Tag Archives: Invention

Chicken Nugget

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Chicken Nugget

Chicken nuggets are a favourite, but are they really made of chicken?

  • Chicken nuggets are a poultry-based food, that are generally small pieces of crumbed covered meat, and are eaten as a snack or part of a main meal.
  • Chicken nuggets are typically pieces of processed or ground chicken, or chicken breast meat, and the crumbed batter is often made of breadcrumbs or crushed cornflakes or similar, or a wheat flour mixture.
  • The inventor of the chicken nugget was Robert C Baker, a professor of Cornell University, qualified in food science, who published the recipe in an academic paper in the early 1960s.
  • The cooking process of chicken nuggets generally involves deep frying, pan frying, or baking in an oven, while deep frying is more common in fast-food settings.
  • Chicken nuggets have been highly popularised in takeaway restaurants, especially the symbolic Chicken McNuggets of McDonalds, and the first nuggets to be sold by McDonalds was in 1980.

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Chicken Nuggets
Image courtesy of Andrea Parrish – Geyer/Flickr
  • To cater for vegetarians, some chicken nuggets are made without meat but instead use bean or vegetable substitutes.
  • Empire Kosher Poultry, a chicken producer in the United States, set the world record in 2013 for making and cooking the largest chicken nugget, which was almost a metre (3.3 feet) in length and weighed 23.2 kilograms (51.1 pounds).
  • Chicken nuggets are commonly bite sized or slightly larger, and are generally coloured yellow to brown on the exterior, and they are sometimes served with a sauce, of which a variety of flavours are used.
  • Traditionally, chicken nuggets are crude cylindrical shapes of meat, although they can be made into specific shapes, and they often have a slightly bumpy appearance.
  • Originally, the meat of many commercial chicken nuggets was said to be ‘mechanically separated meat’, a processed paste that uses scraps from chicken carcasses, although many companies now make their nuggets from chicken breast meat, or other ‘white’ chicken meat.
Bibliography:
Chicken Nugget, 2015, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_nugget
McKenna M, The Father of the Chicken Nugget, 2012, Slate, http://www.slate.com/articles/life/food/2012/12/robert_c_baker_the_man_who_invented_chicken_nuggets.html
What’s Really in that Chicken Nugget?, 2012, National Chicken Council, http://www.nationalchickencouncil.org/whats-in-those-chicken-nuggets/

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Beehive

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Beehive

Beehives house busy bees.

  • Artificial beehives are an invention used for raising and managing honey bees, that use the hive as a shelter.
  • Cells, shaped as hexagons, form honeycomb that can be found in a beehive, and this is used by bees to store pollen and honey, and care for the young.
  • Beehives are typically used to attract bees so that they can produce honey for commercial or domestic purposes; to attract them for plant pollination purposes; to support bees in areas where habitat destruction has occurred; or to attract bees for the production of bee products.
  • Ancient Egyptians are said to have raised bees in constructed hives, from as early as 2400 BC, and archaeological evidence of hives used in large-scale beekeeping, has been found in Israel’s Jordan Valley, in the Middle East, that dates back to the 9th and 10th centuries.
  • Traditionally, humans used natural materials to create beehives, like mud, tree hollows, clay and straw, while the latter was often used to make basket-like skeps, although many of these hives were used once only, due to the difficulty of accessing the honey, which often resulted in significant disturbance or death of bees, and/or honeycomb destruction during the harvesting process.

Beehive, Invention, Bee, Honey, Farm, Cultivating, Modern, Box, Ten Random Facts

  • Many ideas for more practical beehives surfaced around the 1700s, although it was not until the 1850s that American clergyman Lorenzo Langstroth, also an apiarist and noted for his significant contribution to the beekeeping industry, invented the now famous beehive that had movable frames; a design on which most modern hives are based upon.
  • If a beehive is to be approached, smoke is usually puffed into the hive to disguise the emissions of chemicals that bees release to alert danger, thus keeping the bees calm.
  • Modern beehives are generally reused for many years, and often feature removable frames, that contain and protect the honeycomb, and are easily removed for inspection and for harvesting honey.
  • Before the use of modern beehives, corridors were sometimes built within hives to direct the queen bee’s egg laying habits and discourage her from using the honey harvesting areas.
  • A new form of beehive, known as the ‘Flow Hive’, enables the user to extract honey direct from the hive without removing the especially designed frames, and it was released to the public in early 2015 via a crowd-funding initiative with huge success, raising $12 million dollars during its initial release, and is set to be popular among backyard beekeepers, due to its convenient honey harvesting method.
Bibliography:
American Beekeeping History, n.d, John’s Beekeeping Notebook, http://outdoorplace.org/beekeeping/history1.htm
Beehives, 2015, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beehive

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Barcode

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Barcode

Barcodes completely changed the face of business.

  • Barcodes are patterns of lines or two dimensional shapes that are usually printed onto a flat surface, and they can be read by specifically engineered machines.
  • The primary idea and form of barcodes was designed in 1949, by friends Bernard Silver and Norman Woodland, both alumni of the Drexel Institute of Technology in Pennsylvania’s Philadelphia, in the United States, for which they received a patent three years later.
  • ‘Barcode readers’, also known as ‘scanners’ are used to read barcodes, although many smart phones and other devices now have this capability.
  • American David Collins created the first commercially used barcode, that he developed from 1959 onwards for identifying railcars, and it was named ‘KarTrak’, and the stripes were coloured red and blue and were able to be read by a scanner.
  • Barcodes are said to have been loosely based on the Morse code system, by means of lengthening the dots and dashes into wide and narrow stripes, although inventors Woodland and Silver developed it into what appeared like a bull’s eye, while the reading machine used was based on technology used in the film industry.

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  • Barcodes are typically used to categorise and identify objects and individual people across many industries, and the information is usually compiled in a database.
  • The grocery industry became interested in the use of barcodes in 1966, and they were introduced to retailers starting mid 1974, with a packet of gum being the first ever object to be scanned, although uptake of the new technology was slow, and it was not until the 1980s that it was more commonly used.
  • The most economically viable and practical barcode scanners generally use a light sensor and lens, in conjunction with decoding technology, to interpret the code.
  • Barcodes are highly practical as they allow for easier locating and managing of items in a retail environment, and changes that affect each item stocked are readily made, by entering the information in the database.
  • There are many variants of barcodes, that can be both linear and square-based, among other shapes; with each variant having a specific name, such as ‘QR code’ or ‘Code 93’.
Bibliography:
Barcode, 2015, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barcode
Barcode History: 5 Things You Didn’t Know About Barcodes, 2012, Scandit, http://www.scandit.com/2012/03/20/barcode-history-5-things-you-didn%E2%80%99t-know-about-barcodes/
Barcode History, 2015, Barcodes Inc, http://www.barcodesinc.com/articles/barcode-history.htm
Seideman T, Barcodes Sweep the World, 2011, Barcoding Incorporated, http://www.barcoding.com/information/barcode_history.shtml

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Tactile Paving

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Tactile Paving

Tactile paving is placed quite tactfully.

  • Tactile paving is generally a group of patterned tiles or pavers, that are located in pedestrian areas to help direct visually impaired or blind people.
  • The surfaces known as ‘tactile paving’, are also known as ‘tactile tiles’, ‘detectable warnings’, ‘detectable warning surfaces’, ‘truncated domes’, ‘tactile indicators’, ‘tenji blocks’, ‘textured paving blocks’ and ‘tactile ground surface indicators’.
  • Hazardous areas, including changes in ground height, are areas where tactile paving is used as a warning for those visually impaired, as they can be sensed using a cane or by one’s feet.
  • Tactile paving is often yellow, or another bright or contrasting colour to the surrounding area, which marks as a secondary warning to those who have poor vision.
  • Tactile paving is a Japanese invention, and was originally designed in 1965 by Seiichi Miyake, who had the desire to help visually impaired people to safely move around outside, and its use was popularised by the Japan Railway due to its widespread installation on train platforms in the 1970s.

Tactile Paving, Pale, Yellow, Station, Drop, Ten Random Facts, Cross Section, Invention, Blind Tatics

  • Tactile paving is typically square or rectangular in shape, and the tiles contain significant bumps on the surface, that are generally either circular or rectangular, and usually the circular bumps indicate ‘stop’, while the rectangular bumps signify ‘go’.
  • Generally, tactile paving has various requirements and standards, regulated by each country, that determine the size, shape, colour, and distribution of the bumps, and their placement in relation to hazardous areas.
  • Britain, Japan and Australia were among the countries that adopted tactile paving first, and the United States and Canada embraced the invention during the 1990s.
  • Tactile paving is usually made of hard material like heavy duty polyurethane, stainless steel, concrete, ceramic or other durable substance, and the paving can be found on steps, transport platforms, footpaths, and in other areas, although the use of the tiles on steep slopes is not normally recommended.
  • For general pedestrians, as well as the visually impaired, the issue of safety regarding tactile paving is often controversial, as the bumps can cause difficulties for those in wheelchairs, and sometimes the tiles are hazardous or can become slippery, although there have been efforts to reduce these issues.
Bibliography:
The History of Tactile Paving for the Blind, 2015, Share Ask, http://share-ask.com/the-history-of-tactile-pavement-for-the-blind/
Integrated Tactile Ground Surface Indicators, 2012, TGSI, http://www.tactileindicators.net/integrated_tactiles.htm
Tactile Paving, 2015, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tactile_paving

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Train

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Train

Do you prefer the slow or the fast trains?

  • Trains are transportation vehicles that travel along rails and can transport large quantities of people or other objects, while the engine or powered part of the vehicle is generally known as a ‘locomotive’.
  • Today, trains are typically moved via the use of diesel fuel or electric power; and other means, like magnetic levitation, are utilised in some circumstances, while steam, gravity and horse power were common past fuels.
  • The term ‘train’ originates from the word ‘trahere’, a Latin word that means ‘to pull or draw’.
  • Train cars or carriages containing luggage, cargo or people are typically pulled by a locomotive, or two or more, depending on the power required, or they can be self-powered.
  • Trains are generally classified under short and long distance variants, the former often connecting city suburbs or other smaller cities, while the latter travels through many cities or far distances.

Train, Yellow, Steel, Transport, Locomotive, Local, Australia, Electrical, Ten Random Facts

  • Trains generally move along two parallel rails that are part of a railway track, although some use only one rail, such as monorails, while others use alternative technology.
  • The invention of the train grew out of the creation of the earlier wagonways, and it was made more possible after the steam engine was built, although it was not until 1763, when Scottish engineer James Watt remodeled the original engine, did the power source become practical.
  • Many high-speed trains can run at operational speeds of 350 km/hour (217 miles/hour), while the record for the fastest was set in 2007, by the French-owned TGV, and ran at 574.8 km/hour (357.2 miles/hour).
  • The first steam locomotive was invented in 1804 in Britain by engineer Richard Trevithick, although it was not until Englishmen Matthew Murray and George Stephenson built on the ideas of Trevithick in 1812 and 1814 respectively, that trains became a feasible transport option.
  • Specific trains are named primarily to increase their popularity, and a notable named train in history was the ‘Orient Express’, that ran in Europe from 1883 to 2009.
Bibliography:
Train, 2015, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Train
Train Invention – Who Invented Train?, n.d, Train History, http://www.trainhistory.net/train-invention/who-invented-train/
Who Invented The Train?, Who Invented It?, 2015, http://invention.yukozimo.com/who-invented-the-train/

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Compact Disc

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Compact Disc

Are compact discs compact enough for you?

  • A compact disc is a thin optical disc, used primarily to store digital information, and it is also commonly called a ‘CD’.
  • Compact discs are circular in shape, with a central hole, and are made of plastic, that is usually coated with aluminium or gold for reflecting the laser that ‘reads’ the disc, and then a layer of lacquer is applied for protection.
  • The storage space of compact discs usually has a maximum capacity of 700 MiB – mebibytes (734 MB – megabytes) of data, in the form of programs, media or information, which equates to approximately 80 minutes of audio.
  • The typical size of a compact disc is 12 centimetres (4.7 inches) in diameter, although they can be as small as 6 to 8 centimetres (2.4 to 3.1 inches) in diameter.
  • American James Russell was the inventor of the optical digital recording and playback concept that is used in compact disc technology, which he designed in 1966, and he received a patent for the system in 1970.

Compact Disc, CD, Music, Ten Random Facts, Technology, Laser, Invention

  • In 1979, the companies Philips and Sony, formed an unusual working relationship, using James Russell’s concept, to together develop a compact disc, and in 1982 the first CDs were manufactured, being the ABBA music album The Visitors.
  • A compact disc spins when it is placed in a CD player or drive, and as it does, it is read by a laser that interprets the miniscule indents, called ‘pits’, invisible to the naked eye, found on the plastic layer of the disc.
  • Compact discs were originally designed to emit sound, however, in the 1980s it was realised that the disc could be used for a variety of purposes, including the storage of computer data.
  • Compact discs are usually purchased in a protective sleeve, like a hard plastic case; a paper packet; or a soft plastic envelope.
  • By 2007, world sales of compact discs had reached 200 billion, although sales have decreased significantly in recent years, due to digital technology and streaming; and in the music industry, 2014 marked the first year CDs were outsold by streaming technology.
Bibliography:
Hopewell L, The History of Compact Discs, 2012, Gizmodo, http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2012/08/the-history-of-the-compact-disc/
Compact Disc, 2015, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_disc

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