a rubber housing. Surely cats eyes are the best patented invention ever, for the increased safety of motorists.
This invention is also great for the environment. Without cats eyes there would surely be more streetlamps in place which require energy that carries a Carbon Dioxide signature, makes the sky lighter at night which is one of the biggest menaces to astronomers. How else would one easily see the way the road goes up ahead without blinding on-coming motorists with your main beam.
They show the center of the road, the edges of the road, different colours have different meanings, green for an off-slip, red for an on-slip, amber for the edge of the road by a central reservation of a dual carriageway and of course white shows lane divisions on a dual carriageway and also the middle of a road.
They can be run over by a vehicle, rained on, never require any energy to work and are easily installed, removed and replaced.
Finally, not to forget, a loose cats eye found by a child is treasure!
Submitted by: Timothy Perry
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 3952: The Condom.....
..... has quite possibly saved us all from the need to migrate to another planet already!
That's why I'd like to nominate "The Condom" for the Best Patented Invention. It allows us as a species to indulge in our most basic carnal desires, whilst saving us all from a hideous plethora of nasty diseases, and helping us keep a minimal impact on our fragile environment. No new babies = no new drivers, no new nappies, fewer mouths to feed, fewer bodies to clothe and fewer consumers to consume.
Without the condom, we'd be up to our ears in syphilitic Baby Boomers driving around in Stretched Hum-Vee 4x4 people carriers, spewing out Lead and CO2 into the atmosphere, filled to the brim with their whinging, screaming broods.
15 years down the line, and THEY all become driving teenagers who invariably breed (and no doubt pass around other unspeakable ailments), and thus, the ecological nightmare continues to spiral downwards.
The Condom - Greatest Invention ever. Saving the planet, raising a smile.
Submitted by: Andy Hutton
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 3954: Greatest Invention: Hot Water Bottle - Hands down
The hot water bottle is a superb invention that has offered heat and comfort for millions of people world wide.
The earliest bed warmers (16th century) were made of earth ware or metal filled with hot coal. They were a fire hazard and could easily burn the user. The modern hot water bottle avoided this by being made of thick rubber filled with hot water. The hot water bottle as we know it today was invented in 1903. It was the first patent of the Croatian multi inventor Slavoljub Eduard Penkala (Budapest, Patent No 29276). Since 1903 it has offered hazard free warmth and comfort to millions during cold winters and stormy autumns. The invention also offer some medical treatment in form of e.g. pain relief as a "heating pad". An indication of its popularity can be seen in the millions of recreations and copies made in numerous shapes, colours and attractive wrappings.
This modest, simple and timeless invention is used daily by millions, of all ages and cultures in most corners of the world. There are millions of great complicated inventions around, however, very few of them can compete with Penkala’s invention when it comes to offer an affordable, reliable, easy usable source of heat and comfort.
Next time your heating breaks down, go to bed without it and I’m sure you will agree..
Submitted by: Knut Eirik Hesla
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 3955: Automatic toilet night light
Automatic Toilet Night Light - Johnny Light
End the bathroom battle of the sexes. Lights up the bowl when the lid is up and turns off automatically when the lid is lowered! Ideal for toilet training, kids love it.
Submitted by: Michelle Tuohy
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 3959: Man's invention
Once a man got reason. He found out comprehension of simple things. In the same time the world gave lot of mysteries and tricks, hard to be reached by hand or comprehended by mind. Man started inventions and got abilities to understand and change the world. Great minds and hearts broke borders of known reality in streams of fantasy and brain efforts. Complex science theories and miracles of art pieces emerged.
All a long the way of human history the strong question troubles man, and still the final answer is not found. But man invented an item which made it easier to reach the answer. Who knows, may be once we get the answer anyway?
Who or what is MAN in Universe?
The tip was in nature itself. In light of dawn over sea, in drops of water on leafs, in magic depth of crystals and in mysterious cloud patterns. Man made this item long ago, from that it serves man in this or that sort of shape. In child games and complex astronomic instruments, in vehicles and computers, in medicine and physics. This invention found it’s continuous development in philosophy and in lyrics, in poetry and in fine arts.
Without this thing man could never try to look at himself from side, from different point of view.
I’m talking about mirror.
Submitted by: Alexey Borisov
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 3963: light
prior to the invention of the light bulb, lightening the world after the sun went down was a messy, laborious, perilous task. It took torches or candles to completely light up a room, and oil lamps, while reasonably efficient, were inclined to deposit a residue of soot on whatever thing was in there general surrounding areas.
at what time the discipline of electrical energy actually got going in the mid 1800s, inventors all over the place were clamouring to develop a no-nonsense, reasonably priced electrical home illumination mechanism. Englishman Sir Joseph Swan and American Thomas Edison both got it right around the same time (in 1878 and 1879, respectively), and within 25 years, millions of people around the globe had installed electrical lighting in their homes. The user-friendly technology was such an development over the old customs that the human race never looked back.
The remarkable thing regarding this past turn of events is that the light bulb itself could hardly be simpler. The current light bulb, which hasn't transformed radically since Edison's model, is made up of only a handful of parts.
Even now with global warming we can purchase energy efficient bulbs, different watts and dim the light.
Submitted by: Michelle Tuohy
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 3966: nuclear power
Nuclear energy is the best "patented" thing on the earth. Because first of all and basicly it can be enough for the energy needs and it can solve global temperature problem of humanity.
Submitted by: eymen akcay
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 3971: MRI Scanner
it is possible to make pictures of almost all the tissue in the body. The tissue that has the least hydrogen atoms (such as bones) turns out dark, while the tissue that has many hydrogen atoms (such as fatty tissue) looks much brighter.
It also provides clear pictures of parts of the body that are surrounded by bone tissue, so the technique is useful when examining the brain and spinal cord.
it is the best technique when it comes to finding tumours (benign or malignant abnormal growths) in the brain.
The technique also allows us to focus on other details in the brain. Its possible to see the strands of abnormal tissue that occur if someone has multiple sclerosis, its possible to see changes occurring when there is bleeding in the brain, or find out if the brain tissue has suffered lack of oxygen after a stroke.
The MRI scan is also able to show both the heart and the large blood vessels in the surrounding tissue. This makes it possible to detect heart defects that have been building up since birth, as well as changes in the thickness of the muscles around the heart following a heart attack. The method can also be used to examine the joints, spine and sometimes the soft parts of your body such as the liver, kidneys and spleen.
The scan is usually done as an outpatient procedure, which means that the patient can go home after the test.
Submitted by: Michelle Tuohy
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 3973: The magic of GIFs
The greatest inventions are those that gain the least praise for their impact on society. The Internet may have change our lives, but its success owes much to the pieces that made it attractive to everyday users rather than just the scientists who created it. The most important piece in that particular puzzle is "pictures". Without pictures, the Web would be a bland place filled with ASCII art. GIFs were one of the first image formats to soar to the top of the Internet pile and the biggest reason for their success is that the LZW compression technique was used to keep them small. Small images and animations were essential to the growth of the Internet during the dial-up 80s and 90s. The GIF developers did not know that the LZW technique had been widely patented including US Patent 4,558,302. When the GIF format became widespread enough that it came to the attention of the patent holders, they started demanding license fees. This led to one of the greatest patent scandals in history as thousands swore to Burn all GIFs. Despite this negative publicity, the strength of the underlying patented invention ensured that the license fees were paid and GIFs remain one of the most popular choices for simple web graphics, with giants such as Google and Yahoo! still using them for the logos on their sites. The patents themselves may now have died, but the format lives on and brings 256-colour glory to the Web.
Submitted by: Geoff Dallimore
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 3981: The Wheel!
Yes.. the wheel is probably the greatest patentable invention - after all, if it wasn't for the wheel (a few thousand other things) we wouldn't have such aesthetic beauties as Audi cars!
Ah, but you might say, the wheel hasn't been patented. Unfortunately you're wrong - as reported in your fine website: http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn965
So thats my best patented invention (well, until the patent is cancelled that is!)
Rick
Submitted by: Richard de Courtney
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 3983: Falling from the stars
In my opinion the world’s best patented invention is the Automatic Activation Device (AAD). This is used on skydiving parachutes and I have personally been affected by its ingenuity. It saved my life.
Whilst I was a university student I undertook a course to become a qualified skydiver. During the initial few jumps, student parachutes are used and the AAD is fitted as a safety precaution. It will deploy the reserve parachute when it automatically detects certain conditions that warrant the use of the reserve.
When a skydiver is falling through the air, he/she can reach speeds in excess of 160km/h and when the skydiver pulls the rip cord to deploy the parachute at the appropriate height, his/her speed will drop sharply. The AAD will automatically deploy the reserve when it detects that the skydiver is falling too fast at a dangerously low height, thus preventing a potentially life threatening situation.
On one occasion, I pulled my rip cord and the main parachute failed to deploy. Before I had a chance to implement the emergency procedure to deploy the reserve I was already at an unsafe height and the AAD activated my reserve parachute.
If the AAD was not invented and fitted to my parachute, once I had been able to employ the emergency procedure, it potentially could have been too late and I could have had a fatal accident.
This is a vital piece of safety equipment and will be for many future skydiving students.
Submitted by: Christian Lawler
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 3984: The Teabag
I am having a cup of tea now and I made it with one. Tea is something that has been around for 5,000 years and has been improved on only once - by the teabag. Around 1.2 billion teabags are used a day. It is a simple invention but nevertheless must have been hard to get started with because of finding a strong enough material to hold the tea and let the flavour and water out when wet.
It gets my vote!!!
Submitted by: Archie McIntosh
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 3987: The Solar Cell
This was the first entry into real workable clean power, even though at the time it was first patented in 1888 the concept of clean power didn't exist.
I think this deserves the title because the investment in photvoltaic power over the last 120 years has been relatively small, yet we have so many uses for it, from the calculator to the satellites orbiting our earth.
Its also the best patented invention because it has come so far yet it has been held back from reaching its full potential through human behaviour. Although it plays such a huge role in space exploration, exploring and expanding the limits of our existance, it is held back from the practicality of worldly design through the commercial greed of mankind, and therefore we may destroy ourselves with the answer to continued existance in our hands.
Submitted by: john hudson
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 3988: The Best Patented Product Ever
In my opinion the best-patented product ever is Microsoft Windows. Windows from it's early days as Windows NT changed the way humans interacted with computers, machines and themselves forever.
Windows introduced the widely used but now taken for granted User Interface (UI). The introduction of UI simplified computer usage from those with the skilled knowledge of programming to millions of people worldwide. Windows also introduced other tools
Microsoft Word, Microsoft Office, Excel, PowerPoint Windows Media player and the most used tool of them all Microsoft Explorer.
All over the world whatever language one speaks through the use of windows tools one can communicate with anyone and get any information or message across at the click of a button. Goverments, businesses and individuals now rely on these windows tools to make decisions on a day-to-day basis. Without certain windows tools the world as we know it would not be the same today.
Windows is also an ever-changing product it can be used by anyone to suit their specific purpose from a miner to an anthropologist, from a 10-year-old to a 96-year-old person and in any language. Windows itself is continually evolving from it’s beginning as NT to Windows 95, windows 98 to windows 2000 to XP then now Vista. Windows itself has managed to adapt itself to the demands and complications of modern life and the same time managed to provide a universal language and result to all who use it.
In a modern world there is no better product.
Submitted by: Muteri Zemura
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 3991: THe Best Patented Product Ever
In my opinion the best-patented product ever is Microsoft Windows. Windows from it's early days as Windows NT changed the way humans interacted with computers, machines and themselves forever.
Windows introduced the widely used but now taken for granted User Interface (UI). The introduction of UI simplified computer usage from those with the skilled knowledge of programming to millions of people worldwide. Windows also introduced other tools
Microsoft Word, Microsoft Office, Excel, PowerPoint Windows Media player and the most used tool of them all Microsoft Explorer.
All over the world whatever language one speaks through the use of windows tools one can communicate with anyone and get any information or message across at the click of a button. Goverments, businesses and individuals now rely on these windows tools to make decisions on a day-to-day basis. Without certain windows tools the world as we know it would not be the same today.
Windows is also an ever-changing product it can be used by anyone to suit their specific purpose from a miner to an anthropologist, from a 10-year-old to a 96-year-old person and in any language. Windows itself is continually evolving from it’s beginning as NT to Windows 95, windows 98 to windows 2000 to XP then now Vista. Windows itself has managed to adapt itself to the demands and complications of modern life and the same time managed to provide a universal language and result to all who use it.
In a modern world there is no better product.
Submitted by: Muteri Zemura
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 3992: Buzz's Penpal
The ballpoint pen. Little did Lazlo Biro realise that his invention could influence man's future progress in space exploration. If it were not for the ballpoint pen, Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong would more than likely be dead heroes of American folklore. If it were not for this invention, the lunar module would not have been able to take off from the moon resulting in the astronauts perishing on the moon. Undoubtely the funding for further missions into space would have been cut. The calm ingenuity of Aldrin in using his ball point pen to act as a replacement makeshift circuit breaker allowed the astronauts to take off from the lunar surface and complete their mission. If not for the ball point pen, which Aldrin kept, it may be that I would not be sat here now entering this competition. Strange to think that so many timelines could have been affected by this simple yet ingenious device. It saved the lives of two of the most courageous men in the history of space flight. Their survival ensured the continuing quest of man's exploration of the final frontier.
Submitted by: joe lydiate
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 3994: Radar - the Cavity Magnetron
Everyone knows that carrots help you see in the dark. Or at least we do now following one of the world's most successful public disinformation campaigns. The purpose of the campaign came in 1940, when Britain, facing her darkest hour, was developing what some say was the biggest technological development of the century - that of radar.
Best of all Churchill decided that the cavity magnetron should be given to the Americans along with all of the nation's most-prized technological secrets. They were nearly lost at London's Euston station - but that's another story.
Radar has it all. Peacetime applications - the microwave and the radio are based on the technology - as is radar which quickly helped the Allies turn the tables in the war.
The act of giving this technology away is a lesson for us all - by sharing we have all benefitted.
Submitted by: Ben Dansie
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 3998: The compass
The compass
When talking about the ‘best’ invention it can be interpreted in many ways. To me the best invention needs to meet many criteria:
• effectiveness
• accessibility
• necessity
• Simplicity
• Longevity
The compass is so simple in design yet has achieved so much, from the Chinese of the 11th century to modern day hikers the compass it is a necessity in navigation. As far as design is concerned it has not been modified since its first use suggesting such a design cannot be perfected-longevity. As we are now, our ancestors stood on the edge of an unknown frontier. None knew what lay over every horizon, the compass let them get out there and effectively (and much more safely) explore beyond the comfort of home. It is now cheaply produced and easily accessed by most of the world.
The compass is not only a world changing invention, but is so simple and perfect in design- a humbling example of human ingenuity that comes straight from the world of physics.
Submitted by: Thomas Haworth
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 3999: Best Patent of ALL time.
The best patented item ever invented was Space-Time continum vehicle, better known as the Time Machine.
Of course, it was built and patented in the future, but this contest is so cool, I used one to travel back in time and enter the contest.
It really is the best patented invention EVER.
Submitted by: Chad Rogers
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 4001: The Banana Guard, the greatest patented invention.
The Banana Guard, to me, is the greatest ever invention.
In order to protect our favourite fruit from bruising and squashing, the people at Banana Guard formualted a simple but genius idea. A plastic case to hold and air the banana while being transported. What they produced was a thing of beauty.
It was expertly crafted to have the capacity to contain ANY SIZE bannana and with almost ANY DEGREE OF CURVATURE!
It was carefully lined with openings to enable precise ventilation. This allowed unwanted odours to easily diffuse and banana ripening to take place at a controlled and decelerated pace.
It had a sturdy lock that would never fall open by accident
but that would be easy for a small child to open in lunch break.
This invaluable, simple, yellow plastic case has revolutionised the way we transport our bananas and has make lunchtime a far more enjoyable experience for absolutely anybody who owns a banana guard.
Submitted by: Ewan Schafer
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 4002: The Internal Combustion Engine
The combustion engine, first conceived of in 1509, has been our primary means of transport for well over 100 years now. This invention mobilises on all scales from the individual commuter to countries' infrastructure to some of the largest and most terrifying armies ever seen. Whether going to work or trying to conquer the world, the engine has become one of the most integral components of today's society. Without it, we simply would not be able to exist as we do.
The mass transportation and speed that engines allow have provided the opportunity to produce wealth and power for all that possess them. Specific applications include delivering goods to the local supermarket giving us our daily milk and eggs, thrilling high speed performance racing, allowing millions of people to get to work and generate spending power, delivering parcels around the world and moving hundreds of troops, say to Normandy in order to protect our way of life.
The versatility of the engine has also lead to other applications such as massive aeroplanes which allow the inhabitants of the Earth to move across the globe more quickly than has been possible in all of history.
Coffee from Brazil, bananas from West Indies, silk from Japan, the list is endless. Any economy relying on international trade thrives partly (if not largely) due to this engine. The engine itself is responsible for massive fuel, oil and production industries which now exist.
The combustion engine has allowed us to become a truly global community.
Submitted by: Clinton Mason
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 4003: down the drain
Personally i think the greatest invention ever is the flushable toilet!!! invented by Arthur Giblin in 1819 (although a simple flushable toilet was being used as early as 1596, invented by Sir John Harrington.) The romans even used a flushable toilet system. It is believed that Giblin later sold the patent to Thomas Crapper ( hense the toiletry term 'crap').
The benifits of the flushable toilet are obvious, without it we'd either be going through an unthinkable amount of underware or else going in a hole and burning or burying it... none of which sound appealing.
Submitted by: Alan n. Inglis
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 4004: Toilet paper
What would we do without toilet paper?
Probably, the least thought about invention in this competition. However, I have no doubt that this great invention is probably the greatest of them all. Afterall, I don't know a single person who doesn't use it.
toilet paper was first produced by the Chinese and was only used by the emperor, in1391.since, then there have been many progressions in technology, such as the invention of the toilet seat which no doubt boosted toilet papers use and relevance.
And now, we have large companies
that produce it by the tonne, possibly megatonne, it is underappreciated and no-one shows it any gratitude this is a great disappointment. I'm sure if the emperor was around today he'd be grealy dissappointed at this.
however, along the line there has been some bad points to toilet paper, such as chemicals in it causing hemmorhoid's, but considering it's purpose and demand this is a truly great invention.
officially, it was patented by Joseph Gayetty, 1857.
Submitted by: Matthew Hale
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 4005: Light this candle!
The safety match...
Man has always had a desire to explore and with out fire humans couldn't start this trip. Until the safety match was invented fire was a dangerous thing to have in the home but with the safety match it could be controlled.
How best to light a bomb fuse but with a safety match!
And in Alan Shepards immortal words on his Mercury spaceflight lets light this candle and with out the safety match it couldn't be done safely.
Submitted by: ian hepworth
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 4007: better than paper money
the greatest invention for mankind has got to be TOILET-PAPER!!!!
Toilet paper was first used in china in 1391(each sheet measured 2'x3')but was patented by seth wheeler in 1877.
Forget about cars, the internet or the wheel... we wouldnt have gotten anywhere if it wasnt for toilet paper. Imagine what life would be like shaking hands or eating food if toilet paper wasnt around.
probably even better was the two ply toilet paper... at least then yur finger doesnt go through it when your using it!!!
Submitted by: Alan n. Inglis
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 4009: The Ballpoint Pen
The ballpoint pen, There is not one of us who will go a single day with out using one and yet most of us take it for granted, especially today when most of our writing is done on computers. But we owe so much to the written word it has given us a written record into our history, and yet the work that had to go into a few sentences was always a rigorous and pain staking task. It’s an invention that’s so simple you wonder why it wasn’t invented sooner. Shakespeare could of written plays in half the time, the bible could have been reproduced a lot faster, and astronomers could of kept more detailed readings and accounts of the stars. Above all that it’s the convenience of having it around in your every day life, a simple equation that could change the world like (E=mc2) can be adapted to paper in mere seconds there’s no faster tool on the planet that can take an idea, an equation, or even a phone number faster than the pen, unless your out of paper.
Submitted by: Sean Giblin
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 4010: Isnt this easy to operate!!!
The invention of the Grapical User Interface has done more to make complex devices easier for the average person to operate than is generally realised. Would practically every home in the country now have a computer that all the family regularly use. Or would copier, mobile phones, Cash machines , Automated information systems, Digital camera, Navigation systems and even exotic devices such as medical scanners acheived such a high penetration into society were it not for the simplification of operation provided by such controls. To take a (trivial) example. I can remember the early model video cameras with their dozens of tiny buttons , fiddly switches and lights controlling ultra clever features which are never used because a quick trip to the instruction book is needed virtually every time. Not any more! Thanks to modern GUIs a large number of our modern devices are usable right away out of the box.
Submitted by: Leslie Chatfeild
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 4013: safety first
When asked what the greatest invention ever is most people will think of things like 'fire', 'the wheel', 'the pully','the lever','the internet', 'TV'. Or even language....
Fire has always been a danger to man, it heats us up, cooks our food but it can also be a cold murderer.
The wheel, lever, pully ect. have all been used in instruments of torture and warfare.
nuclear power?..Hiroshima and Nagasaki!!
Space travel?.. the cold war, intercontinental missles!
Clothing can segragate people, cause jealousy.
Language can be the most destructive thing of all.
Therefore im going to pick something thats easied peoples lives more than its hurt them(even accidently).
The safety pin!! patented in 1849 by Walter Hunt. He sold the patent rights for $400.
All hail the safety pin!!!!
Submitted by: alan N inglis
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 4018: A Purple Patch
In 1856, at the age of 18, William Perkin filed a patent for an aniline dyestuff that was to forever change the world. The patent was for a product that became known as Mauve. Mauve was the first synthetic dyestuff and it was the first time that man had added to the relatively few natural dyestuffs that the dyers of the day were bound to use.
The colour and chemical revolution had begun! Take a moment and look around the room you are sat in. It is not a brash statement to say that virtually every colour you see can be traced back to this patent.
Not only did Perkin have the foresight to patent his colour, he also set up its mass production. Mauve was the first commercial synthetic chemical product and, you guessed it, spawned the modern chemical industry as we know it. This early chemical industry was driven by the desire to produce more and better dyes for ever-diversifying end uses. The chemical industry wanted more and spun out into drug discovery, plastics and polymers....all this made possible from the money raised from earlier dye sales. Even in the modern era colour is still hugely important with new uses being found in applications as diverse as LCD TV's and photochromic dyes for sunglasses.
Without William Perkin, and the Mauve patent of 1856 the world we live in now would be much duller and, most probably, far less technologically advanced.
Perkin was one of Britain’s greatest.
Submitted by: Nigel Corns
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 4021: A Needle
I think the best invention is a needle or something simple like that. Cause the ideas be formes with necessity and guns, ipods, computers, cells, spaceships comes after that.
Submitted by: Kerem Mete
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 4023: The process of pasteurization
In 1864, a French man named Louis Pasteur discovered that liquids such as milk could be heated to a temperature slightly below boiling and held there for a set amount of time to eliminate the most harmful bacteria. The process of pasteurization is named after Louis Pasteur in recognition of his immense contribution to food safety and disease theory. Grocery stores carry a wide array of pasteurized goods including milk, juices, non-dairy milks, and other similar food products. Many nations require that foods be pasteurized for safety.
Pasteurization relies on the principle that most harmful bacterial can be killed by heat. The most effective way to kill bacteria is boiling, but this compromises the flavour of the liquid. Pasteurization strikes a happy medium, keeping the flavour delicious while making the food safer. In addition to minimizing the risk of sickness, pasteurization also makes foods more shelf stable and less likely to rot, meaning that fresh dairy products and juices are available to more people.
After pasteurization, bacteria can still appear. It's important that foods be safely handled and stored at every step of the supply process from animal, fruit or vegetable to stomach. In most cases, after food is pasteurized it should be refrigerated. The food is held in refrigeration until it is shipped out in cooled trucks to grocery stores, which store the food under refrigeration until consumers purchase it. Home consumers are responsible for following directives regarding temperature to ensure that the foods they are consuming are safe.
Submitted by: Yuriy Nikitin
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 4024: Pencil Eraser
The world is fraught with human error and denial. The pencil eraser is the greatest tool of all time for improving efficiency related to human error and denial. For--at least with respect to errors in writing or sketching--the pencil eraser shortens the length of time it takes to eliminate all evidence of a mistake and pretend it never happened. Just put an eraser on one end of a pencil. Brilliant. No more scrambling around in desk drawers for a separate eraser. Fantastic. Efficient. Now, if an inventor could come up with a way of attaching erasers to the tips of humans' tongues. Then you would have something.
Submitted by: Richard McCoy
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 4025: Time Keeper
The Clock. I need not ellaborate on it's use, though I find it fascinating a device in every home governs a quarter of the known dimensions within our existence.
Submitted by: Cody Woodall
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 4026: The wonderful pencil
The best invention patented by the man is the pencil. The pencil has accompanied us from ours first passages in the writing. The pencil was the first friend which we had in the school, allowed us to draw our dreams, ideas and projects. He was the friend who remembered the lessons and the classes to us, I help us to surpass the university. The pencil was our accomplice in love letters. Without the pencil the outlines of the David de Miguelangel would not have been made, of the tower Eiffel, the design of airplanes, cars and boats, the planning of D-day, the coordinates of the trip to the Moon, the drawing of the Xerus. The pencil removes stress to us, we can play, make exercise with the fingers, bite it, is an inseparable companion. In order to write this letter I used a first pencil.
Submitted by: Darwin Paul Herrera Aldas
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 4027: Why Nothing is Better
The most important patent that we have has got to be nothing!
That’s right, nothing. Or should I say Zero.
Without the number zero we could not count correctly.
Zero is the mathematically de-find numerical function of nothingness that is used not for an evasion but for an apprehension of reality.
The number zero comes from Sanskrit known as Sunya.
Sunya (Hindus for void) became Sifr (Arabic) then Cifra (Roman) and finally Cipher (English)
These communities understood the greatness of “nothing”, faster than the rest of civilised population.
Computers could not function without this notation (Binary 0s
Submitted by: Paul Matthews
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 4028: video camcorder
I have never met my grandparents; I have only ever seen a total of four black and white pictures of them. I have seen a large number of pictures of my parents as young adults and pictures of myself as a child but they don’t convey to me any information about who they were. How did my grandmother walk? What did her voice sound like? These are things that a photograph cannot convey. I look at my oldest daughter now and struggle to remember the very same things about her as a young child and yet I was a witness to them. Fortunately, for me, I only have to go to my video collection and watch footage taken on my own video camcorder and can see all of that and more. Viewing video footage of family members with other family members always brings out the “stories”. Tales of adventure, sorrow or joy, of a life that you have only glimpsed through the black and white haze. The camcorder helps keeps the family history alive, it helps us to chronicle our history in a way that wasn’t possible before. In the future my decedents will have the answers to those questions about me that I can never have about my grandparents. The camcorder helps to bring you that little bit closer to the people who form part of your past present and future.
Submitted by: Robert Leck
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 4029: Incubator
Not only has the Incubator has only saved our own sons life, but it has saved thousands of newborn babys every year from around the world.
Without this invention whole generations would not survive therefore this is one of mankinds greatests inventions as it gives the gift of life to those who wouldn't otherwise survive, therefore this gives these babys a future so they can grow up to be the next sophisticated generation which others can learn from.
Submitted by: Clive Fennah
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 4030: best invention
Best invention.
No doubt condom is the best invention. Think. What in modern days will be without the condom? You can’t stop human from getting his desire but you can protect him with great invention ever from himself. The condoms save our lives and bring balance to human well being. You don’t need to say more about this naughty invention to understand that this is the best.
Submitted by: alex sobko
Submitted on 2007.02.05
Entry 4039: Hello
The most improbable inventions of mankind in my opinion the satellite. It is possible list advantages of the satellite people much can to call with each other to look various telecasts on the TV flight in space weather forecast and much many other things...
Submitted by: Konstantin Skulkin
Submitted on 2007.02.06
Entry 4040: The wok
The wok has been invented more than 2000 years ago in China ; yet, it's the most versatile cooking ustensile ever (stir frying, steaming, deep frying, braising, stewing). Even better, cooking with a wok limits the use of cooking oil, allowing for a more dietetic food ; this comes from the unique shape of the wok, which is the best thermodynamically speaking to create a hot cooking spot on the bottom of the pan. It is truly an amazing feat that people in rural China were able to invent this shape : it was not easy to manufacture at that time, thus they didn't just stumble on the solution ; moreover, scientists have begun studying thermodynamics in the mid 17th century, and the fact that a wok is thermodynamically perfect for cooking has been proved theoretically less than 40 years ago !
Submitted by: François Lemaire
Submitted on 2007.02.06
Entry 4043: Antibiotics
I think that antibiotics are the most important and great invention. For example - peniciline. Before it was invented by Fleming many people died of simple flue and other not so serious deseases. They saves many lives every day!
Submitted by: Yaroslav Kurakolov
Submitted on 2007.02.06
Entry 4045: Circle
The best invention is circle. Everything in our world is based on a round shape starting from wheels of a car and ending whatever industry you can imagine... bolts, wheels, bearings and many more things.
After all there would not be Audi...
...thats not Audi without four rings in its badge.
Submitted by: Arnis Geidmanis
Submitted on 2007.02.06
Entry 4046: Direction
The steering wheel is the best invention - it gives us direction!
Submitted by: Michelle Waller
Submitted on 2007.02.06
Entry 4049: The paperclip
Since it is not about the world's best invention, but the best patented invention, it must be the paperclip. A product that no person had ever needed before in history, but after its invention no person can do without: brilliant.
Submitted by: Mathijs van Schaik
Submitted on 2007.02.06
Entry 4050: Penicillin - it cares
Andrew Moyer patented the first method of industrial production of penicillin in 1948. This began the whole new era of our everyday life. Health - is one of the most important things for people because we are not really happy while we feel bad. Penicillin and other penicillin-based drugs helped to save so many lifes and turned lethal diseases into "7 days at home not feeling quite well". This invention enabled many people to stay alive and to see the birth of orther inventions, new eras and new technologies. People appreciate their ability to enjoy their life in full and that is why I guess this invention is one of the most important in the world though it is not so visible as many others.
Submitted by: Dmitry Ruchkin
Submitted on 2007.02.06
Entry 4055: IKB
To me, the challenge of this task lies within the wording of its question what is the “world’s best patented invention?” The first criteria, of belonging to this world, is easy enough to satisfy, as is being patented and being an invention (as opposed to a discovery), both fairly well defined terms. Who knows if aliens would patent their inventions anyway? It’s the second word, best, that most confounds. What is best? It’s a superlative; something unsurpassable in both its brilliance and simplicity, from which there may be no enhancement, no revision, totally incorruptible, that will not become an inferior object and will never become obsolete. For such a “best” I nominate International Klein Blue (IKB). This most brilliant shade of blue was first mixed and subsequently patented by Yves Klein in 1958. A combination of blue pigment and synthetic resin, he believed it to be the physical manifestation of cosmic energy, of spirituality, of freedom, which had a quality close to pure space. Through his extensive use of IKB in his monochromatic work he audaciously made colour itself art. Now that is genius and surely genius is best.
Submitted by: Caroline Gellatly
Submitted on 2007.02.06
Entry 4059: Teleautomaton
Nikola Tesla's first ROV, or teleautomaton, presented at Madison Square in NY at very end of 19th century. He patented it as No: 613809 dated Nov. 8 1898. I vote for this aparatus, cos it beautifuly combines several different technologies vital for modern age: radio, robotics, electronics, computer technology. It was, in Tesla words "art of teleautomation". His small boat was ancestor of any other remoted operated vehicle or device, from tv remote control units, through celular phones to space probes and sattelites. It was also a pioneer exemple of computing technology, since internal circuts include logic AND operation. And, since it was able to respond not only on basic commands of the operator, but to answer a trivial questions via his two light bulbs, it was also a messinger of future age of arteficial inteligence (exmp. what was the square root of 64-bulb flashes 4 times). Tesla called this technology of "borrowed mind" For much eloquent story on this see PBS web site:http://www.pbs.org/tesla/ins/lab_remotec.html
Submitted by: Milan Miljusevic
Submitted on 2007.02.06
Entry 4060: best of all
In my opinion best invention is lottery rules, because without them everyone could win prize (for example: trip to space), but with rules you can easily limit the participant count (for example: only UK residents). This is obviously the best invention ever.
Submitted by: genadij ainarovich
Submitted on 2007.02.06
Entry 4061: Have you Audi?
No AUDI, no PARTY.
Submitted by: Santa Garshniece
Submitted on 2007.02.06
Entry 4063: velcro
In my opinion Velcro is the world's best patented invention, because it has so many worthwhile uses. It has made life so much easier for disabled people as well as having uses in households and industry, and it was discovered by NASA!
Submitted by: davina williams
Submitted on 2007.02.06
Entry 4066: Skyline...
The city skyline in all its wonder would not have been possible without the safety elevator.
Primitive elevators or hoists were in use as early as the 3rd century BC and used for moving materials, they were operated by either man or beast. However the modern electric elevators came into to use toward the end of the 19th century. Elisha Otis who is often credited with inventing the elevator actually only invented the brake used within modern elevators. His brakes made skyscrapers, and in turn our wonderful skylines, a practical reality. By 1857, the country's first Otis passenger ‘safety elevator’ was in operation at a New York department store, and ten years later, Elisha's sons founded Otis Brothers
Submitted by: Fiona Dodds
Submitted on 2007.02.06
Entry 4067: My Choice
Having lived for 71 years and witnessed thousands of new inventions, some world shaking, some inconsequential, I would have to say, for just its ability to change the world, the greatest patented invention has to be the computer or more defined the software that brought the PC into the home and into the schools and into everyone's life in one way or the other. It has changed the way we think, the way we do business, the way we learn, the way we communicate, the way we shop, the way we find love, the way we are born and even ultimately the way we die.
Submitted by: Shirley Hodge
Submitted on 2007.02.06
Entry 4073: Microprocessor or micro-miracle?
The wheel may have been a huge leap forward for transportation, but the microprocessor is a gigantic leap forward in technology which affects countless aspects of modern life. It’s hard to think of many things in western (and increasingly global) life which aren’t facilitated in some way by the microprocessor. Health, communications, employment, education, transport, commerce, entertainment; you name it and there’ll be little slivers of silicon churning away in there somewhere processing information at a rate which makes it understandable why some people think they must be alien technology. How could something so small be so incredibly complex and have come to so dominate our lives? Pick up a phone, switch on your tv, hop in your car, cook a meal, go into space, fight a war, save a life, or just set your alarm before you go to sleep; whatever you’re doing, you’ll be using them whether you know it or not. Fair enough; they need electricity to work but where would electricity generation and distribution be without them?
The bicycle may be more environmentally friendly, but I imagine yours was probably built in a factory full of microprocessors, shipped by means of a transport system that uses them and sold in a shop where the transactions are only possible because of them.
I could go on at much greater length but I think the processor in my PC has earned a rest, even if it never needs it!
Submitted by: Eric Sutherland
Submitted on 2007.02.06
Entry 4077: Chronometer
John Arnold's patents in the development of the marine chronometer allowed the human race to travel with safety and accuracy - a basis for all forms of travel even to this day.
Submitted by: Anthony Lacey
Submitted on 2007.02.06
Entry 4078: Test, do not approve
"Necessity is not the mother of invention", said management consultant Joe Powell in his 1959 training film 'The Real Security'. "The parents of invention", he went on, "are dissatisfaction and intelligence." That was also the year that the Haloid Company, the later Xerox Corporation, launched the 914, the first push-button, chemical-free, dry-process, plain-paper copier. This made available to the wider world the fruit of one man's quest to make his own professional life easier and, in his own words, "to do the world some good and also a chance to do myself some good."
The man was patent attorney Chester Carlson (1906-1968), whose submissions to the U.S. Patent Office required many copies, for making which he had no acceptable alternative to hours of typing and redrawing. After years of experiment and set-back he succeeded in reproducing the reverse image of a document on an electrostatically charged, selenium-coated surface dusted with what we now call toner powder. A sheet of paper is applied, a stronger charge then draws the toner onto it, the transferred powdery image is fused solid, and the print delivered. "The biggest communication breakthrough since Gutenberg", David Owen called it in his book on Xerography.
The Xerographic process became normal in copiers and several kinds of printer. As significant in its way as the switch from Roman to Arabic numerals, it provided the world's hard copy in the later twentieth century, while information technology was transforming politics, commerce and personal aspiration, mine and
Submitted by: Test TEst
Submitted on 2007.02.06
Entry 4079: Predictive Texting
Txt speak is takng ovr! Evrywhr u look wrds r being shrtnd and mutil8d 2 cp wth th fad fr sndng txt mssgs frm mbl phns. Ths is hppnng caus its a pain 2 typ out fll wrds usng th lmtd kybrds on mbls. Frtntly fr ENGLISH LANGUAGE PURISTS th T9 txt inpt systm is a ptntd invntn (US 5,818,437). Wth prdctv txtng th strain on th thmb frm typng out entr wrds on a mbl is mch rdcd and we can all use proper English with a huge sigh of rlif. Sorry, relief.
Submitted by: Geoff Dallimore
Submitted on 2007.02.06
Entry 4080: Unusual Entry...
Some would say that the best patient is one that you use everyday, or even one that we could see the fruits of its labor. To me neither of these are the case, the patent that is best suited to be King is a thankless hero who save lives. This patent has been around in various forms since before WWI, it was what kept us far from the brink of war without us evening knowing. It is so highly classified that the CIA has blocked its declassification in 1999. What better to prove my point? It is still vital to our everyday lives yet we will never see why. Of all the patents ever thought up from converting solar power to electrical energy, or even that mighty cool Apple Click Wheel. The one that matters the most in the end is the one that Darwin would have loved. The one that survived unchanged for over 100 years because it is the fittest.
P.S. I wrote the rest of this in INVISIBLE INK so I couldn't find the rest of my entry...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invisible_ink
Submitted by: Miles Flinn
Submitted on 2007.02.06
Entry 4083: The Transistor
What patent has evolved with such an all pervasive touch that it brushes upon all humanities future endeavours and gives us the hope that we can achieve our greatest dreams? What Patent will save ourselves from our own destruction and the destruction of our planet and harness the power of nature? What Patent will enable us to unleash the enormous energy potential of knowledge in all its forms and make quantum leaps in our civilization’s evolution? What patent allows most other patents to develop their very best potential in utilization and dramatically leap forward the very boundaries of our existence? What patent has evolved a key symbiotic evolutionary relationship with humans? What patent transcends and binds so successfully biology, physics and chemistry to such great advantage? What patent has such a list of achievements and accolades, that as it gets smaller its usages grow larger? What patent touches more of humanity than any other and helps more than any other, in the most varied ways? What patent is normally forgotten because it appears so mundane, yet its beauty, as with all great inventions is hidden in its logical simplicity? What patent does not need to argue its case, but lets the facts speak for themselves? What patent will allow us ‘ to boldly go where no man has gone before’?
Why the transistor of course.
Submitted by: stephen sivyer
Submitted on 2007.02.06
Entry 4085: Canning It.
Cut all the tin plate used annually to make cans in America, into a one foot wide strip, and it would wrap around the earth fourteen times. Or, to visualize it differently, if you took those five billion square feet of plate, you could can the moon.
Each year, in America alone over 8.5 billion cans are produced. They used 600,000,000 cans just to pack their peas in 2003! This simple invention, patented in 1810 by British Merchant Peter Durand, stemmed from Nicolas Francois Appert’s 1809 invention for sealing and storing food for the military. A feat Napolean Bonaparte paid him 12,000 francs for.
We take for granted its simplicity, and usability, due to its success at becoming an every day item. Think of the impact it’s had on both the developed, and developing world for storage and survival.
In today’s day and age, tin cans can even represent the enormous benefits to recycling. In 2003 alone, 54 billion cans were recycled, saving the equivalent of 15 million barrels of crude oil, or the daily gasoline consumption of the United States.
The tin can is the worlds best patented invention, because it still makes possible what the inventor set out to accomplish 140 years ago; a way to cook food and contain it and it shows how a simple invention can take over the globe.
Submitted by: Michael Simpkins
Submitted on 2007.02.06
Entry 4088: One for Jeremy....the ‘Bubble Wrap’.
There was a time when the world did not know the addictive qualities of ‘popping’ bubble wrap, the satisfying sensation of individually or collectively exploding small pockets of plastic sealed air. Then in the late 1950’s, at a little known establishment called the ‘Stevens institute for technology’, two men Marc Chavannes and Al Fielding revolutionised the protection of packaged goods and at the same time, human sensation.
They had no inclination that their invention would condemn countless children’s toys and games to the sidelines of a Christmas morning, that they would usher in a new generation of ‘stress relief’ and ‘office toys’, that they would help build trust in mail delivery and all manner of packaging applications, that has lead to the online shopping revolution of our time.
They were merely striving to achieve their original goal of protecting the flow of packaged goods.
The life blood of ‘invention’ is the ambition to achieve an objective, to solve a problem in a unique way that introduces new possibilities, new ideas and developments and new human experiences. The ‘bubble wrap’ embodies these qualities perfectly, from its humble beginnings in a garage in Hawthorne, New Jersey, to the proverbial ‘coffee table’ and beyond.
It is not the invention itself that makes it great or ‘the best’ its the spirit of invention that is made manifest through this story of ideas and possibilities, its the simplicity of ingenuity that truly illustrates the ‘best’ of human invention.
Submitted by: Steven Paul Walker
Submitted on 2007.02.06
Entry 4089: The Flushed Toilet
The Indoor Flushed Toilet is my first selection for the idea with the greatest effect on mankind. It has helped to prevent disease by taking away excrement, vomit, etc.; has helped to ensure the cleanliness of domiciles by removing the need for bedpans/etc. that could overflow, be kicked over, etc.; has helped to prevent other potential maladies (e.g., frostbite, pneumonia, snakebites, etc.) by being located indoors; has become the centerpiece for numerous interior decoration schemes and art sculptures. In short, the Flushed toilet is a simple engineering marvel that has helped to spawn numerous businesses (plumbing, interior decoration, etc.) while also preventing disease and other maladies.
My $.02
Submitted by: Jeffrey Farah
Submitted on 2007.02.06
Entry 4099: best invention ever!!!
The best invention in my eyes are the glasses because they are used so much all around the world and most people I know wear them.People who need them can`t really live without them or they will not get very far in life.So I really think that this is the most important and best invention ever!!!!!!!!!
Submitted by: Dean Bartlett
Submitted on 2007.02.06
Entry 4101: Cats-eyes
Of all the patented inventions, the Cats-eye deserves the accolade ‘Best’ because of its irreplaceable usefulness and simplicity. Best, because it continues to save so many lives, best because of its uniqueness and ingenuity. Drivers and car manufactures such as Audi, owe a great deal to this marvellously appropriate solution to dangers facing millions of motorists and aircraft. (we may one day employ it on the moon). This invention stands as a testament as to why we should look to nature, for original solutions to problems. Without Percy Shaw’s inspired idea, we may still today not enjoy the safety provided by the white, red, green and blue cats-eyes, whose reliability we often take for granted. Best of all because its benevolent inventor allowed the release of his patent for the good of mankind
Submitted by: Pau Bennett
Submitted on 2007.02.06
Entry 4102: Flight
My Entry is simply this - The Aeroplane - had man not mastered the art of flying all else should not have happened!
Submitted by: George Gibbons
Submitted on 2007.02.06
Entry 4103: Thomas Newcomen's Atmospheric Shift.
Thomas Newcomen's atmospheric engine is widley accepted to be the forerunner of all steam engines and locomotives.
When it was invented it's primary use was to pump water from mines allowing miners to go deeper in thier search for minerals, quite a significant development in itself but it was what was inspired by this invention that really changed the world forever.
Advances in steam power meant that steam engines were now used to power factories and mass production was invented, this saw huge changes in peoples lives, they now had jobs in these new factories and the working day came about along with clocking on and off.
the next step from here was the steam locomotive which brought about even bigger changes, people now took holidays at the seaside, goods were transported around the country with ease and worldwide railways changed things out of all recognition. without railways Britain would probably not have maintained it's empire and in America the coming of railways almost completley wiped out the Native American. These and many other changes can be attrbuted to Thomas Newcomen and his atmospheric engine.
Submitted by: Phil Riley
Submitted on 2007.02.06
Entry 4105: On the legality of Patents
Whats the point of having a patent if you dont patent the right to patent?
Submitted by: A. Palomo
Submitted on 2007.02.06
Entry 4106: Martin-Baker Ejector Seat
This invention has not only saved many lives but has helped to make space flight possible having saved the lives of over 7000 military pilots. Space programmes have always turned to the military for top pilots to train as astronauts. In turn the military have relied on the ejector seat to train such pilots with a degree of safety that would have been otherwise impossible. Top military pilots were and still are a very expensive commodity. You can build a new aircraft - it is just a matter of money. It takes a great deal of time as well as money to train a pilot; especially to a high standard. Martin-Baker ejector seats are currently fitted to the T-38 Talon fleet used by NASA for astronaut training. Research is under way to develop an ejection system for the Shuttle following the Columbia tragedy.
Submitted by: Robert Ayley
Submitted on 2007.02.06
Entry 4107: Xerography (originally electrophotography) - US Patent 2297691, October 6, 1942
print delivered. “The biggest communication breakthrough since Gutenberg”, David Owen called it in his book on Xerography.
The Xerographic process has become normal in copiers and several kinds of printer. As significant in its way as the switch from Roman to Arabic numerals, it provided the world’s hard copy in the later twentieth century, while information technology was transforming politics, commerce and personal aspiration, mine and yours.
Submitted by: Stephen Durnford
Submitted on 2007.02.06
Entry 4108: real gas driven autos
when the system becomes economically viable (at least on a par with petrol and diesel fuels) then i consider that the hydrogen fuel cell will become the saviour of the automobile industry.
which at the moment seems to be heading for a dinosaur extinction event.
Submitted by: ian stringer
Submitted on 2007.02.06
Entry 4110: The Light In Our Lives
The Lightbulb is undoubtedly one of the pioneering achievements in mankind's history of patents. Aside from the fact that without the lightbulb I wouldn't be sitting here in this room typing without my eyes adjusting to the bright screen, the filament bulb was the huge step into man and electricity.
Not only has it been able to make us see, but it set the stepping stone using electricity to run an appliance we take for granted nowadays. Many credit Edison to this and indeed throughout all of his patented inventions the lightbulb sticks to the common person the most.
It may be ironic in cartoons that when people have a lightbulb switched on above their head i means that their route of thinking is clear and they have found the perfect idea or in Wild E. Coyote's case the perfect plant to hatch.
In any case the light has paved the way for people to use it for comfrtably living on throughout the night and by blurring the routine of night and day set by the sun as a result, the lightbulb has done to us what it says on the tin:
"To pave the way for mankind to see in the dark and uncertainty what they have never seen before...."
And the funny thing is that this above quote does not stop inside the boundaries of Earth.....
Submitted by: Dilan Abdah
Submitted on 2007.02.06
Entry 4113: Engine of the Future
I think the best patent invention ever is something that has come to light only recently and could revolutionize every automobile and the way man travels weather on land, sea air or in space..
Although it is still a prototype engine but it has worked and even attracted the attention of the British government that was so persuaded it has accepted to fund it.
It is a thrust engine developed by Roger Shawyer( a respected space engineer).His device has sparked the attention because it is an engine that generates thrust purely from electromagnetic radiation-microwave, to be exact-by exploiting the properties of relativity. It has not moving parts and does not release exhaust or noxious emissions. It has the potential that one day would replace the engine on all spacecrafts.
It could even allow cars to lift from the ground and hover. It could even lead to aircrafts that need not wings, thus saving billions of dollars particularly in space industry, eliminate the danger of global warming, lessen our dependence on dwindling oil as a major source of energy and making air travel more popular and wider for more people on personal level.
In short, it will make a revolution and as Shawyer said in a paper published in issue 2568 of Newscientest his engine could be tested in 2 years and would save 15 Billion USD over the next 10 years.
Submitted by: Tawfiq Sahli
Submitted on 2007.02.06
Entry 4115: C software
C software, see space; where on Earth would we be without C?
On Earth of course, not on course to space.
A Ubiquitous Defining Invention!
Submitted by: Tony Mason
Submitted on 2007.02.06
Entry 4116: Paper Clip
The Best invention,as well as being extremly useful has to be the paperclip! Its small, light, easy to use and also has been known to be the BEST patented object ever designed. It is easilyi nserted, light, holds thick sets off papers etc, and also is very cheap. It can be madeinto many different shapes as well. Samuel B. Fay was a geniusfor inventing this object!
Submitted by: Graham Cross
Submitted on 2007.02.06
Entry 4121: The Wheel
The best invention ever ever was wheel the first 2d rounded object! This object gave the possibility to infinit new industries and other new inventions!!!
After the first Circled Wheel the first cars came, the first mechanical sistems came the FOOTBALL came!!
How many people can a Football entertain? 100 000 000 People...22 players and 1 only 1 Ball.
Because of it's circle shape (less grip) it rolls and it's aerodynamic allow it to be flexible and dynamic to develop a WORLD LOVED sport like football!!!
No other Transport could be invented without the circle Wheel shape!!!!
Cars,Planes,Jets,Tanks,Bikes,Skates,Footballs,Bearings and last COGS they make watches work, motors, boats, printers and more and more...
Submitted by: Thomas Fischer-Lindenberg
Submitted on 2007.02.06
Entry 4123: Thank the heavens for Star Trek
I wonder where I would be without Star Trek, indeed where humanity would be with out this amazing show.
Spanning over 50 years it has introduced many to the worlds beyond our own, for me it caught my imagination at an early age and helped cement a life long interest with space and what it would be like to be in space.
I dreamed of going into the heavens and seeing it all for myself, thinking I never would this simple TV show was my nearest best.
I am not an educated man and find scientific explanations overly complicated but Star Trek allowed me to imagine with some reference, introduced me to terms and ideas I would never have imagined and if I was to go into space what an amazing way to go on the back of the one thing that awoke my love of space itself.
Submitted by: Lee James Dowell
Submitted on 2007.02.07
Entry 4125: Jeans
I think that Jeans are most popular thing what is inventet.. You are walking down the streat and see that almost everyone wear jeans. Dynamite was big discovery, but you can't see peoples with dynamite every day. So, I think jeans are the best invention!
Submitted by: Kārlis Krūze
Submitted on 2007.02.07
Entry 4129: Movable Type
My vote for the best patented invention goes to Johannes Gutenberg's movable type printing method. Prior to Gutenberg in the fifteenth century, printing was a laborious process of wooden block carving and ‘rubbing’. His idea was to split text into individual components for flexible layout and reusability. He made his type pieces from a metal alloy which extended their durability whilst also making the printed word more legible. The different fonts and typefaces that you see right now whilst reading this are a development of Gutenberg’s movable type pieces. But much more than that, his presses were the ancestors of machines which led to mass production of printed texts and an information revolution. The significance of the impact this had on society and culture at the time, and what it has led to since, cannot be overestimated. Books became cheaper, allowing more people access to ideas and thoughts leading to discussions and philosophy. It is without doubt that the Renaissance and the industrial age owe much to Gutenberg. Education in schools and universities has depended on books for more than a century. Another effect of the printing press is the massive industry in the publication of newspapers and magazines for information and leisure interests, so it even led to the knowledge and enjoyment you currently receive from New Scientist and even (indirectly) leads to the possibility that you could take a trip into space.
Submitted by: Robert Howard
Submitted on 2007.02.07
Entry 4131: The Prayer
There is only one human invention which is having the reason through all millenniums on its existence. It is just the Prayer. Without the Prayer human being could not have been resisting to everything to live. The same concerns either to unbelievers. Unbelievers run the Prayer as well but they do not realize it either. Their Prayer is the morality or culture. They have been modifying their Prayer in many ways. Believers also have got their Prayer although oftentimes they either do not know that it just helps them to survive. Mankind would have not passed such a long way without the Prayer to getting managed flights to space.
Submitted by: Stanislav Haber
Submitted on 2007.02.07
Entry 4133: Zipper
I think that the common everyday zipper has to be considered for this prize. Even velcroe (another brilliant idea) has not replaced the common zip.
The Zip increases the size of an opening to allow the passage of larger objects, as in the fly of trousers or in a pocket.
It joins or separates completely two ends or sides of a single garment, as in the front of a jacket or sleeping bag
It can be used to attach or detach completely one separable part of a garment to or from another, as in the conversion between trousers and shorts.
Even Space suits have Zippers!!
This is one invention that could still possibly be in use a Thousand years from now!...You cannot say that about many other patented inventions
Submitted by: Brian Maguire
Submitted on 2007.02.07
Entry 4135: laser light
teh best inventuion ever was the laser:
It saves the live of million of people, has a booming impact on transmission of data, is litirally unlimited for arias where it could be used.
Some ideas where the laser is used:
eye correction
cosmetic correction
messuaring distance
pointer for presentation devices
pc/laptop mouse
transmission of signals data (internet/tv): speed and distance withou repeaters
using multiplexing, nearly unlimited transfer.
military usage
detection devices e.g. smoke detection alarm etc
and many more
Submitted by: andries bos
Submitted on 2007.02.07
Entry 4138: Parachute
The parachute...so simple and effective....the apollo missions would not have been possible without parachutes to slow their decent back to earth.The greatest,in my opinion, of Humankinds achievements, was dependent upon an invention that was 200 years old.
Submitted by: brian maguire
Submitted on 2007.02.07
Entry 4139: Classic invention
The best invention ever has to be the condom. Think about all the idiots that you have come across in your life time, then think of how many more there would of been if not for the humble condom !!!
Submitted by: Nathan Hammond
Submitted on 2007.02.07
Entry 4140: mobile phone
The mobile phone!...how many lives has it saved?.....How convenient is it?....how annoying can it be?!! (sometimes).
The mobile phone has to be one of the greatest inventions,taken so much for granted these days,but I remember growing up in a world where they were unheard of and i'm only 37 years old!
Submitted by: BRIAN MAGUIRE
Submitted on 2007.02.07
Entry 4142: bicycle
The bicycle!...what an invention...once youve learned how to do it (and it is very difficult and dangerous to learn!!) you never ever forget how to do it.
The bicycle is a fantastic form of transport,it is eco friendly, keeps you fit, and is fun to use.
The simple bicycle will still be around in 100 years from now!!!
Submitted by: brian maguire
Submitted on 2007.02.07
Entry 4143: Man
Without man we have nothing at all. I rest my case.
Submitted by: catherine Anderson
Submitted on 2007.02.07
Entry 4144: Sextant
The sextant is a fantastic navigational aid,it was even used on the Apollo 11 mission to the MOON!!(Not bad considering that it was invented more thatn 200 years earlier).The sextant is not dependent upon electricity (unlike many forms of modern navigation) or anything human-controlled (like GPS satellites). For these reasons, it is considered an eminently practical back-up navigation tool for ships, AND SPACESHIPS!!
Submitted by: brian maguire
Submitted on 2007.02.07
Entry 4151: Batteries
Batteries originally patented by Alessandro Volta in 1800 and the first production of a steady current of electricity was born. Just think of all the things that batteries have assisted or enabled.......AND who of us could operate without electricity. Every aspect of our lives has been affected, transport, health,entertainment, heat, light, telegraph, phones, photography, TV, computing, music, cooking, space travel,....I could continue ad nauseum ...moreover it has now allowed us to do many of these things......ANYWHERE in the world. We now have rechargeable batteries and indeed solar charged batteries which increases our freedom in all aspects of our day to day lives and may well be fundamental in our quest to slow down the harmful effects of the growth of global warming. It could also easily be argued that batteries in their various guises have via increased economic development
Submitted by: Nathan Hammond
Submitted on 2007.02.07
Entry 4152: Understanding The Human Body
1930’s Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (N.M.R.) phenomenon discovered.
1946 Felix Bloch and Edward Purcell independently describe NMR
1952 Bloch and Purcell awarded the Nobel Prize for their work.
1970 First MRI related patent submitted by Raymond Damadian,
1972 Patent was awarded by the U.S. patent office.
1974 world's first patent issued in the field of MRI.
1977 saw the first whole-body MRI scanner,
2003 Paul Lauterbur and Sir Peter Mansfield where awarded Nobel Prize
I believe this patent and invention to be important because humans as we know them now have been roaming this planet for 200,000 years. It is however only in the last few hundred and most remarkably in the last 30 years that we are beginning to scratch the surface of understanding how our bodies work and what incredible things they are.
The environment in which we live is ever changing, adapting and evolving and our bodies are being subjected to new things and new risks. The pace of evolution and technology seems exponential and yet we are still stuck in the dark ages in certain respects.
MRI allows us to look inside and to see things working without intrusive surgery or causing any risk or harm and it is able to detect things that are largely undetectable but other means available. MRI has been described as shining a bright light on the body as opposed to viewing in a dimly lit room. It has been revolutionary in terms of research and understanding and is a valuable tool.
Submitted by: Nicholas Badham
Submitted on 2007.02.07
Entry 4154: qwerty keyboard
The QWERTY style keyboard is everywhere!
It has become THE standard because (apparently)the early alphabetically arranged typewriters had mechanical levers that would become entangled in use,due to common letters being postioned too close to each other.....BUT,I think someone was just having a laugh.......it just so happens that the longest word in the english dictionary that can be found using only the top line of letters on a QWERTY keyboard is.......the word TYPEWRITER!!
Seriously though..this is a good example of where a brilliant invention in its own right (the typewriter) was modified, with the new change becoming the generic standard.......continuous improvement.......Audi style!
Submitted by: brian maguire
Submitted on 2007.02.07
Entry 4157: All Screwed Up
The best patented invention ever to me is the Phillips screw. This screw made joining a driver and screw easier and quicker opening the world to new possibilities. This is a choice object that works its wonder to build other inventions. Without this screw other inventions would remain lone pieces of a jigsaw, but with this screw all pieces become one complete object. No invention can be found in more objects and inventions than this screw. As the Space Shuttle itself used this screw it has become a real universal invention and is one invention that accompanies Man on his many explorations and discoveries. This screw being small is most often forgotten or taken for granted, but if it were not for this screw many inventions that have occurred in the 20th and 21st Century would have been very different. It is a true international invention in that it has no language or cultural barriers it can be operated and used by all throughout the world. It is used in the darker side of Man in many inventions of evil but also in the good within humanity from the humble toy car bringing lasting pleasure to a child to helping create medical inventions saving and prolonging life. Overall this patented invention is the best that can be used for this competition as its humble beginnings started in the Car Industry and its furthest reach has been to Outer Space showing a true ‘bonding’ link between AUDI and NASA.
Submitted by: Christopher Hughes
Submitted on 2007.02.07
Entry 4158: STAPLER
Every office in every country in the world will surely have a STAPLER.What a brilliantly simple and effective invention!
Invented over 100 years ago it will always be needed where paper is used.
First the Paperclip..then the Stapler......
continuous improvement in action...Audi style
Submitted by: brian maguire
Submitted on 2007.02.07
Entry 4160: Air bags
The air bag, the most reliable and life saving device of this century. 0.004 of a second and hey preto, no broken nose, eye sockets, fractured scull on a steering wheel, no going through a windscreen. Who ever thought this up should be nighted by the queen or king of there country. Just one word to some up "GENIUS".
Submitted by: Darren Britton
Submitted on 2007.02.07
Entry 4165: Sellotape/Scotch tape/Sticky Tape
Sellotape!! (or Scotch Tape/Sticky tape) It has thousands of practical uses and has evolved into many different types since the original i.e. masking tape,duct tape,gaffer tape,doublesided tape,magnetic tape,cloth tape,xmas tape,sealant tape,insulating tape,safety tape,non slip tape etc.etc.
It is used in virtually every industry in the world.
Now......if I could only just patent an easier way of opening the Bl**dy stuff when you havent got long finger nails!!!
Submitted by: brian maguire
Submitted on 2007.02.07
Entry 4168: General Relativity
If Einstein's theory of General Relativity is an invention, it hardly needs justifying that it is the greatest. It is one of the most significant scintific breakthroughs ever, and probably the most important conceptual change, both in science and in the philosophy of how science can be done (as he did it in his spare time).
I argue that it is an invention as it is not true. It is a very good model of the world, but it is not an intrinsic part of the world- ergo, it is not a discovery, and the model was an invention. Einstein invented a model, and discovered that it made useful predictions about the world- but the model will be updated and theories such as string theory could render it obsolete. Unlike discovering gold, the theory of relativity does not describe the world, it invents a "world-ideal" and uses it to make predictions about the physical realm. The idea itself, the model, is thus an invention, and the greatest patented invention ever.
Submitted by: Alex White
Submitted on 2007.02.07
Entry 4169: screw drivers
The screw
Submitted by: brian maguire
Submitted on 2007.02.07
Entry 4170: The love of Narcissuss
The face that stares back at you the first thing in the morning is a sight you would not want to subject on your worst enemy. Yet, with heavy pruning and regular reffereals back to the gleaming panel that hangs on your wall, the evolving self-portrait begins to transform into something a lot more respectible.
Without the mirror submarines would be lost in the murk, bodybuilders and ballerinas would not be able to perfect their technique, driving down a dual carriageway would be a suicidal nightmare..... the list is endless!
If this isnt the greatest invention ever, you are not as egotisitical as I presumed!
Submitted by: Andrew Broadbent
Submitted on 2007.02.07
Entry 4173: Batteries
The battery,used all over the world,it allows us to carry stored electrical energy in a portable and convenient little package,they are even rechargeable.
Submitted by: brian maguire
Submitted on 2007.02.07
Entry 4175: Chips for All
The silicon chip has got to be the best invention. The ability to put vast complex electronic circuits onto a microscopic piece of material, and to have such miniaturisation, which is now the heart of almost everything. Our lives in this modern world would be unrecognisable without the chip. It appears in almost everything somewhere from the simplist of devices, (even some light bulbs), to the most complicated, the new A380 airbus, medicine and the international space station.
Submitted by: Ken Hodierne
Submitted on 2007.02.07
Entry 4176: Bulb
I though about bulb, because everywhere I turn around I can see one. It was a revolution, it brought us light in places where fire could not help us anymore. I think that this was very special invention for humankind, without bulb we would not be so developed. We must ask ourselves, would be travelling into space without a simple bulb possible at all?
Submitted by: Uroš Brezavšček
Submitted on 2007.02.07
Entry 4177: Adjustable Spanner
The adjustable spanner...simply BRILLIANT!!!
Submitted by: brian thomas maguire
Submitted on 2007.02.07
Entry 4178: air bag
Airbags are a type of automobile safety restraint like seatbelts. They are gas-inflated cushions built into the steering wheel, dashboard, door, roof, or seat of your car that use a crash sensor to trigger a rapid expansion to protect you from the impact of an accident.
Submitted by: Michelle Tuohy
Submitted on 2007.02.07
Entry 4179: Life - continuously inventing
This entry will probably be disqualified but I believe it's worth the risk. I believe that life is the best invention. No matter what you believe in, whether it is god or the big bang, life was created and is still being created. Its complexity is down to its simplicity which is the key to any fine invention. Genetic programming is based on three fundamental laws where there are countless permutations. Many scientists believe the key to life can be found in the game 'go' which originated in China. There is yet no computer that can master 'go' and as yet still play at 'beginner level'. This illustrates how clever this invention of life was. Within this game the Golden Spiral can be found. This is a mystical shape that is an absolute in both abstract mathematics and chaotic nature and was first discovered by Pythagoras. The Pythagoreans loved this shape for they found it everywhere in nature: the Nautilus Shell, Ram's horns, milk in coffee, the face of a Sunflower, your fingerprints, our DNA, and the shape of the Milky Way. With space exploration on our doorstep, it is surely the exploration of 'life' that will be the most interesting adventure as well as the most baffling! Life is forever reinventing it's self to suit its environment which no invention can do to this level. Fantastic! However, if you want a run of the mill answer then I suppose the humble key. Unlocks doors and answers (including life!).
Submitted by: Dan Jones
Submitted on 2007.02.07
Entry 4181: engine
Many people claimed the invention of the internal combustion engine in the 1860's, but only one has the patent on the four stroke operating sequence. In 1867, Nikolaus August Otto, a German engineer, developed the four-stroke "Otto" cycle, which is widely used in transportation even today. Otto developed the four-stroke internal combustion engine when he was 34 years old.
The Diesel Engine came about in 1892 by another German engineer, Rudolph Diesel. The Diesel engine is designed heavier and more powerful than gasoline engines and utilizes oil as fuel. Diesel engines are a commonly used in heavy machinery, locomotives, ships, and some automobiles.
It is important to mention that the basic operating principles of these engines have been around for more than a hundred years and they are still in place. Some people get discouraged when they look under the hood and cannot recognize a thing on their automobile. Rest assured that underneath all of those wires and sensors lies an engine with the same basic operating principles of that "Otto" engine over a century old.
The industrial recolution came about as a consequence of the combustion engine
Submitted by: Michelle Tuohy
Submitted on 2007.02.07
Entry 4183: Fender Stratocaster
Played by some of the most influential guitarists of all time, the Fender Stratocaster continues to flow out of stereos, radios and Mp3 players across the globe. In doing so it makes people decide how they want to dress, how they want to live their lives and puts a smile on their faces.
Popular music is one of the most influential forces to have ever existed and the Fender Stratocastor is at center stage guiding the way.
Submitted by: Andrew Deere
Submitted on 2007.02.07
Entry 4186: dialysis
Willem J Kolff was the inventor of the artificial kidney dialysis machine. this saves lifes
Submitted by: Michelle Tuohy
Submitted on 2007.02.07
Entry 4188: Simply Human-The ‘Helicopter Beanie Hat’
As my mind raced from the Telephone to the Transistor, from the Internet to Antibiotics and from Velcro to various different vehicles. I begin to feel lost. How can one decide what invention is ‘best’? Maybe to an engineer the combustion engine or microprocessor? To the health professional, penicillin and the development of sanitation? There have been so many revolutionary inventions!
The ‘best’ invention has to be something other than the most important invention as that differs greatly across individuals and cultures. The ‘best’ invention has to deeply penetrate the cultural consciousness, to be iconic to humankind.
‘The best Invention in the world’ readers, and you’ll all know it, you may have one collecting dust amongst other forgotten treasures of invention in a loft space or cellar. The ‘Helicopter Beanie Hat’, ingenious invention of Sci – Fi legend Ray Faraday Nelson in 1947, patented by life long inventor (and holder of over 550 patents) Jerome Lemelson. The ‘Helicopter Beanie Hat’ is a legend, a symbol of human individualism, instantly recognised by people and cultures all over our planet, brimming with humanity.
An Invention that could only be born of a species at our emotional level, with our sense of cultural individualism and, of course, humour. It’s laughable to think of what other sentient species would make of us, our propellers rotating in the breeze with no chance of attaining flight, while calculating escape velocities and manning orbital missions.
Submitted by: Steven Paul Walker
Submitted on 2007.02.07
Entry 4195: Wheel
I think that wheel was the best invention that man has ever made. Had it not been for this wondrous thing, man would not have got desire to meet distant people. He could only remain in one place. In fact, wheel has pacified the rate of development we have achieved so far. Look at the tribals who have not tasted the fruit of development. They are in that condition because they were not able to take out any benefits from wheel (though they are enjoying their lives). Today, development is very important; I say this because I am living in a developing country and I have been a witness in its development.
Submitted by: piyush anand
Submitted on 2007.02.07
Entry 4197: Nut
It’s masculine, it’s feminine. It’s cheap, recyclable, easy to use, and once manufactured only needs human energy. In a world of the electronic programmable, or cyberspace virtual, it is defiantly and perpetually mechanical. Its longevity strengthens the case for mechanical inventions in the future. It translates into a multitude of sizes and materials; from Forth Road Bridge to spectacle frame, from stainless steel to brass, nylon or even wood and it still performs well. It elegantly displays the aesthetic of the beehive hexagon, the DNA helix and the sonorous sine wave. It converts rotational movement into linear movement, holds things together tightly or lightly as required and for as long or short a period as necessary.
Whatever man devises, has potential for abuse, but compared to many inventions, its abuses have been few.
It may have been thrown in anger, or foolishly used to replace a fuse. Children have used it for “Cap-Bombs”, as well as for its intended purpose in toy construction sets. It is durable but if ever worn out, replaceable at little cost.
Patently however it is irreplaceable. It may need regular assistance from other unsung heroes of the mechanical world,
such as the washer or spanner, but the “common or garden” Nut
Submitted by: Michael Green
Submitted on 2007.02.07
Entry 4198: A COSMIC DREAM
A COSMIC DREAM
I,M LYING HERE DREAMING, DREAMING IN MY MIND,
ESCAPING FROM MY BODY THAT'S GOT ME SO INTWINED.
I,M GOING THROUGH THE CLOUDS, NO EFFORT IS REQUIRED,
DEFYING ALL OF NEWTON'S LAW LIKE A ROCKET JUST BEEN FIRED.
NO UP ,NO DOWN, NO LEFT OR RIGHT,
EVERYTHING HERE IS DAY AND NIGHT.
LOOKING BACK FROM WHERE I CAME, THE MOON IS FULL THE EARTH THE SAME.
NOT HOT, NOT COLD, SO QUITE SO STILL, STARS ALL AROUND THEY SHINE SO BRILL.
I JOURNEY ON NOT KNOWING HOW FAR, THE EARTH HAS JUST BECOME AN OTHER STAR.
SO BEAUTIFUL, SO PEACEFUL, IN THIS COSMIC FLIGHT,
SO GLAD MY MIND IS HERE TONIGHT.
IN MY OPINION THE BEST INVENTION MUST SURELY BE THE TELESCOPE, BEFORE THAT WE COULD ONLY LOOK AT THE NIGHT SKY AND WONDER,
BUT THE TELESCOPE HAS GAVE US A DOORWAY TO ARE OWN BACK YARD AND BEYOND, WE HAVE DISCOVERED NEW WORLDS STARS AND MUCH MORE.
AS TECHNOLOGY MOVES ON WHO KNOWS WHAT NEXT WE WILL SEE THROUGH THIS GREAT INVENTION.
Submitted by: ERNIE LARKIN
Submitted on 2007.02.07
Entry 4199: Tic, Tac, Tic, Tac...
The clock is one of the oldest human inventions, requiring a physical process that will proceed at a known rate and a way to gauge how long that process has run. As the seasons and the phases of the moon can be used to measure the passage of longer periods of time, shorter processes had to be used to measure off hours and minutes.The invention of the mechanical clock was one of the most important turning points in the history of science and technology; indeed of all human art and culture (Synge 1959). The improvement in accuracy presented authority with enhanced opportunities for oppression. An early devotee of elaborate mechanical clocks, for example, was Duke Gian Galeazzo Visconti, described in 1381 as ``a sedate but crafty ruler with a great love of order and precision'' (Fraser 1988). As Weizenbaum (1976) wrote, the clock began to create ``literally a new reality...that was and remains an impoverished version of the old one.''
Newton's clockwork universe was the crowning achievement of the Scientific Revolution.
Human life process is depending by the time, and all inventions in the world are link to it.With time we confront a philosophical enigma, a psychological mystery, and a puzzle of logic. Not surprisingly, considering the massive reification involved, some have doubted its existence since humanity began distinguishing ``time itself'' from visible and tangible changes in the world.
Submitted by: Veronica Formenti
Submitted on 2007.02.07
Entry 4201: electromagnetic telegraph
Communication is very important for us to survive.In 1832 samuel f.b. morse conceived of his version of an electromagnetic telegraph and constructed an experimental version in 1835.He constructed a truly practical system in 1844 when he built a line from baltimore to washington d.c..
It accompanied an application for a patent granted in 1849.This invention transformed communications almost overnight.Within ten years after the 1st telegraph line opened, thousands of miles of wire crisscrossed the country.This was a very important invention because it had a significant impact on the development of the west, made railroad travel safer and allowed businessmen to conduct their operations more quickly and profitably,and helped generals and army in war to communicate with their troops.The list can go on and on.
Very few inventions i think have had such an immediate and long lasting impact.
So my opinion is that without any communication i wont be able to win this trip to space as we cant fly blindly,someone from the ground must communicate with us and be our eyes.We owe what we have achieved today to that guy from the past.Imagine what the world would be like if we didnt had this invention today. We would be far away from where we are now, and surely all the other inventions which followed after wouldnt be possible for them to do so.Hence i finish my case and i hope i sound logical to you.
Submitted by: Ara Toumaian
Submitted on 2007.02.07
Entry 4203: The cavity magnetron - BEST INVETION TO BE PATENTED
The cavity magnetron was designed by a British scientist, Albert Hull. The Tizard mission took the invention to the USA in 1940 and leading US government advisor James Phinney Baxter III described it as “the most valuable cargo ever brought to our shores”. Patented in the USA (no. 2315313), it was a key factor in the course of WWII. Consequently the world we live in may have been very different without it. Modern uses range from Microwave ovens to Radar technology. It helped us win the war, and what would busy people do if they needed to heat up a meal or drink? A Microwave is the obvious modern day choice for such a task. School experiments to show interference would be more difficult without microwave technology which I used to easily demonstrate this effect. Military and civil radar would be less efficient. Some plane incidents may not have been averted without it. The magnetron is also used in sputtering, used to make thin films and in analytical techniques. The combination of massive technological advance, the fact that it was develop by a fellow Brit and, that it is still in widespread use over 60 years later, leads me to believe that it is the best patented invention yet. It shows that British engineering is at the forefront of more than iron bridges and steam trains.
Submitted by: Philip Day
Submitted on 2007.02.07
Entry 4208: Inter-anything
Well...Internet...ummm everything and anything can be done by anyone who owns it.
From shopping for those shopaholics to Pornography for those who enjoy a little naughty-peek of the best gifts evolution has given us.
Internet I love it...my family the people that make my life worth everything, they are on the other side of the ocean, and yet thanks to the internet connection I have at home I feel like they are just next door.
I shop, I get my food delivered, I move my money from account to account(yeah right!!!money 50p a day), I send my family birthday gifts and the best of all I can do it in less than 5 mins and from just clicking bottons with names like Esc and Ctrl...Yes Internet Is the greatest invention and I will fight until I have not teeth if anyone says otherwise.
I recently discovered Google earth and its the closest I'll ever get to seeing the earth from that outstanding view...But Internet is the best invention ever...It has made the world less complicated; but it has also made us humans more lazy, But ohh who cares...Internet Rocks!!!!
Submitted by: Stephany Jimenez
Submitted on 2007.02.07
Entry 4209: There simply is no equal.
I must submit THE TELEPHONE.
A true revolution in communications, and probably the first and the prime example of a patented invention literally shrinking the world.
Today we have a whole spectrum of telecommunications such as; the internet, voicemail, faxes, cellphones and text services. All of these have grown from the basic telephone, and yet none of them have been able to render the original concept obsolete. On the contrary, it is more central to our lifestyle today than at any time in the past.
The international telephone network, which today includes cellphones, links nearly every person round the entire world and is quite simply the largest and most complex machine that man has ever constructed. Given the complexity involved, the reliability exhibited is without equal. It is efficiently and casually used every day by millions of totally untrained operatives. This alone is a unique feature!
It has changed our view of the world, it has changed our very language, it has changed the face of politics, international relations and it has truly initiated the creation of the global village.
Further, when the Apollo astronauts were on the surface of the moon in 1969, the U.S. President spoke to them from the White House by means of the telephone.
Did any other invention ever grow 100 times bigger in an instant?
Its good to talk!
Submitted by: Alexander Paxton
Submitted on 2007.02.07
Entry 4212: glass
Glass is the best invention because from our eyeglasses to mirrors for making everything we use glass. Especially in every house you can see windows made of glass. Also on microscopes and telescopes it is used for objective and lenses. If I think that someone did not invent glass, I don't know how we could live a comfortable life on earth.
Can you imagine life without mirrors, or would it be nice if you were drinking water with something but it was not made of glass?
Subsequently many scientists say that glass is the most healty tool for our foods and drinks also. For me it is the most important material because it composes losts of the stuff that we use in our daily life and it's utilization area is unlimited.
Submitted by: ESRA VARİSLİ
Submitted on 2007.02.08
Entry 4213: A world without Photography
Photography was a phrase coined by Sir John Herschel in 1839, which are words derived from Greek words for writing and light.
The first camera was initially designed or invented by Leonardo da Vinci in 1519 and his drawing of the camera obscura, which had already been used for 400 years as a drawing aid before it was used for photography.
Various attempts to capture images using silver nitrate were unsuccessfully tried by many, including Thomas Wedgwood, but it was Niepce in 1827 that discovered an image that hardened when exposed to light and soon partnered Louis Daguerre 4 years before dying. In 1849 after the French Government bought into it, the Daguerreotype was eventually born.
Several years and processes later (Collodion, Carte-de-visite, Ambrotype), William Henry Fox Talbot later invented the Calotype and the famous view of the lattice window, a process that unlike the daguerreotype, could produce several images, thus, the first true negative was born, although inferior in quality to it predecessor.
Photography grew and eventually leads us to today’s cinema and more recently, digital photography, where we can view images instantaneously and even on our mobile phones.
If we had not had these first photographical images, we would not have had cinema photography, so no movies, no Television and no certainly no pictorial magazines with pictures, and possibly a world without celebrities as we know them worldwide… basically a world of text.
So, what would be my ultimate goal? To photograph the earth, the world, from space.
Submitted by: stuart Wimbles
Submitted on 2007.02.08
Entry 4214: SUPPORTER
I submit my enty only to support this fantastic opportunities.
Submitted by: Valerio Di Stefano
Submitted on 2007.02.08
Entry 4215: plants
does plants grow on the moon??may be and may be not.just mant to see can the tree roots can attach the moon for how long and how strong the root...
Submitted by: eu huiwei
Submitted on 2007.02.08
Entry 4220: Chips without the salt
I think that Semiconductors(micro chips) are the most important patented product because I cannot imagine what the world would be like without them. No mobile phones, imagine what the cars would be like, could you live without the remote for the TV? The chip has driven invention to new levels and has created thousands of industrial and lifestyle ways of making and using items in and out of the home. The 'geeks' to whom we owe alot to were the men and women responsible for this revolution which has resulted in a better way of life for most of us we just need to share it with everyone.
Submitted by: Kevin McGee
Submitted on 2007.02.08
Entry 4221: Hypodermic needle
Think of all the pain and suffering that has been relieved by this device over the years.
Right, now that's done I'm off to the dentist !
Submitted by: Dave Pinner
Submitted on 2007.02.08
Entry 4225: Tesla's USPO #00645576 System of Transmission of Electrical Energy
You must know this patent - it's Tesla's original 1900 one that underpins all modern communications technology in one way or another.
It deserves to be recognised as the greatest patented invention, since it made possible the 20th century's enormous technological advances not least by facilitating the collaboration of minds separated by great distances.
It has allowed humankind to transmit information like never before - whether between family members a few miles apart, or to and from space probes on the outer reaches of our solar system.
It's the only patent I can think of that would allow me, should I win, to tell my wife that I love her from outside the earth's atmosphere.
Submitted by: Simon Banton
Submitted on 2007.02.08
Entry 4226: The telephone
Hi
it's the most greatest invention, because he it permitted to anyone to communicate in any place and any time,The telephone is the biggest invention because she allows to bind(connect) a closer lot of people and rendres, and this invention has to progress to give the fax the GPS and the internet which returned the world a small village. And ca grace in the telephone
To judge the size(greatness) of an invention it is only necessary to count the number of products or device to use at present to the world and I let you imagine!
Adress
Mr Bachene mohamed
20 logts enasucre sidi lakhder 44230 ain defla Algeria
My dream is to be the first algerian who travel to sapce
All thanks
Submitted by: BACHENE MOHAMED
Submitted on 2007.02.08
Entry 4230: Tesla
Modern age is age of generation and transmition energy and information. The greatest achievments in this field were given to human rase from Nikola Tesla. It`s hard to tell which of his (more than 700) patents is the most important: various devices use induction motor, generator, rotary transformer, and high frequency alternator. He invented new ways of power transmition, systems for wireless communication and many more great inventions. His work inspired many other great scientists too. Anyway I think if we must chose only ONE most important patent ever invented, it must be one of Tesla`s genious creations, and logical criteria is to chose one which is most in use and which dramaticaly upgraded life quality of all human kind. I would say that it is polyphase induction motor because it is workhorse of world industry of today.
Submitted by: Marko Grujic
Submitted on 2007.02.08
Entry 4232: PCB;s (Printed Ciruit Boards)
There are a number of different patents against PCB's (Printed Circuit Boards). Patents have been made against both the boards themselves and the processes behind the development of PBC's (such as the Multiwire technique).
PCB's have been around since the late 1930's. The introduction of PCB technology in electrical products has had a massive impact into the way we live modern life. They can be found in most appliances that are used everyday such as; mobile phone, computers, kettles, radios, fridges, alarms, cameras and printers, the list is endless.
When PCB's were first introduced it was to aid communication systems in world war two. Since then PCB’s have had a massive impact into the development of high tech industries as well as space exploration. Just looking round an office, kitchen, bedroom or even a car PCB's of some form can be identified.
PCB’s are used in all industries from health care through to communication and military services all around the world. This is due to PCB's being so hard wearing, cheap and very reliable. As a nation of energy lovers we have become dependant on all things electrical, without PCB’s this would not have been possible.
PCB's play a vital role in our life today and will definitely have a place in our future development. That is why PCB's should get the award for the best patented invention.
Submitted by: Elizabeth Reeves
Submitted on 2007.02.08
Entry 4238: I think It was a wheel!
The invention of a wheel - one of the major opening mankind. The wheel has helped a birth of a potter's wheel, a mill, a vehicle and other devices helped mankind in his evolution.
Submitted by: Fedoryaev Nickolay
Submitted on 2007.02.08
Entry 4239: The Camera
Whether it be film or digital, still or moving, the pictures produced by a camera are a constant physical, emotional and historical record of us the human race, of who we are, where we come from and the world we live in. ‘The camera never lies’ This (as long as the photo is not manipulated during or after processing) is so true The pictures taken by a camera can answer many questions and ask many more, one glimpse at a long forgotten photo will bring memories rushing back filling our hearts and minds with all the emotions us ‘the human race’ build our hopes, desires and aspirations on. Without the camera how would the winner bring back their own photographic memories of their fantastic journey.
Submitted by: Katharine Jones
Submitted on 2007.02.08
Entry 4240: paper
For me the greatest invention ever is paper.
Cheap, widely available, and easy to use – paper has made it possible for anyone anywhere to record their history, their thoughts, their dreams. For the first time, our stories did not just survive by word of mouth, but could be recorded for future generations. Our accomplishments and histories could reach a wider audience than ever before.
A piece of paper is the starting point for just about every other type of invention and is a universal blank canvas onto which we can project our ideas and inventions. Even the phrase ‘a blank piece of paper’ is synonymous with the idea of human potential. It is a byword for possibility and the place where our greatest ideas first become a reality.
Submitted by: brian bradt
Submitted on 2007.02.08
Entry 4242: The Telephone Line
Before thinking about Internet, we need to think about The Telephone Line. What helped to approach the people since? Since very long time ago and still helping in the days of satelites. what the InterNet would be without the Otica Fiber in this days? And What The Otica Fiber would be without the Telephone Line?
Submitted by: Paulo De Paiva
Submitted on 2007.02.08
Entry 4243: electricity
i think best inventions is electricity. Live was borring whit no power. when find electricy star new eon.
Submitted by: Einars Zigurs
Submitted on 2007.02.08
Entry 4244: The Match (non-poisonous)
Over a million years ago, cave men and women knocked stones together to make fire in order to cook and stay warm.
In 1826 John Walker mixed a load of chemicals, dipped a stick in it, and with a bit of friction, managed to ignite it. He was so excited that he held a demonstration which was seen by Samuel Jones. Mr Jones was also really excited and rushed off to the patents office where he registered the idea under his name and called them Lucifer’s.
Lucifer’s where sold in the millions and made Mr Jones extremely rich; however the chemical contents were a hazardous mixture which smelled and carried a warning sign of ‘danger to health’ which even cigarettes didn’t have in those days. Ironically Lucifer’s greatly boosted the sales of cigarettes.
1830 and a French chemist decided to improve the mixture by adding white phosphorous. The use of white phosphorous, a deadly chemical, caused a widespread disease, deformation and death.
It wasn’t until 1910, when an American company patented the first non-poisonous match.
My tribute lies with the non-poisonous match, only 97 years old and is still used by millions of people every day. If you consider most people think it has been around since the dawn of time, take if for granted that millions died until it was perfected and don’t think anything of it when someone lights one up, I think that its an unsung hero which deserves some respectful consideration, don’t you?
Submitted by: Teara Forsythe
Submitted on 2007.02.08
Entry 4245: Power too the People.
Re useable Energy from Solar Panels, and Wind Generating devices.
No Pollution, and once the initial outlay is paid, Free unlimited safe power, that does not harm the only Planet we have at the moment !
Solar Panels are as a direct result of Space Exploration, and are here to stay.
Wind turbines, Should be closely related to flight.
Need I say more than, once we humans get our feet off the ground, all that happens are good , safe things to prolong our lives, and that of Planet Earth.
End.
Submitted by: dave skingsley
Submitted on 2007.02.08
Entry 4249: television
television..
because we can see and hear everthing from television.it's a wonderfull invention.
Submitted by: gulsah terzi
Submitted on 2007.02.08
Entry 4250: The Thermionic Valve
Without the invention of the thermionic valve, communication as we know it would not exist. The internet, radio and television would be nothing more than a dream. Most importantly this competition would not exist, as the computing power necessary to put the first man made objects into orbit would never have been developed.
Submitted by: Ian McLean
Submitted on 2007.02.08
Entry 4253: The Water of Life
I nominate Water Sanitation for all, for a world of difference.
From Space, we see more clearly: fully two thirds of our world is blue with water, yet just three hundredths of one per cent is drinkable.
Every human who ever was, is, or will be depends on clean water in everything they drink.
Without clean water, industry, science, education, life itself: all fail and die.
Chemical, electrical, even nuclear power generation is critically dependent upon a plentiful supply of clean water. What cities, science, technology or medicine would there ‘be’, without clean drinking water on tap?
We have more taps than people, yet 1.1 billion people in our world a short flight away, still have no access to safe water. A child dies every 15 seconds from water related diseases: the equivalent of 20 jumbo jets crashing every day...
We have the patented technology, and the science to bring water to all. Clean water costs us 0.04p a glass, but dirty water costs millions their lives.
So what hope is there for the future? More science!
Science saves lives; more than any governmental agency, charity or religion.
But without the water of life there would be no science, no scientists, and no patented inventions!
Without scientists what possible future can we hope for?
That’s why I nominate patented chemical water sanitation.
Submitted by: Gordon MacKay
Submitted on 2007.02.08
Entry 4261: Bread
I think that the greatest invention ever made was bread beacause i go to an independent school and the food is absolutely disgusting so i basically live off bread, also it was bread that god gave to people dieing of starvation, therefore if it wasnt for bread lots of people would be dead!!!
Submitted by: Nicola Carr
Submitted on 2007.02.08
Entry 4265: Ferranti Mark 1
My hero is Alan Turing. During the 1930's he designed a machine capable of reading a series of noughts and ones from a tape - the Turing Machine. This binary calculator was the forerunner of the Small Scale Experimental Machine which ran the first stored program at Manchester University on 21st. June 1948. This led to the patenting of the Ferranti Mark 1, the first commercially available computer which went into production in 1951. The computer is, in my humble opinion, the singular most important machine that has ever been patented. It has revolutionalised our world and has united the human race. It is now possible to access information at the speed of light and make friends with people on the other side of the world. Our potential for learning is immeasurable. We can gaze into distant galaxies at the click of a button; through computers man stood on the moon and looked back at Planet Earth, giving us a sense of collective identity for the very first time. We owe so much to the computer, a device which still operates via a series of noughts and ones more than seventy years after Turing concieved the idea.
Submitted by: Graham Hardman
Submitted on 2007.02.08
Entry 4267: The Bar Code
The best patented invention has to be: The Bar Code.
So what is ‘bar code’? By definition it is a method of automatic identification and data collection. Well, for us normal people, it is something that can be read to obtain product information at the checkout.
The idea actually came about when a small food chain store owner had made an inquiry to the Drexel Institute asking about research into a method of ‘automatically reading product information during checkout.’ Which I am sure you will agree was a great idea to make shopping faster, more accurate, and well… a lot easier!
It was Bernard Silver who joined together with fellow graduate student Norman Joseph Woodland to work on a solution. The first idea was actually to use ultraviolet light sensitive ink, but the system was too unstable and expensive. Well, after returning to the drawing board they finally filed their patent application, in 1952, for the "Classifying Apparatus and Method". In effect, the bar code.
Alas! In June of 1974, after the bar code ‘scanner’ had been created, the first U.P.C. scanner was installed at a Marsh's supermarket in Troy, Ohio. Thus, making shopping time and our lives a lot easier. Think you could live without it? Just imagine next time you went shopping, the sales assistant having to type every code in manually! And what was the first product to have a bar code included? Wrigley’s gum. Of course.
Submitted by: Lisa Bishop
Submitted on 2007.02.08
Entry 4268: Telephone
I think the greatest patened invention is the telephone as from 17's is being developing and upgrading and we never know in the coming years we might communicate with a blink of eye but the greatest invention is the telephone.
Means of communication might change but father of it is the telephone.
Submitted by: firasat ali mohammed
Submitted on 2007.02.08
Entry 4269: The Magnifying Glass
the magnifying glass is an invention that has completely altered our lives, it allows us to see things that change our entire percetion of the world we live in, from the microscope to the telescope, the magnifying glass shown us a magical mystical world within our world, also it has given us hope and made us hunger for more when we look up, it aids the greatest invention on earth and that is human sight, everywhere we look a magnifying glass is there, televisions,telescopes, even windows! we have alot to thank for this amazing invention and it is the greatest by far .
Submitted by: Amanda Shachnaey
Submitted on 2007.02.08
Entry 4270: Paint is our heritage
Paint is something that we all take for granted, look at your walls and the ceiling. The only time we really give it consideration is when we spend time pondering over which colour to redecorate with.
But think again because without it we wouldn't know about our history.
The walls of caves are decorated with unique paintings depicting our ancestors and their existence. The paint a distinct mix of local minerals, ground by hand by the artist and mixed with blood, spit or urine and used to depict their lives and our history. Without paint and paintings we wouldn't know about the different styles of clothes that our ancestors wore or the food that they ate. These paintings reveal intricate details that the written word doesn’t always disclose.
Whilst modern paints are our protectors, anti-corrosive, reflecting microwaves and fluorescent to illuminate us in the dark are just a few.
So think again about the humble paint is it really so humble.
Submitted by: Fiona Lewis
Submitted on 2007.02.08
Entry 4272: Differential Potential
The single greatest engineering invention - the differential! Believed to be invented in China in 300 AD this clever device goes unnoticed by many. Consisting of components appropriately named after celestial bodies such as Sun Gear and Planet Pinion this clever device maintains infinitely varying gearing to either driven wheel at all times. Simply Brilliant.
Submitted by: David Seal
Submitted on 2007.02.08
Entry 4273: The television
The television set is a wonderful window that allows to observe, to know, to learn and to understand to the world, in the past, in the present and right away
Submitted by: Patricio Cobos
Submitted on 2007.02.08
Entry 4275: Refrigeration
Compression cycle refrigeration invented just over 100 years ago by Willis Carrier has proved to be the greatest invention in history.
Its uses are as diverse as they are extraordinary. Food production can be done on a large scale then frozen or chilled to be kept fresh until delivered to the consumer; bodies can be preserved until ready for burial without spreading disease; process cooling keeps essential electronics and plant working even in extreme conditions; comfort cooling air conditioning systems keep people working even in extreme conditions; even on the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station refrigeration is essential for preserving experiments, food and Astronauts.
Refrigeration systems have developed continually during the last 100 years and has driven energy efficiency technology in the form of inverter drive motors which help cut carbon emissions by using less energy per kW of drive and newer more efficient refrigerants have been developed to reduce energy use.
In summary, without refrigeration life as we know it could not be sustained and we would be back in the dark ages with disease and famine rife throughout the whole world.
P.S. Driving my new Audi would be a lot less comfortable without my climate control!
Submitted by: Graeme Fox
Submitted on 2007.02.08
Entry 4276: the radio waves
The radio invented in 1860s, by Scottish physicist, James Clerk Maxwell was invented. started with the discovery of "radio waves" - electromagnetic waves that have the capacity to transmit music, speech, pictures and other data invisibly through the air. Many devices work by using electromagnetic waves including: radio, microwaves, cordless phones, remote controlled toys, television broadcasts, and more. Guglielmo Marconi, an Italian inventor, proved the feasibility of radio communication he sent and received his first radio signal in Italy in 1895. By 1899 he flashed the first wireless signal across the English Channel and two years later received the letter "S", telegraphed from England to Newfoundland. This was the first successful transatlantic radiotelegraph message in 1902.I think that the radio is the best invention because during world war two the wireless (other name for the radio) was the most important inventions during the atomic age. It informed the public about the precautions to take within such as putting on blackouts, when to practice when to put the gasmask on and most importantly when the air raid sirens go off you had to go to the air raid shelter. If it wasn't for the radio we would probably lose world war two. this is why i chose the radio as the best invention thank you for listening to my entry.
Aaron edwards
Submitted by: Aaron edwards
Submitted on 2007.02.08
Entry 4278: Window blinds
venetian or otherwise must be the greatest invention in the history of the world, one which has saved mankind - if they didn't exist, it would be curtains for all of us...boom boom
Submitted by: Dave Allen
Submitted on 2007.02.08
Entry 4279: The Mirror
The patent covering the invention of the first commercial application for the method of backing a plate of flat glass with a thin sheet of reflecting metal , otherwise known as the mirror, is the most important yet humble patent in history, by dually allowing humankind to more easily acquire and afford a way to better observe himself, a crucial evolutionnary step towards begining to learn and comprehend himself better, and also as it was the first step in the growth of the reflective mirror manufacturing industry, leading to the success of the Hubble Telescope, allowing the humans who once gazed in awe at its early reflection in puddles and streams, to now cast their gaze vast distances into the unknown, to try to learn more about its place in the vast Cosmos. Truely Man must look before he leaps, and the humble mirror is allowing that, in a way unlike any other inventon can
Submitted by: Justin Jordan
Submitted on 2007.02.08
Entry 4280: YoYo
It strikes me that the simple YoYo, with over 150 patents dating back to Nov 20, 1866 (#59,745), would certainly qualify as one of the most important inventions and/or significant patents, if for no other reason than it was the first man-made device able to go "around the world".
Clearly, as its original patent date was 1866, it predated Sputnik (1957) and even Phineas Fogg (1872) and/or any other man-made device to do the same by a number of years.
And although I am not ordinarily a UK resident, I think the merit of this submission AND that I have a friend who spells funny (colour, labour, centre), calls a 'wrench' a 'spanner' whilst under the 'bonnet' of his british auto and has followed Dr. Who since it began, you might consider lifting the UK residency requirement
Submitted by: Jo Valenti
Submitted on 2007.02.08
Entry 4281: Light Bulb
Something that we take for granted till it pops! It is a essential invention which keeps the world illuminated. It is safe, cost effective and does what it says on the packet. Without the light bulb we would not have a night around the christmas tree without the worry of fire, something to guide you down a motorway with a street light, something to turn on in a torch when you are in the middle of no where. Light is life and the light bulb can save life and give life.
Submitted by: dawn wilson
Submitted on 2007.02.08
Entry 4282: washing machine
I think the best patented invention is washing machine. Because before many many years, people were washing the clothes by their hands and it was were difficult to make laundry clean. They were using their hands and it was exhausting. Also dirty clothes were not clean enogh after washing too.
But now we are very lucky that we have washing machines. Especially women say that machine is the best invention because they are using it more than men and before machines their hands were always wrinkled due to washing. So laundry was a terrible nightmare for them.
I'm a housewife and I can say my decision is exact, this invention is a miracle. And I want to say one more thing that after I asked the same question to my mother, she said the same thing more exactly than me. That means for the new generation maybe it is not very important because they don't know the time before machines, but for me and older people it is absolutely a miracle.
Submitted by: Nurhayat Varisli
Submitted on 2007.02.08
Entry 4283: Radio - Breaking the Chains
Whether you are convinced by the merits of Marconi or the talents of Tesla, the invention of radio was the single most life-changing event for the inhabitants of this planet.
Before the advent of functional radio transmission, man's communication was in chains, enslaved in a net of wires and cables.
Suddenly, the human race had entered a hitherto unattainable ethereal domain. Unseen, with no discernible presence, it must have seemed like the first tentative steps into another world. People conversed with other continents, signalled ship to ship, but of the greatest impact to the man, or woman, in the street - listened in the living room.
Early uses of radio were varied, from farmers listening to Bob Hope in America's Mid-West, trawlermen tuning in for weather bulletins or Hitler Youth members consuming propaganda, the influence of radio broadcasting was indisputable.
The impact of radio is also evidenced by some of its progeny.
Radio, and the use of its principles, was the forerunner of that other medium of the masses, television.
Today, everyday technological wonders, such as mobile phones, are used without a passing thought to the ghosts of the radio pioneers.
Consider, also, the wonders of the radio telescope, witnessed by the iconic images from Hubble.
Manned space travel itself was largely dependent on the radio link to Mother Earth. From 'The Eagle has landed' to 'Houston we have a problem', radio's legacy continues, perhaps someday a faint but recognisable signal will be picked up from another galaxy....
Submitted by: Donald Cameron
Submitted on 2007.02.08
Entry 4284: Spll Checqueur
Withuot wihch we wuold al be in a bit of botehr
Alias, I find taht besdies this mravellouse invitation their is a dye hard beard out their that rephraynes form using it!
And it is painted cos I chequed !
Submitted by: Neil McCann
Submitted on 2007.02.08
Entry 4285: Pill
Pill is the best patented invention because before it couples were having baby more than they desire and so that they were not giving enogh love or care to their babies. Also for the lots of the mothers it was worse because they were giving birth despite of being ready for a new responsibility. Or they were going to doctor for curettage. Can you imagine this situation? In my opinion it is like killing someone and especially young pregnants were doing this because they were being troubled or maybe depressed etc. And this was only one salvation.
But now we don't have such problems and we are all more relaxed. I think pill is the best invention and thanks to its inventor.
Submitted by: Tarkan Varisli
Submitted on 2007.02.08
Entry 4287: internet
Iam patent good she is the one of resistant production of soybean resistent to the drought and, because this would help to countries in via of development and with little water available (Africa) .a being able to seed and to produce these products that alleviate deficid of foods that in these times even insult
Submitted by: fernando Wilson Espinoza cáceres
Submitted on 2007.02.08
Entry 4288: Moller Skycar
I believe the Moller Skycar is the greatest patented invention and will prove to be a massive influence on the way the world will travel in the future. The idea of a flying car has been around for decades, but here we can see a realistic vision of what personal transport may eventually be like in the near future.
Just as the first automobiles were created and subsequently evolved, now we can see the next generation of motorised passenger vehicles at its birth and watch it slowly become the standard mode of transport for millions.
Submitted by: Simon Bradbury
Submitted on 2007.02.09
Entry 4289: Lightbulb
The lightbulb is the best patented invention ever to be invented, because without it other inventions may not be safe or even possible. No one would be able to see at night or in dark places without natural light sources e.g. the moon or glowworms. Lightbulbs are safer options than candles or fires and generally provide better light.
Inventions such as cars would not be as effective without lightbulbs and would probably be even more dangerous because you would be unable to see the road and what was in front of you. Torches would not even be available as portable lights. Television and computer screens would cause, many eye problems without proper lighting to see them.
It would be dark inside homes, most of the time, and outside, at night. Those who are afraid of the dark would be living in almost constant fear. It makes live a lot easier if you have to go and check on stock in the dark, or go to the neighbours down the road, even going to the toile in the night would be difficult.
Lightbulbs are safer than candles, another light source or fire, as they, generally, do not start fires in places they are not wanted and you do not have to be so careful of burning yourself.
Lightbulbs are safer than some other light sources, and they provide an easier, better light, they also assist with other inventions.
Submitted by: Kathryn Hamilton
Submitted on 2007.02.09
Entry 4290: Science to reach everybody
I think the best invention of the history is the 'Printing Press' by the Johannes Gutenberg in 1450. I am not sure whether mister Gutenberg had taken a patent or not. But that inventios is certainly the one that disseminated the knowledge to society indiscriminately; hence, human brian have became open to new inventions so on.
Submitted by: Emin Yılmaz
Submitted on 2007.02.09
Entry 4299: Clean Water
Before water treatment plants were built people regularly died of cholera, diarrhea, and other illness related to poor water quality. Today people take for granted that the water coming out of their taps is clear and will not kill them. 150 years ago, if they were lucky enough to have flowing water, it would have been dirty and dieses ridden. Clean water is responsible for more prevented deaths then antibiotics or any surgery in use today. It has dramatically improved society’s production and improved the life of billions. Now the only challenge is to give clean water to the billions more in the world that don’t have it.
Submitted by: Erik Philipp
Submitted on 2007.02.09
Entry 4305: Time and the Second
What does almost everything in the Human world rely on? Time! Communication, Calendars, Physics, Space Travel, almost anything you can think of would not have happened, or at least not at such a rate (see what I mean!?) without a standard of time. The second is something we refer to and make use of on a daily basis, and I for one would be lost without it. It is a universal standard by which all things can be measured and compared. If anyone was to patent such a thing, they would surely be the richest person in the world. If someone has patented the S.I. unit system, then this could be their 15 minutes of fame.
Submitted by: John Tardrew
Submitted on 2007.02.09
Entry 4306: The mechanical clock
Probably the most important man-made invention. Capable of measuring time. In the past, sun dials, hour glasses etc were used but not until the mechanical clock was invented has time been effectively captured, measured and utilised by man. Due to this initial invention the modern world now revolves around time and how to productively schedule your precious hours and have every person working off the same constant.
Being able to accurately measure time has led to a number of other inportant inventions from motors to computers, aeroplanes to space shuttles.
It was one of this first times that humans had captured something abstract (time), harnessed it and converted it into a concrete object.
With all our knowledge today and what we think we know about our world we still try to encapsulate and understand concepts such as time. But 'time' may not even exist because the past does not exist and neither does the future, all we have is right now, which by the time you think of it is then the past....
Submitted by: Garry Buckland
Submitted on 2007.02.09
Entry 4308: electromagnetic induction
The discovery of electromagnetic induction is the force that transformed electricity into a world revolutionary technology.
Imagine a world with no lights, telephones, computers, cars or planes.
Current medical practices and our understanding of the human body would still be in 'The Dark Ages'.
Travel to the next country would be an adventure, space travel would just be a dream. Talking to friends could only be face to face and news from the other side of the world would take weeks to arrive.
There would be no nuclear race, the 'bomb' would not have been dropped.
The human contribution to global warming would be negligible and certainly not likely.
Our civilisation would be transported back nearly 200 years although it would still be a democracy.
We could not live without it although it may be the death of us.
Submitted by: Gavin Pettigrew
Submitted on 2007.02.09
Entry 4310: The Best Invention Ever
the best invention ever is my dear friend robin,
why you will ask well very easy, because he is the best friend someone can wish, although you might not think that a human can be an invention i think it is, God made us so we are an invention
have a nice day
nick
Submitted by: Nick Duppen
Submitted on 2007.02.09
Entry 4315: Tesla, who else
One of the basic invention, who grounded road to modern way of life is Tesla's induction motor.
Submitted by: Dejan Oliveric
Submitted on 2007.02.09
Entry 4317: Superconductors
The world's best patented invention is described in British Patents 1178115 and 1178116 "Improvements in and relating to Superconductors". This was the moment when superconductors changed from laboratory curiosities into useable wires for the manufacture of high field elecromagnets. The first, highly beneficial, outcome was the development of MRI body scanners. More importantly, this was the first step towards high magnetic field devices of all sorts, opening the way for the containment of nuclear fusion reactions and the development of efficient interstellar drives for spaceships. These technologies will be essential for viable space travel for the colonisation of other planets. As it is now officially recognised that we have spoilt the planet we currently live on, we had better proceed with space exploration before it is too late.
Longer term it seems almost certain that superconducting technology will be needed for force field and shield generation, warp drives and foldspace devices to make space travel faster and safer. Tony, Frank and I are not rich nor famous, but I hope we have done our bit to help the survival of homo sapiens.
Submitted by: John Gilbert
Submitted on 2007.02.09
Entry 4326: A Patent on Nothing; vacuum tubes
‘Nature abhors a vacuum’, however it embraces many remarkable patents upon which television, computers and medical equipment depend. In particular cathode rays devices, which mark the birth of the atomic and electronic age. Aristotle said there is no such thing as a vacuum but Torricelli disproved that dictum with his invention of the barometer. Having invented and subsequently aborted the aether, things have again come full circle, as quantum theory describes a vacuum as a fluctuating medium of virtual particles. Also the accelerating expansion of the universe, implies that the vacuum is filled with a mysterious dark energy. [Indeed the universe itself might have been created out of ‘nothing’] The ‘Holy Grail’ of theoretical physics is to find a Theory Of Everything but what we actually need is a Theory Of Nothing, since the universe is just an excited quantum state of the vacuum. This would indeed be the ‘best’ invention - - the discovery of God’s patent perhaps
Submitted by: Paul Gray Bennett
Submitted on 2007.02.09
Entry 4327: Sun and Planets
The Sun and Planet Gear
Robert Ghanea-Hercock, Robert.ghanea-hercock@bt.com
The sun and planet gear was a method of converting vertical motion to rotary motion and utilised the reciprocating steam engine. It was invented by the Scottish engineer William Murdoch, an employee of Boulton and Watt, but was patented by James Watt in October 1781. It was a pivotal development that enabled the steam locomotive and other engines of the Industrial Revolution.
The sun and planet gear converted the vertical motion of a beam, driven by a steam engine, into circular motion using a 'planet,' a cogwheel fixed at the end of the pumping rod, which was connected to the beam of the engine. With the motion of the beam this revolved and turned the 'sun', a larger rotating cog, which turned the drive shaft, providing rotary motion.
James Watt's new high pressure steam engine, combined with the patented sun and planet gear, transformed the older Newcomen engine into the key innovation of the Industrial Revolution. This catalysed the production of machine tools, which in turn could be used to produce better machines.
This invention changed the world forever, and gave birth to the modern age. In particular it migrated engines into factories, enabling the whole profession of the modern engineer. It also made possible the construction of factories that could work continuously and operate wherever required. In turn this led to a revolution in transportation, i.e. the locomotive and steam ship.
Submitted by: Robert Ghanea-Hercock
Submitted on 2007.02.09
Entry 4328: Leading with technology
The Telephone, it has to be, Alexander Graham Bell.
Our lives would end without it now; my God it would be hell.
Without it now, where would we be, could we fly to space?
With no communication systems we’d have never made the race.
Imagine life without a phone, and how far back we’d go,
The world’s communication systems back into Morse code.
Think of all the world events throughout history,
How quickly now we get to know, we hear, we read, we see.
We’ve globalised community and business, moved our homes,
Our families live in other lands, so we use the telephone.
It’s enabled us with fax machines, then internet; e-mail,
Quick chat and instant conversation, replacing mail of snail…!
The telephone, it seems to me revolutionised our lives,
And now we’ve moved from land-line, to our hands-free mobile lines.
So Alexander Graham Bell he taught the world to speak,
Leading, just like Audi; Vorsprung durch Technik.
So we’re all sat busy texting, sending messages at pace,
And tell me, is it possible to telephone from outer space?
Submitted by: Wendy Barton
Submitted on 2007.02.09
Entry 4329: The Computer
The invention of the Computer is one of the greatest technological feats of all time; it is almost ranked as highly as the light bulb invented by Thomas Edison!
A computer was originally a term that referred to a person who performed numerical calculations with the aid of a calculating device, such as the abacus. Over time the computer has developed more than any other invention known to man, this is why it's so special. From starting out as a man with an abacus, it is now in this day an age, a Tool of Which everything and everyone is built around. Without it there would be no such things as Laptop Computers, Global Positioning Systems and most importantly the Internet! - The greatest communication and file sharing system in the world. The sheer fact of the matter is, without the Computer, the space vehicle used and the communications systems surrounding it would not work and this competition would never exist!
Submitted by: Matthew Patton
Submitted on 2007.02.09
Entry 4330: Light
God said, "Let there be light."
We said, "Let there be more."
Submitted by: Tiezheng Duan
Submitted on 2007.02.09
Entry 4332: Knihtisk
Myslím si, že velmi důležitý patentovaný vynález je stroj na tisk a knihtisk. Touto formou jsou nejsrozumitelněji a globálně všem vrstvám veřejnosti siřené učebnice literatura a speciálně Bible Poselství evangelia všem lidem Slova cesty pravdy a skutečného života Slova svobody a jedině cesty k Bohu Slova k věcnému životu v Kristu Ježíši
Submitted by: Dita Wanglerová
Submitted on 2007.02.09
Entry 4334: trip in near orbit
THE WHEEL
Submitted by: JONNATHAN HURST
Submitted on 2007.02.09
Entry 4335: Two Wheels are better than Four
Any one of us could list many inventions which have had considerable impact on the world and then find it extremely difficult to say which was the best amongst them. Any successful invention offers us some benefit but its value is difficult to measure being perceived differently by each of us. Most innovations have also brought with them their own negative effects too and these make it more difficult to decide which is the world’s best.
However, there is one invention which is most remarkable. It has revolutionised life for millions of people around the world. The humble bicycle. Far more prolific than motor vehicles, it requires relatively little energy or resources in its construction and produces zero emissions in use. It is affordable, mechanically extremely efficient and frankly it is difficult to find anything negative to say about it. Hundreds of millions of people would doubtlessly confirm this.
The modern bicycle is a collection of combined ingenious inventions many of which have been patented in their turn. The whole concept has also had its knock-on effect on water and in the air with the pedalo and some interesting human-powered light aircraft. No doubt there are still further refinements to come and maybe further new applications. I don’t think anyone has managed unpowered space travel yet.... Better watch this 'space'!
Submitted by: Alan Jones
Submitted on 2007.02.09
Entry 4336: From Here to Eternity! X15
My reason for choosing the X15, which is, in fact, a Hypersonic Rocket Plane is that is was the first RLV- (Re-usable Launch Vehicle).
The X15 led the way to further research and technological developments such as the Space Shuttle Programme.
This research will prove to be of the upmost importance to the human race. For us to survive in the future we will have to branch out and explore. There is no doubt that our most precious planet Earth will inevitibaly die! Therefore, the need to proceed in this area of research and technology e.g speed of light travel, is crucial to human survival.
It might be all well and good terra-forming Mars but that will only be a temporary solution.
I know I will not personally reap the benefits, but the destiny of those who follow me has yet to be designed and made.
Submitted by: Robert Frost
Submitted on 2007.02.09
Entry 4337: Fiber Glass...
After thinking long and hard about what may be the best patented idea, I came to the decision that fibreglass has a loud shout at it. The flexible, light weight material has allowed the world to produce over 40,000 products with it. From lightweight hockey sticks for those keen athletes looking for the best performance, to the old women sitting in their cosy living room with fibreglass insulation, everyone has somehow benefitted from it. Where would we be without it? A mess at sport and cold!
Unfortunately I am only 14 years old so I cannot legally win; I just thought I would say my point. It may give someone inspiration.
Submitted by: Harriet Johnson
Submitted on 2007.02.09
Entry 4338: TV Remote Contol
I believe that no one can not imagine tv, without remote control at this time.
Submitted by: Ozgur Demirkilinc
Submitted on 2007.02.09
Entry 4339: wshtrrthb thgwrt
rth wrthwrth w4ty efgsdfg ghj vbxvn rgth try eg srh shsty
Submitted by: svbsgf wserhtwrt
Submitted on 2007.02.10
Entry 4340: The Best Invention huh?
It started when i saw that link on a web page saying "write your opinion about "The best invention".I usually think that i'm intelligent (actually i'm not) so i clicked on it and when i came to this page, then i began to think about that question: "What is THE BEST INVENTION?"
I got lost in my thoughts in a few minutes.Then i realized that there is not any invention that i can call "Best"... Yeah! I was shocked, like you, at first.
Maybe most of you can say "Why? bla bla is the best invention cause bla bla bla".Well, that's a loooooooong story but let me try...
Of course i have a -most useful- tool that makes life easier for me DOT! Did you see? Yes it's me, problem is there. That tool, invention whatever you call it makes life easier for me but what about the life. Am i getting easier for life by using that tool?
I use a saw to cut a tree. I use a PC(that uses plastic discs,uses electricity,contain heavy metals ect.). Also if there is another person like me double them up and yes it's easy. But for me.
Today we are the hardest(worst) for life. Life can not support us so we hurt each other. So i think this is the proof. There isn't any best invention. Perhaps that's the reason why we can't find a meaning to life.
Submitted by: L. Alp M. Schiesser
Submitted on 2007.02.10
Entry 4341: Screw
They tighten our world togather.
They make this competition possible.
Because of them, the trip to space is no longer a dream.
Submitted by: shijia chen
Submitted on 2007.02.10
Entry 4343: patented invention
I feel the best patented invention is discovery of antimicrobial agents. It has revolutionalized the field of treatment of infectious diseases. many precious lives have been saved.
Submitted by: anupama sukhlecha
Submitted on 2007.02.10
Entry 4346: CATSEYE
Invented in 1933 by Percy Shaw of Halifax,England. Made from two pairs of reflective glass spheres set into a rubber mounted in a cast iron housing.This road safety device has saved hundreds of lifes, and it's simplicity makes it the best patented invention ever.
Submitted by: Bruce McCulloch
Submitted on 2007.02.10
Entry 4347: X-RAYS SAVE THE WORLD
If there can be only one patent to be admired above the rest, let it be X-Ray Machinery since its uses are so varied and so vital. X-Rays have many uses but I suppose the greatest use, and the most well-known is in the medical field. It has saved myself, many of my family, pets and friends by indicating medical problems so that important operations could be done and injuries that needed urgent repair be sorted before getting worse and impossible to put right. Furthermore it was radiotherapy that saved my wife's life and aided several others in my family who suffered cancers, prolonging their lives in every case. Dentists use it to build up a picture of teeth and tooth problems. Vets use them for domestic animals bred for food.
Working in the food manufacture industry X-Ray scanners are used to indicate flaws in equipment and alien objects in food and drink thus ensuring that food is packaged uncontaminated and is able to do this at high production volumes. It is used to locate weaknesses and stress in materials, an early warning of metal fatigue.
I’m an amateur astronomer and it benefits in Cosmology and X-Ray Astronomy and
enables the study of objects behind dense nebula
It is used by historians and Art Museums and in Crystallography as well as Quantum Mechanics. Finally and not least it protects in security fields identifying suspicious objects in luggage.
Primarily X-Rays make an excellent, non-invasive tool to determine problems within living tissue.
Submitted by: James Lennie
Submitted on 2007.02.10
Entry 4348: the best idea since sliced bread...
i think the best patented invention is the can opener - with out it, all students would die of starvation!
Submitted by: maggie toms
Submitted on 2007.02.10
Entry 4351: Water trap
A pre-eminent invention should -
Primarily be of great benefit to the public
Be manufactured cheaply enough for widespread use
Be completely reliable
Require little or no maintenance
Few inventions can meet these criteria but one that does is the Water trap (or S-bend or U-bend) hygienically isolating a toilet or basin from the sewer or drain.
Invented byAlexander Cummings and patented in 1775. (British Patent 814)
Submitted by: Jack Levy
Submitted on 2007.02.10
Entry 4352: Bell's Telephone
Born March 3, 1847, in Edinburgh, Scotland, Alexander Graham Bell was the son and grandson of specialists in elocution and the correction of speech. Educated to pursue a career in the same specialty, his knowledge of the nature of sound led him not only to teach the deaf, but also to launch the telephone.
In 1876, at the age of 29, Alexander Graham Bell invented his telephone and beat Elisha Gray to the patent office to be crowned inventor. We can imagine the telephone being developed for another 100 years and still not reaching 'perfection'.
Alexander Graham Bell - Quote "Leave the beaten track occasionally and dive into the woods. Every time you do so you will be certain to find something that you have never seen before. Follow it up, explore all around it, and before you know it, you will have something worth thinking about to occupy your mind. All really big discoveries are the results of thought."
As a UK competition, I chose a British invention, one that has brought the world closer together; enabling loved ones on the other side of the world to communicate with family and friends. It has brought Governments closer together helping to keep the peace. The telephone line itself has developed and has enabled further development of the computer via another great invention, the Internet. It has potential to carry signals for the television, allows digital photographs to be sent around the world as well as pre-recorded video
Submitted by: Brian Sandiford
Submitted on 2007.02.10
Entry 4355: TRANSISTOR
I think the most useful invention by now is for me the TRANSISTOR. I write it in capital letter by respect to whom that did this invention. Imagine if we haven’t this device now, the life will be different in every day life and every where. For instance: in hospital, all those instruments have many TRANSISTORS like machine MRI to make the diagnosis easier and accurate. In bank, in science research, in space studying, in artificial satellite, in control tower, in international market, at home and everyplace where the modern life is. Because all these electronic devices are functioning with TRANSISTORS and the most important thing are contributing to less consume electric power so equal less pollution. Imagine if we hadn’t these TRANSISTORS the life would be more and more difficult hundred times to all people over the world each one at his or her stage. For me sure I wouldn’t participate to this dream virtual win a trip to space.
A note, why only for the UK residents are eligible? (Respect to UK residents). Are we les valuable to you? I think it is unequal from your part.
But, thank you at the end.
Submitted by: Rabah Kireche
Submitted on 2007.02.10
Entry 4356: helicopter
nothing
Submitted by: Kunal Kaura
Submitted on 2007.02.10
Entry 4357: rose tinted spectacles
contact lenses.because like space they give people a different perspective upon the world.
Submitted by: matthew handford
Submitted on 2007.02.10
Entry 4359: cells pones as tool bond and
Cells as tool bond and contrivance of the third generation
On our days there are many of cells phones.
the cells phones use tool bond there is to talk with
once to anoter person when the anoter person there is far away
from the second.
In the cellpones there are many options that use
as: diary , slide in the internet , games , ringtons , pictures,
clculator, claendar , more and more.
as that the cellspones poened called the third generation.
In this option we can
to see anything in live
example: news, footballgames and many things that over
in live.
that cellphones in the third generation cost exspensive but
many people like to use in the third generation.
Submitted by: carmit hecet
Submitted on 2007.02.10
Entry 4360: Inkjet cartridges
The idea of printing. Printing has evolved over the past few decades to inhabit itself into the structures of todays modern world. The humble cartridge uses idea's and processes of putting ink to paper that really has had a massive effect. Not only on our lifestyles but also economically. The ink industry is one of the biggest now days. Without ink cartridges we wouldn't have aids to help in designing, carrying out and informing of procedures in the engineering, marketing and medical world.
Submitted by: Zan Arshed
Submitted on 2007.02.10
Entry 4362: compass
I think its very important to find your way when you lost.Compass was changed the world.People understood the worlds shapeAfter that scientists start devoloping ships cars trains ....it's important because its begining of the revolution
Submitted by: ali kocayörük
Submitted on 2007.02.10
Entry 4363: Anaesthetics
I was sitting in the dentists chair and wondering what the greatest invention was - the wheel the jet engine, the light bulb, and then I heard those dreaded two words - 'root canal'. I decided right then that the best invention EVER are anaesthetics!
Submitted by: David Lloyd
Submitted on 2007.02.10
Entry 4364: artificial hip
The artificial hip joint has given mobility and pain-free life to millions of older people. In previous generations these people would have been unable to live a normal life, but now they are pain-free and active, walking, swimming, even skiing.
Submitted by: Linda Hoblyn
Submitted on 2007.02.10
Entry 4366: Steam Engine
The steam engine, either static or locomotive, powered the industrial revolution.
By freeing industry fron water or wind power and providing ever increasing power output,
the steam engine allowed goods to be produced in huge quantities and with greater quality.
In essence the steam engine allowed us to build the world we know today.
As time passed, the production of the engines themselves required
new techniques and better engineering, further aiding
industry.
Fuelled by coal, wood or oil, the steam engine deserves to be recognised
as the greatest invention ever.
Submitted by: Peter Slegg
Submitted on 2007.02.10
Entry 4367: The iPatent....I mean iPod.
The iPod is my entry. Even though there is still a bit of niggling about it`s full patent....well, a multi-million dollar niggle!
It`s a beautifully crafted piece of technology, which so many people around the world now couldn`t be without. Just ask most people what three things they would have on that desert island with them and I guarantee it will turn-up regularly, with an inbuilt solar charger off course....that could be the next patent for Apple!
Submitted by: Owen McNally
Submitted on 2007.02.10
Entry 4368: The Pencil
It will work in space, under water, upside down and under all environmental conditions. It will last for many thousands of years (depending on the stability of the writing medium) and will not degrade. It can be carried in the pocket, needs no power and is capable of expressing thoughts, images, calculations and abstractions as complex as the mind of the creator. It requires another invention to truly come into its own (e.g. a writing medium such as papyrus or paper) but it has already recorded more ideas than there are patents in the world.
Submitted by: Paul Stevens
Submitted on 2007.02.10
Entry 4369: The tampon
My wife says so and she is always right!
Submitted by: Paul Stevens
Submitted on 2007.02.10
Entry 4371: Paint brush
Our earliest recorded acts of creativity, marking out the human race as different from the animals they hunted, is the painting of animal hunts on cave walls. To move beyond mere daubings required the invention of a more sophisticated tool than fingers or a chewed twig and so we come to he paint brush. This is the tool that marked us out as human.
Submitted by: Paul Stevens
Submitted on 2007.02.10
Entry 4373: ink and skim
Writing implements have been around for centuries. Inventors have tried to make a pen that was efficient, clean and cheap to manufacture. One that was handy to use, fits into a handbag or pocket, and could be used at work and at home, by anyone of any age, and was cheap for businesses and individuals to purchase.
In the late 1930’s and early 1940’s enter the Biro brothers and friend Mr Meyne.They eventually succeeded in manufacturing a cheap, clean to use, BIRO, resulting in world wide sales, international recognition, and the BIRO name being synonymous with ballpoint pens. BIRO is in the dictionary.
Look at your desk; I am sure you have several, also in your pockets and briefcase, some at home, in the car, on a boat, in aeroplane cockpits and spacecraft. In places a computer doesn’t fit. They can be refillable or disposable, different ink colours and individual casing designs.
They are constantly evolving and improving style and design, are used as a marketing tool with company details on, sent by post; flat these days to avoid higher postage, possibly the most popular ‘freebie’. You can sign a treaty, contract, doodle, write a letter, compose a song, end a relationship, write to Mum, stir tea or design a space ship with a BIRO. It is said that the pen is mightier than the sword and a BIRO is still a tour de force today.
Well done Messieurs BIRO and Meyne – your Patent is the one for me.
(249 words)
Submitted by: Maggie Barker
Submitted on 2007.02.10
Entry 4374: An eye to the future!
The greatest invention ever...easy...without a shadow of a doubt it has got to be the telescope! I am talking the fascinating design that German Hans Lippershey put a name to, I am talking the primitive instrumant that Galileo Galilei pointed towards the heavens and changed the course of humanity. In that instant 400 years ago when this early scientist realised that the Earth was not at the centre of the universe, his mind broke away from the teachings of the church, and he challanged the very things that every modern society at the time believed. It must have been enormously difficult for this human being to stand and confront the world, with what many would slander as crazy ramblings, yet when he published his theories (confirming Nikolas Copernicus) he ignited a scientific revolution that made us question everything. If, in the history of mankind a single invention (used by a wondrous human!) can be linked to engineering, science, design, thought and philosophy it has got to be the telescope, it must be when Galileo said "No, you are wrong, and i can prove it!"
Submitted by: Paul Williams
Submitted on 2007.02.10
Entry 4375: The Transistor
I think first than "the life" should be the better Invention, but it's not patented and should not became patented. The life inventor should remain the life owner.
For my opinion, the best pattented invention of the modern world is the Transistor. Without it, no computers, no modern communications, no satellites, no TV, no electronic medical monitoring devices, no alarm for old or handicapated peoples, no GPS, no...
I think than in a futur, transistors will also take care of the life on earth wen the oil society will death. With it, we can works, comunicates without excessing traveling with cars or around the world, we can also regulate power using solar, wind and water energy.
Submitted by: AEBERHARD Fred
Submitted on 2007.02.10
Entry 4376: To Touch The Stars
The space rocket is the most remarkable creation to exist, being our ticket outside. Nothing else can bring such fascination, knowledge and belief. To explore where our own lives do not exist, with more mystery than anything else in the world.
Submitted by: Jamie Scott
Submitted on 2007.02.10
Entry 4377: Photography-Smile!
Photography was a phrase coined by Sir John Herschel in 1839, words derived from Greek, for writing and light.
The first camera was initially designed or invented by Leonardo da Vinci in 1519 and his drawing of the camera obscura, which had already been used for 400 years as a drawing aid before it was used for photography.
Various attempts to capture images using silver nitrate were unsuccessfully tried by many, including Thomas Wedgwood, but it was Niepce in 1827 that discovered an image that hardened when exposed to light and soon partnered Louis Daguerre 4 years before dying. In 1849 after the French Government bought into it, the Daguerreotype was eventually born.
Several years and processes later (Collodion, Carte-de-visite, Ambrotype), William Henry Fox Talbot later invented the Calotype and the famous view of the lattice window, a process that unlike the daguerreotype, could produce several images, thus, the first true negative was born, although inferior in quality to it predecessor.
Photography grew and eventually leads us to today’s cinema and more recently, digital photography, where we can view images instantaneously and even on our mobile phones.
If we had not had these first photographical images, we would not have had cinema photography, so no movies, no Television and no certainly no pictorial magazines with pictures, and possibly a world without celebrities as we know them worldwide… basically a world of text.
So, what would be my ultimate goal? To photograph the earth, the world, from space.
Submitted by: Stuart Wimbles
Submitted on 2007.02.10
Entry 4378: i'm going into space
a spaceship, cause then i get to go into space! :)
Submitted by: Peter Medlock
Submitted on 2007.02.10
Entry 4379: LIFE
I WOULD SAY THE BEST INVENTION EVER MADE IS THE LIFE SUPPORT MACHINE, BECAUSE IT CAN GIVE ALL OF US UNFORTUANATE PEOPLE THAT ARE IN ACCIDENTS I.E. CAR CRASHES, A SECOND CHANCE IN LIFE. HOW AMAZING IS THAT.
Submitted by: amanda moon
Submitted on 2007.02.10
Entry 4380: Life support
the best ever invention is the LIFE SUPPORT MACHINE , without this you would not get a second chance in life. there are people that are walking about on this very day and without a life support machiene this could not happen,
if there was no life support machines think of all the premature babies that wouldnt have been here today.
so many people might think that a microwave is a great invention but just think a microwave cant save your life if you have an accident a LIFE SUPPORT MACHINE CAN!!
Submitted by: amanda moon
Submitted on 2007.02.10
Entry 4381: Water Well Pump
For the millions that find it a vital aid to obtaining water that they could not live without. The best patented invention in the world.
The Water Well Pump.
Submitted by: Bertie Donovan
Submitted on 2007.02.10
Entry 4382: Vacuum flask
It keeps hot things hot
Submitted by: Paul Nevins
Submitted on 2007.02.10
Entry 4383: Internal combustion engine
Without the internal combustion engine we would all be running round in steam powered cars
Submitted by: Paul Nevins
Submitted on 2007.02.10
Entry 4384: Our Sun's Substitute
The light bulb is a simple, basic and dull but, to be fair, it has changed the world we live in. No one truly takes notice of this tiny object which has benefited all corners of the world and will continue doing so forever. It is so simpe, that it's basic design and capabilities have been undervalued, therefore it is rarely taken notice of when we eat in restaurants, study at college or even breathe in our own house. The object is truly original, and invisible in today's world of advanced technology, but why is it invisible when nothing in recent years has made as big an impact as it did all those years ago.
I hear yourself asking, why does the light bulb deserve to be the best patented invention ever. Well, in my opinion, the only thing that can truly change the world, is something that can never be beaten, and it's true fact that the light bulb will brighten the night for centuries to come because who can turn round and say "I've created something better". Absolutely no one.
And finally, how do we light up a spacecraft, well, it's not rocket science.
Submitted by: Graham Allen
Submitted on 2007.02.10
Entry 4385: The Humble Ball Bearing
The humble ball bearing has to rate as one of the best and most useful patented inventions in modern times. Patented in 1903, this simple piece of technology revolutionised much of the world and made possible much of the technology that we use today. A hundred years after the patent, every household in the country still uses machines that rely on the ball bearing or its later incarnations although we give it no thought. With its current usage ranging from the car to the washing machine, to the fan cooling our computers and almost certainly to the RLVs that will take the winner into space. Without its existence it’s unlikely that I’d be writing this to enter a competition for a ride in a vehicle that uses the humble ball bearing in some way.
Submitted by: Phil Hawksley
Submitted on 2007.02.10
Entry 4386: Cats Eyes
Cats eyes on roads must save thousands of lives every night and every time there is fog. We probably only notice them when they are not there! – ie if they have had to be removed for repairs to the road. But they are a constant help for our driving. The different colours of white, red and green that we now have are a wonderful guide to the road user and, in raised headlights, can be seen for a great distance.
I often say a quiet thank you to the inventor of cats eyes and am amazed that many other countries in the world still do not have them.
Submitted by: Hilary King
Submitted on 2007.02.10
Entry 4387: The Smoke Alarm.
T-To be the best invention ever, the invention must be
H-Hard to live without if needed
E-Easily affordable for everyone
S-Safe for the user and the environment
M-Made accessible and easily available
O-Officially patented
K-Keep doing exactly what it was designed to do and
E-Ensuring protection and reassurance
A-Although we may never have to rely on one
L-Lets be aware that it has saved thousands of lives
A-And it might save your own life one day
R-Remember, a good invention doesn`t have to be complicated
M-Many can be very simple and effective at what it does.
Submitted by: Andrew Barnett
Submitted on 2007.02.10