Cyberknife

The Cyberknife is a non-invasive way to perform a procedure on patients with cancerous and non-cancerous tumors. The Cyberknife can perform anywhere on the body like the prostate, lungs, brain, spine, liver and so on. This tool performs by using high doses of radiation with precise aim targeting a tumor. This is an excellent alternative to an invasive surgery and requires no anesthesia or sedatives. Cyberknife right now is mostly for treating tumors, but it has potential to expand into a broader horizon of treatments. I believe that this tool will help the medical field tremendously and will most likely evolve into something much more.

 

Source: http://www.accuray.com/products/cyberknife-vsi-system

 

 

 

 

 

Nikola Tesla vs Thomas Edison

I am going to side with Tesla on this one. Tesla was born July 10th 1856 in Smiljan, Lika, which was then part of the Austo-Hungarian Empire. Tesla studied at the Polytechnic Institute in Graz and the University of Prague. He first intended to specialize in physics and mathmatics, but later became fascinated with electricity. After studying electricity, Tesla joined Continental Edison Company and was later invited to work for Thomas Edison in New York. Tesla came to the United States in 1884 and spent the next 59 years of his life in New York. While working with Edison, Tesla pointed out the flaws in Edison’s direct current electrical powerhouses and suggested using alternating current. Tesla said that Edison’s lamps were weak and inefficient when using direct current. Telsa developed his alternating system for motors, generators, and transformers and had 40 U.S. patents on the systems.

In 1882, Tesla discovered the rotating magnetic field. He used the rotating magnetic field with his alternating electrical current system to generate, transmit, and distribute electricity. He invented the Telsa coil in 1891 and this is still used today with radios and televisions as well as other electronics. Telsa also made an X-ray machine in 1986 which was published in the Electrical Review. Tesla had many inventions and we still use them to this day. I am siding with Tesla because he was a true inventor that had a remarkable gift for completing inventions in his head before even placing it on paper. Edison was a thief of many other inventors as well as Tesla and still received more credit than what the true inventors received.

 

Source: http://www.teslasociety.com/biography.htm

 

Advancements in Biotechnology

I have chosen the speech restorer as my topic of interest in biotechnology. This device enables people that are suffering from either a brain disorder or a major speech disorder have a voice again. This device uses a speech recognition technology to translate severely distorted words into clear sentences. The speech restorer is also able to compile full sentences by using just a few key words. The speech restorer consists of a handheld computer and a bluetooth headset and has plenty of different male and female voice options. A man that helped design this device, Professor Mark Hawley said, “We’ve found a way of making synthetic speech sound like a real person. We’re hoping to get it running on mobile phones too” (Power of Speech). So not only will the speech restorer be able to help people carry conversations in person, it will also make it possible for people with speech or brain disorders talk to anyone over the phone.

Another way this speech restorer can be used is by reading peoples thoughts and forming them into sentences. The Audeo uses electrodes that detect neuron signals traveling from the brain to the vocal cords. It is only a matter of thinking slowly about what one would want to say and this device picks up on the brainwaves and translates the waves into sentences.

 

 

Sources:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/mar/19/vivoca-synthetic-speech

http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/health/breakthroughs/4303407

 

 

Who Will Win?!?!?!?

The Wins and Fails of Technology

In 1989 the world wide web was invented. The man behind the genius is named Timothy Berners-Lee. The world wide web was made to make it easier to communicate with one another. He did this by connecting special computers to a network known as “gateways.” Gateways allowed communication paths like telephone lines, optical fibers, and radio links. The impact this had on society in indescribable, so much depends heavily on the internet from learning pretty much anything you want to creating a business. Internet is most definitely FTW and will forever be one of the biggest ever-evolving creations anyone has ever done.

Source: http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/internet.htm

The Apple Lisa was a flop from the 80’s. Although this is the first commercial  computer with a GUI, it was very limited with applications and very high in price. Apple spent $50 million dollars to make this user-friendly computer and, due to pricing issues, it turned out to be unpopular. On top of the lack of applications it could run, the ones it did were very slow and wore down the 5MHz CPU. As Apple kept trying to improve this system, they eventually discontinued it 2 years after release after selling only 100,000. This was an expensive flop for Apple in the 80’s.

Source: http://oldcomputers.net/lisa.html

The meaning behind the first words ever said on the telephone!

The telephone had a huge impact on society. This device is continually being modified and updated to fit into the modern times of the world. Mr. Graham had an amazing idea and brought it to life, and the first words he used the with the telephone are iconic, “Mr. Watson — come here — I want to see you.” What is unclear is what he wanted to see Mr. Watson for. This little comic I drew up is something that I believe could’ve been going on behind the door of Mr. Grahams’ office.

I drew this up on plain computer paper, then scanned it in on my computer, imported it into Adobe Photoshop, and went to town coloring it in. This was a lot of fun creating and I hope you all enjoy this little twist.

 

Thank you

 

Telegraph and Telephone

In the year 1809 a man named Samuel Soemmering invented a new way of communication. This device is called a telegraph and consisted of 35 wires with gold electrodes placed in water. The telegraph was used to communicate through electric signals that translated into messages. After the “crude” version was made, Harrison Dyer later made a better model that used electrical sparks through chemically treated paper tape to burn dots and dashes. The Dyer model became a part of communication for America in 1828. The impact that this invention had on society was that it helped keep in communication with other states as well as make jobs for companies that translated incoming messages as well as sending messages for customers. The invention also made other think of ways to improve the telegraph into a more “modern”,at the time, piece of technology.

Source:http://inventors.about.com/od/tstartinventions/a/telegraph.htm

 

The telegraph was one of the best ways to communicate in the 1800’s, that is until two inventors by the names of Elisha Gray and Alexander Graham Bell made a fascinating device that could transmit speech electronically. These two inventors may have both had a great idea, but only one prevailed with the patent of the telephone. Bell was the first one to make it to the patent office with this creation and was deemed creator, which caused a large legal battle over the patent and Bell ended up winning. The telephone was like the telegraph because it was also wire based, this was mostly due to Bell simply trying to improve the telegraph. The year 1876 marked the death of the telegraph as the telephone took hold of the nation as the best way to communicate with one another. The first words spoken through the telephone were from Bell, “Mr. Watson — come here — I want to see you.”

Source: http://inventors.about.com/od/bstartinventors/a/telephone.htm