Some of the greatest
inventions &
discoveries
Mobile Phone
Inventor Charles E. Alden claimed, in
the 29 April 1906 issue of the New York
World, to have invented a device called
the “vest pocket telephone” although
Alden never had the chance to produce
this device in large quantities.
The first mobile telephone calls were
made from cars in 1946. Bell System's
Mobile Telephone Service was made on
17 June in St. Louis, Missouri, followed
by Illinois Bell Telephone Company's car
radiotelephone service in Chicago on 2
October. The MTA phones were
composed of vacuum tubes and relays, and weighed over 80 pounds (36 kg).
There were initially only 3 channels for all the users in the metropolitan area,
increasing later to 32 channels across 3 bands. This service continued into the
1980s in large portions of North America. Due to the small number of radio
frequencies available, the service quickly reached capacity. In 1956, the world’s
first partly automatic car phone system, Mobile System A (MTA), was
introduced in Sweden.
John F. Mitchell, Motorola's chief of portable communication products in 1973,
played a key role in advancing the development of handheld mobile telephone
equipment. Mitchell successfully pushed Motorola to develop wireless
communication products that would be small enough to use anywhere and
participated in the design of the cellular phone. Martin Cooper, a Motorola
researcher and executive, was the key researcher on Mitchell's team that
developed the first hand-held mobile telephone for use on a cellular network.
The new invention sold for $3,995 and weighed two pounds, leading to a
nickname "the brick".
The world's first commercial automated cellular network was launched in Japan
by NTT in 1979, initially in the metropolitan area of Tokyo. In 1981, this was
followed by the simultaneous launch of the Nordic Mobile Telephone (NMT)
system in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. Several countries then
followed in the early-to-mid 1980s including the UK, Mexico and Canada.
Features
All mobile phones have a number of features in common, but manufacturers
also try to differentiate their own products by implementing additional
functions to make them more attractive to consumers. This has led to great
innovation in mobile phone development over the past 20 years.
The common components found on all phones are:
A battery, providing the power source for the phone functions.
An input mechanism to allow the user to interact with the phone. The
most common input mechanism is a keypad, but touch screens are also
found in some high-end smartphones.
Basic mobile phone services to allow users to make calls and send text
messages.
All GSM phones use a SIM card to allow an account to be swapped
among devices. Some CDMA devices also have a similar card called a R-
UIM.
Individual GSM, WCDMA, iDEN and some satellite phone devices are
uniquely identified by an International Mobile Equipment Identity
(IMEI) number.
Low-end mobile phones are often referred to as feature phones, and offer basic
telephony. Handsets with more advanced computing ability through the use of
native software applications became known as smartphones.
A printed circuit board inside a Nokia 3210
By
André Oliveira
Mouse
When it was invented: The computer
mouse as we know it today was
invented and developed by Douglas
Engle Bart during the 60's and was
patented on November 17, 1970.
While creating the mouse, Douglas
was working at the Stanford
Research Institute, a think tank
sponsored by Stanford University,
and originally referred to the mouse
as a "X-Y Position Indicator for a
Display System." This mouse was
first used with the Xerox Alto
computer system in 1973.
However, because of its lack of
success the first widely used mouse
is credited to being the mouse found
on the Apple Lisa computer. Today,
the mouse is now found and used
on every computer.
How it was made: The unit was
linked to the computer by a cable so
the motion signals could be
electrically transmitted to the
computer for viewing on the
monitor.
Impact in our lives: A mouse is an
input device that allows the user to
move a pointer on the screen and
interact with the computer system.
It controls the position of the cursor.
It activates application procedures.
It dispatches mouse down events.
By Gustavo Correia
GPS (Global Position System)
Introduction
GPS or Global Position System was created
during the World War II to solve the problem of
accurate location, and to combat this problem
several projects were created over time, to reach
the nowadays GPS.
A brief History of GPS
Although the history of GPS begins with the military, scientists,
fisherman, ambulance drivers and even hikers now use GPS units.
From cell phones to commercial aircraft, GPS use is increasing at
an incredible rate.
1. GPS: The Little Satellite In 1957, the Soviet Union launched a beach ball-sized satellite named Sputnik. Scientists in the US, who were tracking the device, noticed that changes in the radio signals it emitted allowed them to predict Sputnik's location. The concept of satellite navigation quickly followed. The US Navy built the first satellite navigation system, TRANSIT, in the early 1960s. TRANSIT used five satellites and took several hours to update positions. The Navy upgraded to the TIMATION system in the late 1960s to help with submarine navigation
2. A Military Solution In the 1970s, the US Department of Defense began an effort to combine Navy and Air Force systems into a single system that could provide global navigation capability to all forces. System development continued and in 1978, the first NAVSTAR satellite was launched. Over the next several years, 10 satellites were put into orbit. Each satellite contained a radio transmitter and an atomic clock used to provide the timing accuracy needed to make the system work.
3. Tragedy Opens Up GPS In 1983, Soviet fighters shot down a Korean airliner that had strayed into restricted space due to a navigational error. US President Regan quickly announced that the GPS system would be declassified for civilian use. Although available for civilian navigation, GPS accuracy was restricted for non-military use through a process called Selective Availability (SA). SA introduced intentional errors
that resulted in an accuracy of only 100 meters for civilian users. While this level of accuracy was fine for commercial navigation, it provided little practical use at the personal level.
4. The Modern GPS Era In 1996, US President Clinton issued an order rescinding Selective Availability; in 2000, the order was carried out, increasing the accuracy of civilian GPS units by a factor of 10. Today, GPS receiving capability fits on a single chip and GPS receivers are in use in all forms of transportation and in handheld and cell phone devices.
After reading its history, what can we conclude about GPS?
GPS is a radio navigation system that allows us to know the exact
location of a point through information from the satellites. Operates
under all weather conditions, through signals sent by a constellation
of 24 satellites revolving around the Earth in six different orbital
planets. It takes 12 hours for a ride to Earth.
By Diogo Nuno Pontes Encarnação
TV set Everybody likes to be distracted, but sometimes we don't know how to do it. The
television it's always a good option. We sit on a comfy sofa, turn the television
on, until here it's all very simple. But it wasn't very simple to create this device
that captures millions attentions in this world. To reach these days, the
television needed science and many years of study. Today, we never think
about the work and the number of people who work many hours to give us the
privilege to see it. This work will show us the history of this revolutionary device,
called television.
What is a TV set? How it was made? And when it was invented?
A television set (also called a television, TV set, TV, or "Telly" (UK) ) is a device
that combines a tuner, display, and speakers for the purpose of viewing
television. Television sets became a popular consumer product after the
Second World War, using vacuum tubes and cathode ray tube displays. The
addition of color to broadcast television after 1953 further increased the
popularity of television sets, and an outdoor antenna became a common feature
of suburban homes. The ubiquitous television set became the display device for
the first generation of home computers. Televisions were made in 1923.
Who invented the TV set?
Mechanical televisions were commercially sold from 1928 to 1934 in the United
Kingdom, United States, and Soviet Union.The earliest commercially made
televisions sold by Baird in the UK in 1928 were radios with the addition of a
television device consisting of a neon tube behind a mechanically spinning disk
(patented by German engineer Paul Nipkow in 1884, see Nipkow disk) with a
spiral of apertures that produced a red postage-stamp size image, enlarged to
twice that size by a magnifying glass. The Baird "Televisor" was also available
without the radio. The Televisor sold in 1930–1933 is considered the first mass-
produced television, selling about a thousand units.
The first commercially made electronic televisions with cathode ray tubes were
manufactured by Telefunken in Germany in 1934 followed by other makers in
France (1936), Britain (1936), and America (1938).The cheapest of the pre–
World War II factory-made American sets, a 1938 image-only model with a 3-
inch (8 cm) screen, cost US$125, the equivalent of US$ 1,863 in 2007. The
cheapest model with a 12-inch (30 cm) screen was $445 ($6,633).
An estimated 19,000 electronic televisions were manufactured in Britain, and
about 1,600 in Germany, before World War II. About 7,000–8,000 electronic
sets were made in the U.S. before the War Production Board halted
manufacture in April 1942, production resuming in August 1945.
Television usage in the United States skyrocketed after World War II with the
lifting of the manufacturing freeze, war-related technological advances, the
gradual expansion of the television networks westward, the drop in television
prices caused by mass production, increased leisure time, and additional
disposable income. While only 0.5% of U.S. households had a television in
1946, 55.7% had one in 1954, and 90% by 1962. In Britain, there were 15,000
television households in 1947, 1.4 million in 1952, and 15.1 million by 1968.
What impact it has on human life?
Television has the power to inform, educate, and sometimes violate people's
privacy. The television is also a useful means of communication very significant.
It could even be said of a great public utility. It offers us a vast amount of
information that allows us to be updated in real time. As for education, it let us
know a little more about subjects. As for culture, it also informs us in all kinds of
topics.
In conclusion, television is a medium of communication per excellence,
important for the development of the world.
By Miguel Faria
Email is a method that lets you compose, send and receive messages over electronic
communication systems. The term e-mail applies both to systems that use the Internet
and are based on the SMTP protocol, as those systems known as intranets that
allow the exchange of messages within a company or
organization and are typically based on proprietary
protocols.
When it was discovered or invented?
The email was invented in 1965.
Who invented the email?
The email was be invented by Ray Tomlinson.
What impact is has on human life?
When the email came, his purpose was to be a fast and easy
way to use so that people can exchange information within a group. Still no internet,
there was no concept of instant messaging as we understand it today, it did not exist
and neither VOIP phones. The e-mail then became the most advanced and adjusted
way to send information to someone. A letter would take hours or days to reach the
recipient making information loaded unnecessary or obsolete. But the e-mail looked
fantastic, it's like a desk your errands and delivery, without mistakes, when you can get
them. The practical appeal of the e-mail was so strong that today, 40 years later, it
remains a form of intra-personal communication used by people more accustomed to
computers. The internet has transformed the email in media popularity and spread by
all the possibility to exchange information quickly and easily in a way never seen
before.
The importance of email nowadays:
Email is a quick and easy way to stay in touch with family, friends, business contacts,
and strangers. It doesn't cost the price of a stamp and you don't have to wait for days
to get a response or answer. In the business world, it is any
easy, fast way to keep in touch with co-workers
and employers. Emails keep us from wasting
valuable time being placed on hold when you
need to contact someone regarding business or
pleasure.
By Márcia Silva
History:
In 1802, Humphry Davy had what was then the most powerful electrical battery in the world at
the Royal Institution of Great Britain. In that year, he created the first incandescent light by
passing the current through a thin strip of platinum, chosen because the metal had an
extremely high melting point.
Joseph Swan (1828–1914) was a British physicist and chemist. In 1850, he began working with
carbonized paper filaments in an evacuated glass bulb. By 1860, he
was able to demonstrate a working device but the lack of a good
vacuum and an adequate supply of electricity resulted in a short
lifetime for the bulb and an inefficient source of light. By the mid-
1870s better pumps became available, and Swan returned to his
experiments.
With the help of Charles Stearn, an expert on vacuum pumps, in 1878, Swan developed a method
of processing that avoided the early bulb blackening.
Commercialization:
From 1880 he began installing light bulbs in homes and landmarks in England. His house was the
first in the world to be lit by a lightbulb and so the first house in the world to be lit by
hydroelectric power.
The home of Lord Armstrong at Cragside was also among the first houses to be lit by
electricity. In the early 1880 he had started his company.
In 1881, the Savoy Theatre in the City of Westminster, London was lit by Swan incandescent
lightbulbs, which was the first theatre, and the first public building in the world, to be lit
entirely by electricity.
Efficiency:
Approximately 90% of the power consumed by an incandescent light bulb is
emitted as heat, rather than as visible light.
1.-Outline of Glass bulb
2.-Low pressure inert gas (argon, nitrogen, krypton, xenon)
3.-Tungsten filament
4.-Contact wire (goes out of stem)
5.-Contact wire (goes into stem)
6.-Support wires (one end embedded in stem; conduct no current)
7.-Stem (glass mount)
8.-Contact wire (goes out of stem)
9.-Cap (sleeve)
10.-Insulation (vitrite)
11.-Electrical contact
By José Leandro
Antibiotics
2012/
2013
João Freitas ESFF
What is an antibiotic? An antibacterial is an agent that inhibits bacterial growth or
kills bacteria. The term is often used synonymously with the
term antibiotic; Today, however, with increased knowledge of the causative
agents of various infectious diseases, antibiotic(s) has come to
denote a broader range of antimicrobial compounds,
including anti-fungal and other compounds.
The term antibiotic was first used in 1942 by Selman Waksman
and his collaborators in journal articles to describe any
substance produced by a microorganism that is antagonistic
to the growth of other microorganisms in high dilution. This
definition excluded substances that kill bacteria, but are not
produced by microorganisms (such as gastric juices and
hydrogen peroxide). It also excluded synthetic antibacterial
compounds such as the sulfonamides. Many antibacterial
compounds are relatively small molecules with a molecular
weight of less than 2000 atomic mass units.
The first Antibacterial
Alexander Fleming, medical microbiologist at St. Mary's
Hospital, London, there were already some researching
substances that could kill or prevent the growth of bacteria in
infected wounds, research justified by the experience of the
First World War from 1914 to 1918, in which many soldiers died
of infection in wounds and ill-treated due to lack of proper
treatment. In 1928 Fleming developed staphylococcal research when he
discovered penicillin. The discovery of penicillin took place
under very peculiar circumstances, thanks to a series of
unforeseen and surprising.
In August 1928 Fleming took a vacation, and forgetfulness, left
some plates with cultures of staphylococci on the table, rather
than keep them in the fridge or unusable them, as it would be
natural. Upon returning to work in September of the same
year, he remarked that some of the plates were
contaminated with mold, this fact relatively common. Then
put them in a tray for cleaning and sterilization with lysol. Right
then joined a colleague in the lab, Dr. Pryce, and asked him
how their research. Was Fleming took the plates back to
explain some details to his colleague about the cultures of
staphylococci that was performing when he noticed that
there was, in one plate, a transparent halo around the mold
contaminant, which seemed to indicate that this fungus
produced a substance bactericide. The matter was discussed
between both Fleming and decided to make some fungus
cultures for further study.
The fungus was identified as belonging to the genus
Penicillium, from which derives the name given to the
substance of penicillin produced by him.
It was the first reaction penicilínica test performed in the
laboratory. Furthermore, the discovery of Fleming not did arise
great interest and initially no concerns in using it for
therapeutic purposes in cases of human infection to the
outbreak of World War II, 1939. In that year, and as a result of
the conflict itself in order to avoid unnecessary is low, were
then amplified from polls about penicillin and its human use.
Medical uses:
Treatment
Bacterial infection
Protozoan infection, e.g., metronidazole is effective
against several parasitics
Immunomodulation, e.g., tetracycline, which is effective
in periodontal inflammation, and dapsone, which is
effective in autoimmune diseases such as oral mucous
membrane pemphigoid
Prevention of infection
Surgical wound
Dental antibiotic prophylaxis
Conditions of neutropenia, e.g. cancer-related
Side-effects:
Adverse effects range from fever and nausea to major
allergic reactions, including photodermatitis and
anaphylaxis.[citation needed] Common side-effects include
diarrhea, resulting from disruption of the species composition
in the intestinal flora, resulting, for example, in overgrowth of
pathogenic bacteria, such as Clostridium difficile.
Antibacterials can also affect the vaginal flora, and may lead
to overgrowth of yeast species of the genus Candida in the
vulvo-vaginal area. Flouroquinolone antibiotics, such as
moxifloxacin, are especially notorious for their side effects,
which include prolongation of the QT interval and toxic
psychosis. Additional side-effects can result from interaction
with other drugs, such as elevated risk of tendon damage
from administration of a quinolone antibiotic with a systemic
corticosteroid. There are new evidence shown that the
indiscriminate use of antibiotics alter the host microbiota and
this has been associated with.
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