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Remarkable inventions
Quieter Jet Engines
Since the airplane made its first sustained flight in 1903, inventors have been hard at work improving the product, focusing on creating faster, bigger, more reliable and more economical passenger aircraft.
The Aluminium Car Frame
The rise of the automobile can be linked directly to a single raw material - steel. While the very first automobiles were modelled on horse carriages and made of wood, it was the wide availability of steel at the beginning of the 20th century that paved the way for mass-produced, affordable automobiles.
Insulin Detemir
Diabetes mellitus is marked either by the body's failure to produce insulin altogether or by mismanagement of the hormone for regulating blood sugar levels. Although diabetes has been known for thousands of years, the metabolic processes, and the role of insulin, behind the disease remained veiled in mystery.
TAP Tagging
In 2000, scientists announced with much fanfare the successful mapping of the human genome. Since then, scientists have learned that it is not the genome, but the highly dynamic proteome that is the key to the unbelievable diversity of life.
Offshore Wind Energy
The beginnings of wind energy were humble: The first windmills were built in Persia around 500-900 AD to automate the task of grinding grain and pumping water.
Retinal Screening
Ophthalmology, the treatment of eye-related illnesses, is one of the oldest medical disciplines: Eye operations were performed in ancient Babylon as early as 3 600 years ago.
Prosthetic Limbs
Once upon a time, if a person lost a leg, he or she was relegated to a wheelchair or stuck trying to manoeuvre with a heavy, awkward artificial limb. Today, amputee athletes run, jump, bike, ski, snowboard and in many ways are hot on the heels of their two-legged counterparts.
Robotic-assisted endoscopic surgery
Surgery is serious business; it's dangerous for the patient, and can be tiring for the surgeon. One way to ease the danger and fatigue associated with surgery to take a minimally invasive approach.
Microfluidics
It's hard to believe, but many of the recent advances in genomics, proteomics and pharmaceuticals owe their success in part to the inkjet printer. These fields rely heavily on microfluidics, the study of the behaviour of fluid in very small volumes.
Digital Compression Technology
Video has come a long way from the earliest days of moving pictures. In just a little over a century, technology has moved from celluloid filmstrips to magnetic tape to digital media capable of being transmitted anywhere in the world - even to mobile phones.
Retroviral Research
The damage viruses can do is nothing new: It is safe to assume that since the dawn of time, people have been aware of the results of these unseen particles, if not of what they were and how they worked.
Light Microscopy
The pursuit of knowledge in optical sciences has progressed in two opposite directions since the field was founded. Some researchers look into the stars for insight and explanation, while other look into the "small world," the microcosm, for clues on the inner workings of organisms.