TECHNOLOGY FACTS
Kitchen forks have been endlessly evolving for the past millennium or so. But a historical background check will put its origins somewhere in Greek. Initially used for the carving of meat, the fork comes to the dining table pretty late. It was around the 7th century that royal courts in the Middle Eastern Muslim world started to use the fork on the dining table. In another century, they were passed on to the Byzantine world, where the use of forks at the dining table became symbolic in wealthy and noble families. The fork was later carried on to Italy through a matrimonial alliance with the Byzantine. After a long dormant period, the flow continued into Francem when Catherine de Medicis married Henry II. The Fork came to the English notice by a man called Thomas Coryate, who brought forks to England in 1608. It took a very long time for the English to take up the fork as it initially met cultural resistance.
Svalbard Global Seed vault was established to preserve a wide variety of plant seeds in an underground cavern. It is an assurance to reduce of hunger & poverty due to the national disaster. Construction of the Seed Vault, which cost approximately 45 million Norwegian Kroner (9 million USD), was funded entirely by the Government of Norway. The seed bank is constructed 120 meters (390 ft) inside a sandstone mountain at Svalbard on Spitsbergen Island. The Svalbard Global Seed Vault opened officially on February 26, 2008. The first seeds arrived in January 2008. This vault can storage 4.5 million samples of different seeds in the dry temperature of 0° F (-18° C). This storage process can protect the seeds for the thousands of years. Svalbard Global Seed Vault ranked no.6 on Time's Best Inventions Of 2008.
Tesla coil is an invention of Nikola Tesla; this instrument is actually a transformer. Transformers are usually step-up or step-down types which increase or decrease the input current respectively. The Tesla Coil is an air-core transformer with a high frequency. It is a step up transformer which increases the input of 120 volts AC to around 100,000 volts. The discharge is usually in the form of electrical arc. These incredible coils have in the past were known to light up florescent lights which were almost 50 feet away, wirelessly. The other fact is that there is a direct conversion of electricity to light which does not need the electrodes, unlike the normal bulbs. What it means is that, the florescent lights which have already burnt out can also produce light. Learn more about Nikola Tesla.
Zero was invented in India by Indian mathematicians dating as early as 5th century. They widely used it in calculations, astronomy and astrology. Zero was spread by Arabians to the Europe and there on it was spread all over. Before this, all Europeans used roman numerical which were difficult to calculate on as they were in the form of Symbols, lengthy and had limits. New Math Multiplication Method
Printer manufacturers print invisible yellow dots on consumer's prints that check to see if a person is printing counterfeit money. If you call your printer manufacturer and ask them to "please stop spying on you", they will send secret services to your address to find out why you care about your privacy. Upset? You should be. The more people who call their printer's manufacturers and make this request, the more likely secret services will refuse to investigate.
Probably the most popular car in the world, Beetle had fascinating past. It was proposed by Adolf Hitler to make peoples car that can fit 5 people and deliver speed of 100km/h (62mph) later known as "Volks-Wagen" ("People's Car"). Beetle was designed by Ferdinand Porsche founder of automotive design company, which became known as the Porsche Büro. Ferdinand also designed German tanks, Tiger I and Tiger II. The first Porsche ever build was Porsche 356 created by Ferry Porsche son of Ferdinand Porsche. Porsche currently owns 31% of the Volkswagen car company.
Company in Brazil (Suite Vollard) constructed a building in which each floor can rotate 360 degrees. Each building has 11 apartments and each apartment can spin individually in any direction. One rotation takes a full hour, but apartment owner can set rotation speed through apartment control panel. Facades are made of three different types of glass which give wonderful effects when building spins during the sunset. Cost of each apartment is $US 300,000.00.
Cars today put out a lot of pollution, and use up fossil fuels. Predictions are that hydrogen cars with combination of solar and electricity source, are the future of transportation. Device that is the size of microwave oven may be all you need to fuel your car in the future. Using small device, hydrogen can be easily and cleanly extracted from water and power family car for up to 150 kilometers.
The East Japan Railway Company (JR-East), as part of research aimed at developing more environmentally friendly train stations, is testing an experimental system that produces electricity as people pass through ticket gates.