Ludicrous Ideas

Telephone was one of the greatest discoveries of the world. It changed the way we did almost everything. The only problem remained that the telephone had to be wired. There after set in a revolution that introduced mobile phones.

Dr.Martin Cooper invented the mobile phone and made the world’s first mobile phone call on April 3rd, 1973. However there is a controversy over who invented the mobile phones and cellular systems. Archives also suggest that American Telephone & Telegraph discussed developing a wireless phone in 1915. Yet they were afraid of using this technology as it could have eaten up into its customer base of landline telephones. The first cellular telephone system was made operational in Tokyo in 1979. In the United States, the first system became operational in 1983 in Chicago.Mobile phones proliferated and got combined with various other devices like clocks, calculators and so on. It was the ability to transfer data which permitted the marriage of the cell phone with the internet. The day is not very far when almost all communications in the world will become wireless.

At no stage mankind may have thought that mice may get so much of importance. Traditionally mice have been hated by mankind. They have been loathed as creatures of destruction. But in the cyber world they have assumed a very important role.In olden days computers were as big as rooms that housed them. They had an amazing array of buttons and sliders. The requirement was to find a device that could point X-Y coordinates accurately. A US radar technician called Douglas Engelbart of the Stanford Research Institute took up the challenge. He invented a pointing device that had a long cable trailing. It helped to do the job of an “X-Y position indicator”.The trailing cable gave it the moniker of mouse. This amazing discovery led to the discovery of the modern day mouse. Today the population of computer mice is about to touch a billion numbers all over the world. They have become a house hold name.The invention of touch screens is making things different. People expect computer mice to be extinct in another decade.

Digital Guitar Format of music has changed all of a sudden with the arrival of the Computers and Internet.

Gone are the vinyl records and magnetic cassettes. We now have the mp3 and mp4 formats. Along with the new digital format of songs even musical intsruments are undergoing a change. New digital instruments have been invented which will change the way we make music forever in the days to come.Digital music files like MP3s and digital music players like the iPod have already been invented. So why not have digital chips in our instruments itself. The idea which appealed to inventors was to why not create music with a digital instrument in the first place? In January 2004, Gibson became the first musical-instrument maker to release an electric guitar. The guitar has a digitizing microprocessor and circuit board built right within the instrument itself. The manner in which the instrument operates is by conversion of analog signals to digital signals. When the strings are strummed the analog signal is converted to digital format. The digital file is then sent to an ethernet connection attached to the guitar. The sound is amplified and reproduced.The resulting music is very clear. It is expected that a departure from traditional instruments to digital instruments will take place in the days to come.

There are hundreds of deaths every year due to exposure to cold weather. A number of mountaineers have fallen victim to cold injuries. Mountaineers require clothing that is light and can be carried by them on top of the mountains. 

MPI has developed many products for NASA. “ALL WEATHER BLANKET” is one such product. This blanket helps in retaining 80 percent of the heat generated by the body. It is a four ply laminate of clear polyethylene film, a precise vacuum deposition of pure aluminum, a special reinforcing fabric and a layer of colored polyethylene film. The different layers help to trap the heat. . The special four layer construction techniques of the ALL WEATHER BLANKET and its unique physical properties make it a perfect accessory item for all outdoor activities.

The blanket can be folded to the size of a small package of cigarettes. It is 84 inches by 56 inches in size, which is quite good for any adult. It is tear and rupture resistant. Thus it is a very good item for outdoor use. It is very essential for the Army and Mountaineers. It will help victims of hypothermia and high altitude diseases.  It is an ideal as part of your outdoor kit.

With the demand for fossil fuels peaking up the world has been looking for alternate fuels and ways to cut down on the consumption of fuels. Alternate energies like solar and harnessing hydrogen from water have been tried out. Some efforts were also made to develop vehicles driven by electric power. A possible solution is hybridization of vehicles.

A hybrid vehicle involves the combination of one or more sources of energy. Gasoline and electric power is combined in Hybrid vehicles. The two ways of achieving a hybrid car are Gasoline Assist and Electric Assist. In the gasoline assist the vehicle propels on an electric motor in low speeds. Whenever more power is required it draws gasoline form the vehicle. The Toyota Prius and the Ford Escape use this technology. The Toyota Prius has been a very successful vehicle.

The second type of combination is the electric assist where the vehicle is run using gasoline. The electric motor steps in to enhance the power when the vehicle is required to negotiate steep climbs or is to move at high speeds. The Honda Civic Hybrid falls in this category.

The major advantage of the technology is greater fuel economy and reduced emissions thereby contributing to a greener earth. Energy is recaptured during braking and used in other forms. The engine shuts down on traffic stops and during idling. This gives a much better performance and increased mileage. This could well be one of the solutions to saving the earth from a disaster.

 The Camera Phone which married two gadgets, the Cell Phone and the Camera has changed our life like nothing else before. How effective an invention has been is many times dictated by the speed at which the invention travels.

 Cell Phones with Digital Cameras were invented and the technology spread like wild fire. The pace at which their use spread can be combined with the spread of the internet. The new camera cum cell phone gave the ability of snapping pictures discreetly virtually anywhere. You could end up taking pictures of friends without they knowing about it or copy recipes in a bookstore or nab thieves in action. All this could be done with the push of a few buttons without the people being photographed knowing it.

 The hook up of the internet with cell phones also gave the capability to e mail the photographs all over the world with the speed of light. The potential of this technology was so high that a number of countries banned this discreet clicking of pictures. Corporates had to be very careful as the mobile phone became a source of Corporate Espionage. There secrets lay at the mercy of mobile totting employees who could capture huge trade secrets with the push of a few buttons. This apprehension led to the banning of cell phones in such areas.

We have always innovated the way we handle our music. The late 20^th Century saw the evolution of the music from Cassettes and Vinyl Records to CDs. The way music is stored also gradually changed from CD Audio to MP 3 format. The iPod changed the way we carry and listen our music.

Tony Fadell, an independent inventor, suggested the commercial idea of an iPod. He suggested a combination of an MP3 Player, a music sale service to complement it and a strong company to launch it. Apple hired Fadell in early 2001. He was given a team of about 30 people. This team included designers, programmers and hardware engineers. They worked day and night to launch the I Pod. The first I Pod was launched on 23 October 2001.

Ever since then iPod has been sold to more than a million customers. The iTunes facilitates online storage and retrieval. The iPod totally transformed they way we carry and listen to music. A number of versions have been launched. It is now possible to download and watch entire new movies on the iPod. This has been one of the greatest inventions of the modern times.

 Fossil Fuel crises will be the next one to affect us. Automobile makers have been spending billions of dollars to find alternate fuels and to design vehicles for them. BMW, the University of Bath and several other European institutions have joined hands to work on the Clever Project.

The Clever is a small compact car perfect for city conditions. The vehicles looks like a cross between a chopper and a UFO. It runs on compressed natural gas. The compressed natural gas is stored in two cylinders kept behind the passengers seat. The vehicle has very low level of emissions and is environment friendly. The Clever sports a 230 CC natural gas engine. It has an aluminum space frame and a plastic body.  This makes the vehicle ultra light at just 395 KG. With onboard fuel the vehicle can cover a range of more than 200 KM. It has a computer on board to control its hydraulics. This amazing vehicle is capable of achieving speeds up to 80 miles per hour. As and when commercialized this amazing vehicle will contribute significantly towards reducing pollution.

Building materials have always been in demand.

The principal building material all over the world is cement and steel. Cement factories churn out cement with disastrous effects on environment. Steel also consumes tremendous power before it is converted into usable form.

 Scientists have always been on the look out for alternate material for Iron and Cement as building material.  Modern Marvels Invent Now Challenge was conducted by History Channel with the assistance of TIME. Thousands of entries were submitted. The winner of this competition was a 53 year old person David R. Ward, from Ashland, Ore.

 He has invented a farm implement called Strawjet which processes straw into mats. These mats can be joined together by using clay and paper pulp. After having joined together, these straw mats can be used as construction material. The process of joining the straw mats is done without the use of any chemicals.

 Tons of straw is just burned every year. The Strawjet can effectively use this and convert it to building material. David hopes to produce this material on mass scale very soon. There after his dream is to provide cheap housing to poor countries using this new technology.

Driving after consuming alcohol has been one of the main reasons for thousands of accidents which take place every year.

Hundreds of lives could be saved if this could be prevented. Thus far there are no effective means to check drunk driving. Breathalyzers exist but they take almost 15 to 20 minutes for every test. There is no effective method to implement the tests in a quick manner.

But there is good news around the corner. Albuquerque, N.M has developed a device to check drunk drivers. The device uses the fact that body tissue of a drunk person absorbs more light than normal tissue. Infrared light is directed on the driver’s skin. The reflection of light is analyzed to test if the person has consumed alcohol.

The test takes only 60 seconds. It is done by the driver placing his palm on the machine. Such machines can be placed along highways to test drivers for consumption of alcohol. This will be the quickest and the most effective method ever invented to check drunken driving. Once implemented it should be able to check drivers effectively and save a number of lives. This invention will go a long way to help us.