All posts by ahlbe001

The future will bringing extinct species back to life

May 7, 2015Uncategorizedahlbe001

The above pictures all have one thing in comment, they are pictures of animals that are extinct but scientists are trying to bring them back to life. All pictures are taken from the magazine National Geographic’s website from articles about bringing extinct animals back to life by using their preserved cells. The first picture is of a bucardo, or Pyrenean ibex, that went extinct in the year of 2000. The Spanish scientists preserved the cells of this animal and successfully manage to insert its cells into goat eggs and implant them into surrogate mothers. One out of 57 implantations succeeded and a little clone of the last lived bucardo came back to life, although it didn’t live long due to lung problems. This success in cloning extinct animals encouraged many others to try the same thing.

The second picture is of the extinct southern gastric brooding frog which died out more than 30 years ago. This frog was very unique in the way it gave birth by swallowing the eggs and keeping them in its stomach until they are fully grown, then “vomiting” to get the baby frogs out. Scientists at the University of New South Wales have successfully had the cells inserted into frog eggs and had they divide into embryos, but they didn’t get any further. Although they have not brought the frog back to life they remain very enthusiastic, they believe the sudden stop in the process is due to the techniques being used rather than the old frog tissue they are experimenting with.

The third picture is showing a boy touching the carcass of a mammoth in a Russian museum. I think this is the most important source for the sake of linking this topic to American science and how they have changed the scientific future for bringing extinct animals back to life. In March 2012 Russian and South Korean scientists announced that they are working together to bring the large mammal back to life. Since the mammoth has been extinct for thousands of years the DNA in found tissue has started to decay which makes it hard to clone. But matching the DNA with its closest living relative, the Asian elephant, would make it possible to pieced it together – although “you’ll never really create an exact genome because when you have short fragments there are no good way to know how many repeats of sequences there are” (Hendrik Poinar, Ancient DNA Center at McMaster University, www.nationalgeographic.com). Thanks to the American Human Genome Project (HGP) in the late 20^th /early 21^st century we are now able to read sequences of DNA and map the genome of species.

The research of cloning has been done since the cloned sheep Dolly was born in 1996, and over the years a higher percentage of success have been reported. But it is different to clone a species that is still alive and an already extinct one. Due to the decay of the DNA in the preserved tissue, parts of the sequences might be lost. As mentioned earlier, by matching the DNA of an extinct animal with its closest living relative it is possible to “fill in” the missing parts of the sequence. Just like they do in Jurassic Park! (Almost, except that dinosaur tissue is too old so it wouldn’t work). So thanks to the HGP the machines that can read/map DNA got developed and made all this possible.

Along with the HGP where they would map the sequences of human DNA there are a lot of concerns about privacy, racial backgrounds, genetic disposition etc. Will it raise the same concerns for extinct animals? What would the pros and cons of these kinds of projects be? On the positive side of this would of course be the possibility to bring animals back to life that we, the humans, have pushed to extinction. Many scientists also hope that this type of projects will make people aware of the problems that we are exposing endangered animals to. But of course this can also have the opposite effect, why care if we can just bring them back to life. Some argue that all species will eventually go extinct and it’s the way of life, and if we bring them back to life it would be unnatural to the environment they once lived in. I believed that bring back the species that humans have pushed to extinction if one thing, it will not mess up the eco-system cause they have always been there, but to bring back species that got extinct thousands of years ago it kind of risky. I feel that they got extinct for a good reason, not because of humans, and it is probably for the best that they stay like that to not interfere with what we have today. And besides, we don’t want a replay of what happened in Jurassic Park.

Primary sources:

Bucardo: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2013/04/125-species-revival/zimmer-text

Frog: http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/03/15/resurrecting-the-extinct-frog-with-a-stomach-for-a-womb/

Mammoth: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/03/130311-deextinction-reviving-extinct-species-opinion-animals-science/ (A Nenets boy touches a mammoth carcass outside the Shemanovsky Museum in Russia.)

Facts:

Quote: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/03/pictures/130305-bring-back-extinct-species/

http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/03/15/resurrecting-the-extinct-frog-with-a-stomach-for-a-womb/

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2013/04/125-species-revival/zimmer-text

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/03/130311-deextinction-reviving-extinct-species-opinion-animals-science/

Stephanie Kwolek’s invention of Kevlar in the 1960’s

April 24, 2015Uncategorizedahlbe001

Above are pictures of Stephanie Kwolek, a woman who has saved the lives of more than three thousand police officers and many others with her invention of Kevlar – the synthetic fiber which is lighter and five times stronger that steel. The first picture is taken from DuPont’s archive on their website and shows Kwolek in 1967 in DuPont’s research laboratory preparing a polymerization experiment. The second picture shows Kwolek and her research team that discovered the strong polymer, (left to right, Kwolek, Herbert Blades, Paul W. Morgan, and Joseph L. Rivers). This picture is taken from the website www.chemheritage.org, a website about science. The last picture is also taken from DuPont’s archive and shows Kwolek many years later with the “liquid crystal polymer which provided the basis for DuPont™ Kevlar^® brand fiber” (www.dupont.com).

Stephanie Kwolek was born in New Kensington, Pennsylvania in 1923. She was from a working-class, Polish immigrant family and inherited her dad’s interest for science and her mom’s interest for fashion and textile, which was then used to pursue a career in chemistry. She graduated from Carnegie-Mellon University and applied to DuPont as a chemist. At DuPont she was involved in many different projects such as searching for new polymers in new condensation processes at lower temperatures, the melt condensation polymerization process used in preparing nylon, and “the lower-temperature polycondensation processes, which employ very fast-reacting intermediates, make it possible to prepare polymers that cannot be melted and only begin to decompose at temperatures above 400°C” (http://www.chemheritage.org).

She was in her 40s when she first discovered what would later be called Kevlar. Her “assignment involved preparing intermediates, synthesizing aromatic polyamides of high molecular weight, dissolving the polyamides in solvents, and spinning these solutions into fibers. She unexpectedly discovered that under certain conditions large numbers of the molecules of these rod-like polyamides become lined up in parallel, that is, form liquid crystalline solutions, and that these solutions can be spun directly into oriented fibers of very high strength and stiffness” (http://www.chemheritage.org). These polymers were very unusual and had never been seen in the laboratory before. The material was lightweight, did not rust or corrode, and was five times stronger than steel. This was the breakthrough that would change and even save people’s lives. It was patented by her and DuPont in 1966 and was named Kevlar.

Stephanie Kwolek was one of the first female researchers to be recognized for her work within chemistry. She has been rewarded many prices for her work such as been included in the National Inventors Hall of Fame in North Canton, Ohio in 1994 as the fourth woman member of 113, in the National Women’s Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, N.Y., and received the National Medal of Technology in 1996. After her retirement she went on to tutor high school students in chemistry and to encourage young women to work in science.

The invention of Kevlar was very needed for its time, actually even needed before the 1960s. By putting the strong, lightweight polymer fibers in body armor for military and police officers it has saved thousands of lives throughout the years. It was introduced to body armor for police officers in the 70s and it has been estimated to have saved more than three thousand lives – all in credit to one female scientist and her team. DuPont saw its market potential and started to mass produce this material.
The fact that it was a female scientist that invented this unique extraordinary material is great, women of this time were rarely mentioned in the work of science. Kwolek was one of the first women to be recognized for her work, although it wasn’t until modern time she was awarded for it. Although Kevlar is commonly used within military and police enforcement it was not made for them, it is also greatly used in boats, ropes and other non-governmental products.
The invention of Kevlar turned out to be a great success, to save lives but also within the chemical research of polymers. Law enforcement uses layers of Kevlar fabrics in body armors, military helmets have 24 layers of fabric to make them strong enough to withstand penetration, and firefighters have it in their shoes to resist flames. Kevlar is also used in tires, boats, air planes, ropes, skis, armored cars and in fiber-optic cables. Newer discoveries with Kevlar have also made it possible for inventions like cut-resistance gloves, as seen below in the picture.

Stephanie Kwolek passed away in June 2014 and she will be remembered as a great and inspiring women who saved the lives of many.

(Stephanie L. Kwolek in 2007 wearing gloves made with Kevlar.)

Primary sources:

http://www.dupont.com/products-and-services/fabrics-fibers-nonwovens/fibers/brands/kevlar/kevlar-media-center/mc-image-detail/stephanie-kwolek-lab.html# (Stephanie Kwolek at Pioneering Research lab at the Experimental Station, preparing a polymerization experiment (1967))

http://www.chemheritage.org/discover/online-resources/chemistry-in-history/themes/petrochemistry-and-synthetic-polymers/synthetic-polymers/kwolek.aspx (Stephanie Kwolek and others of the group that developed Kevlar. Left to right, Kwolek, Herbert Blades, Paul W. Morgan, and Joseph L. Rivers, Jr. Gift of Stephanie Kwolek.)

http://www.dupont.com/products-and-services/fabrics-fibers-nonwovens/fibers/brands/kevlar/kevlar-media-center/mc-image-detail/stephanie-kwolek.html (Stephanie Kwolek developed the first liquid crystal polymer which provided the basis for DuPont™ Kevlar^® brand fiber)

Facts:

http://www.chemheritage.org/discover/online-resources/chemistry-in-history/themes/petrochemistry-and-synthetic-polymers/synthetic-polymers/kwolek.aspx

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/21/business/stephanie-l-kwolek-inventor-of-kevlar-is-dead-at-90.html?_r=0&module=ArrowsNav&contentCollection=Business%20Day&action=keypress&region=FixedLeft&pgtype=article

http://www.chemheritage.org/discover/online-resources/women-in-chemistry/stephanie-kwolek.aspx

Picture:

Development of the zipper in 1900 to 1950

April 16, 2015Uncategorizedahlbe001

This picture is taken from the website about.com and shows the front page of Gideon Sundback’s “separable fastener” (later the zipper) patent from March 20, 1917. The article on this website talks about the inventions of the first “continuous clothing closure” to the modern zipper and the different inventors involved in this small, yet significant, invention we still use today. The illustrations seen on the front page of the patent are very similar, if not exact, to the zipper used today. I chose this invention because it is interesting to see that such a small and simple devise can be so important to everyday life. It is also interesting that even though it is so simple to make it has only been around for about 100 years.

There were a couple of “continuous clothing closure” devises invented before Sundback got the patent on his “separable fastener” which is identical to the modern zipper we use today. The first one was invented by Elias Howe, who also invented the sewing machine, and patented in 1851. It has similarities to Sundback’s zipper but was not as effective. Howe’s devise did not reach the market since he was too preoccupied with his other inventions.

The next devise was Whitcomb L. Judson’s “claps locker” as he called it. Judson came up with the idea because his friend had a hard time undoing his shoes due to back pain, he wanted a device that would work by using just one hand. In 1893 he got his patent and in the early 1900^th hundreds it was used in the clothing industry, although this devise was not considered practical.

(Illustration: Whitcomb Judson’s clasp locker)

Gideon Sundback, a Swedish born electrical engineer and employee of Judson came up with the modern zipper we use today. In 1913 he patented the “hookless fastener” which was a remodeled version of Judson’s claps locker but “increased the number of fastening elements from four per inch to ten or eleven, had two facing-rows of teeth that pulled into a single piece by the slider, and increased the opening for the teeth guided by the slider” (about.com). In 1917 he patented the final “separable fastener” which had improvements of his earlier devise and this is the one we use today. The major difference between Judson’s and Sundback’s inventions is that Sundback’s had no hooks but was instead based on interlocking teeth on both sides.

The B.F. Goodrich Company decided to market Sundback’s separable fastener idea and it was first used by the military in World War I as they applied it to their clothing and gear. It quickly became popular and in the 1930s they started promoting it for children’s clothing to make it easier for the children to dress themselves. The word “zipper” comes from the zip-sound that the device makes when being used. Today we are using the zipper in everything from shoes, clothing, gear and many other areas.

As the technology of warfare developed so did the clothing for the American troops. The zipper was a great invention for the military because it made it easier to do and undo their uniforms faster that if they had to tie or bottom them. The use of zippers was also more reliable than the use of bottoms because it made the uniforms less likely to break when crawling around in the dirt. It wasn’t just in the military that this devise made life easier for but also for children and disabled people. Instead of needing to bend down and tie your shoes you could used just one hand to zip them up, so easy that even children could get dressed by themselves.
In the beginning this device was first purchased by the army to make life easier for the troops during war, although it was not made for them. It quickly became popular among common people, especially for children. The only social impact I could say it had was that women should buy their children clothes with zippers to make life easier for them and to teach their kids to get dressed themselves.
Since the device is fairly simple in its design it didn’t have a huge impact on the science or technology of its time, and even though it has been remodeled three-four times its design has stayed about the same for about one hundred years. I would say that the invention of the zipper was a huge success because we use it in everything and in different types of materials (metal, plastic, etc.) today, and it has even been “modernized” to zip-lock bags. There are no real negative impacts that this invention has had on humans or the environment, maybe just that we are now using more plastic bags and discarding them faulty into the environment. Sundback’s machines made a few hundred feet of zippers everyday in 1914, and today YKK – the world’s largest zipper manufacturer – produces 2000 miles of zipper each day.

Primary source:

http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa082597.htm (front page of patent)

Facts:

Picture: http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa082497.htm (Illustration: Whitcomb Judson’s clasp locker)

http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/zipper.htm

http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa082497.htm

http://www.ansun.com/history.html

Development of the dishwasher in 1850 to 1900

March 18, 2015Uncategorizedahlbe001

http://media.trb.com/media/acrobat/2013-10/221541120-14173951.pdf

The two pictures and the pdf-file are taken from three different websites. The first picture is from a “learning” website that talks briefly about the history of the dishwasher, and this picture was published in the Chicago newspaper during the World’s Fair in Chicago in 1893. The second picture is the first page of the patent Josephine Cochran got on her invention in 1886. This source is from a website which offers patent plaques, patent awards, and IP recognition awards for companies. The pdf-file, which is the most important source, is the actual patent papers of the dishwasher machine. This source was taken from the Chicago Tribune website in an article about the mechanical dishwasher. These pictures and pdf-file relate to the great invention of the dishwasher, a machine that might not have been too important in the 19^th and beginning of 20^th century but is today one of the most appreciated device in the household.

The first dishwasher device was invented by Joel Houghton and patented in 1850. This dishwasher was made out of wood and had to be cranked by hand, as a result it did not work too well and was not further developed. Josephine Cochran, a rich socialite from Shelbyville, Illinois who often had dinner parties, wanted a device that could wash her china faster than the servants but without breaking them. Since she could not found such device she decided to build one herself. By using wood as the case, measuring the dishes and using copper wire for the compartments, it was placed inside a wheel within a copper boiler. The wheel turned and hot soapy water was then squirted over the dishes to make them clean. This was the first working dishwasher, and she got her patent on December 28, 1886. Her dishwasher won the top prize for “best mechanical construction, durability and adaptation to its line of work” during the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893 (https://www.patentplaques.com/blog/?p=458). Although her invention had great success within the hotel and restaurant businesses it was not compatible for households. After her death her Garis-Cochran Dish-Washing Machine Company was bought up by a company that is today Kitchen Aid.

Although this device is greatly appreciative today it was not a top priority to have this in the household in the late 19^th The hotel and restaurant businesses were the areas were the dishwasher was most successful. It saved both time and man labor to have this kind of device present in a place where a lot of dishes were being consumed daily so it really made work easier.
Since this invention was mostly used within the hotel and restaurant businesses it made work easier for the workers within such companies. The dishwasher wasn’t a household device until the late 20^th century and made a more cultural and social impact then when it was commercialized for women to use in the kitchen. Like the vacuum cleaner or the refrigerator they were all made to make life easier for women in the household, which really shows how the culture of this time put pressure on women to be good housewives.
Since this invention wasn’t too big of a hit in the late 19^th century it didn’t have a big impact on the science or technology at this time. The dishwasher was simply made out of wood with copper wire and was too big to have in the household. It wasn’t until later in the 20^th century when they started to make them with plastic and made them smaller that they became a hit. They became a real popular product because of the image of housewives at the time. So this invention didn’t slowly disappear from the market, rather the opposite, it became more and more popular over time and today it is as common to have as the refrigerator. Although in the beginning of this “boom” in dishwasher usage the machines were using a lot of water while cleaning the dishes, which is the reason my mother never wanted to get one. But today they are designed and developed to use a limited amount of water and could even save more water then washing the dishes by hand, which have made them more environmental friendly. So does this device do more good than damage? I would definitely say that it does more good, it is perfect for lazy students like me who don’t want to waste my time washing dishes.

Primary sources:

http://www.learningabe.info/dishwasherpictures.html (Chicago newspaper picture)

https://www.patentplaques.com/blog/?p=458 (patent first page)

http://media.trb.com/media/acrobat/2013-10/221541120-14173951.pdf (patent, from website: http://www.chicagotribune.com/bluesky/originals/chi-top-20-countdown-innovation-15-bsi-htmlstory.html)

Facts:

https://www.patentplaques.com/blog/?p=458

http://www.uspto.gov/about-us/news-updates/woman-invented-dishwasher

http://www.chicagotribune.com/bluesky/originals/chi-top-20-countdown-innovation-15-bsi-htmlstory.html

Development of firearms in 1750 to 1850

February 13, 2015Uncategorizedahlbe001

The two pictures below are taken from two different websites. The first one is about the history/evolution of guns – an article that talks about gun control – which also links to the second source. The second source is taken from PBS.org from a timeline about guns. These pictures relate to the technological inventions of the firearm during the early 1800s.

During the 1750 to the 1850 America was involved in a number of wars against different groups of people, some example would be the French-Indian war, the American Revolution, the war of 1812 and the Mexican-American war. Back then and like in modern time the nation with the most advanced technologies and power will win, and during this mentioned time period there were some small but very important inventions to the firearm. The three most important improvements were the minié ball, the percussion cap and the bullet cartridge.

As mentioned before, during this time period America was involved in many battles and was in the great need of good technology. The development of the minié ball, the percussion cap and the bullet cartridge made it easier to shoot, making the firearms more accurate and precise. You could shoot from further distances, not needing to reload after every time you have taken a shot which would make you more productive during battle. The invention of the minié ball made the firearm more accurate, instead of having a round ball this “minié ball was elongated, had groves towards the back and had a concave bottom. What this design allowed the slug to do was, first, expand at the base which forced it to grab more firmly to the rifled barrel and then created a much more effective spin. The rounded, yet somewhat pointed nose of the slug gave it better aerodynamic capabilities increasing the effective range of firearms considerably” (http://www.gunsandammo.info/guns/the-19th-century-great-advancements-in-firearms). Also the change in bullets instead of gunpowder also made it possible to use the firearm even when raining or when wet.
Without these inventions within the firearm the American might not have won the wars and would therefore not be the nation it is today. Since the Americans had well developed and advance war technologies they were able to fight through even when the odds might not have been in their favor. It requires good engineering skills with knowledge of science and technology to build and develop a firearm, which the Americans obviously had.
In 1835 Samuel Colt came out with the first Colt revolver, which became very popular and would later develop into the first mass-produced, multi-shot firearm. According to the Colt Company the Texas Rangers and US Dragoon forces contributed their success to Colt’s firearms for winning the fight against the Indians in Texas during the 1840s. Today the function of the firearms are the same as they were two hundred years ago, the innovations of the minié ball, the percussion cap and the bullet cartridge have been successful enough to live through all these years of technological developments.