Jump to content

The "How did they invent that?" Thread

NSEP

By NSEP
in The Lounge

 Share

Recommended Posts

NSEP

NSEP

Posted
Posted

Ever since i was a little kid, i wondered, how and why did they invent that?

@kerbiloid asked the following question: How and why did we invent coffee? I thought this would be an interesting topic to start the discussion. How did they invent coffee? My theory is pure experimentation. Someone tried to soften/improve the flavour of the coffee bean by roasting it, and dissolving it in water. Boom, coffee. Its addictive property of giving an energy boost was likely not intended to be discovered, but did play a major part of its rise in popularity. Im pretty sure someone once tried to do the same thing with rabbit droppings, but as we know now, that experiment failed.

By the way, thanks @Just Jim for bringing up the idea of making this kind of thread.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
kerbiloid

kerbiloid

Posted
Posted

(If you please, I'll copy this here from there.)

9 minutes ago, kerbiloid said:
15 minutes ago, TheMadKraken2297 said:

Arabic goat herders noticed their goats would be really energetic when they ate coffee berries, so the herders mixed the seeds ("beans") of the berries with other foods to make edible energy balls. It eventually evolved to grinding the beans into powders to eat.

This can make sense.
Though goats don't pound or fry the seeds. Looks like the chain was a little more tricky.
The dry dung is a usual daily fuel in desert regions. Probably shamans were dissolving the ash in water and drink give it to drink to the customers for lulz as medicine. Occasional coffee remains made the drink refreshing.
Later the shamans' sharp eye and tenacious mind have done the rest.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
XB-70A

XB-70A

Posted
Posted

The example of how Fleming have discovered the Penicillin clearly is one of the most famous.

 

One of my favorites is the story of the Lockheed Have Blue, the project which have leaded to the F-117. Originally, two engineers from the Skunk Works found a way to reach some Soviet studies from the 60's, but which were refused by the Big Heads of the country at the time as they were considered as "sorcery" (according to their words). Then, even the head of the department, the legendary Clarence Johnson, was against this project and its straight angled structure, considering it ridiculous, unproved by the calculations, and un-flyable... but it worked!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
YNM

YNM

Posted
Posted (edited)

@XB-70A Well, if you put enough boosters, it'll eventually fly in a straight line XD

 

The reason for the angled shape was, often told, due to the limitations of softwares at the time (not sure how true this is, but sounds plausible given what the increase in computing power have done in numerical analysis).

 

5 hours ago, NSEP said:

How and why did we invent coffee ?

Just as any other herb - it tastes "good". For instance, I'll never understand Indian curries, and yet they made it.

5 hours ago, NSEP said:

Im pretty sure someone once tried to do the same thing with rabbit droppings,

15332230651_df768b26be_o.jpg

Not far off.

Edited by YNM
Link to comment
Share on other sites
qzgy

qzgy

Posted
Posted
20 minutes ago, YNM said:

The reason for the angled shape was, often told, due to the limitations of softwares at the time (not sure how true this is, but sounds plausible given what the increase in computing power have done in numerical analysis).

Pretty sure this was it. Or if not the software, the amount (or lack thereof) of computing power. The flat angled shapes are much easier to model than a nice smooth curved one.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
XB-70A

XB-70A

Posted
Posted
40 minutes ago, YNM said:

The reason for the angled shape was, often told, due to the limitations of softwares at the time (not sure how true this is, but sounds plausible given what the increase in computing power have done in numerical analysis).

 

 

18 minutes ago, qzgy said:

Pretty sure this was it. Or if not the software, the amount (or lack thereof) of computing power. The flat angled shapes are much easier to model than a nice smooth curved one.

Totally right, the original data were suggesting that the best configuration simply was a purely flat surface, without any vertical reflecting. Even Denys Overholser, considered as one of the F-117 fathers, decided to codename the original project as "Hopeless Diamond". Johnson himself have declared that "a computer the size of the Delaware" was needed to realize the calculations. Ben Rich, another of the engineers, wrote that one day Johnson put a quarter on a table telling him that such a project was "pure craziness" and betting it will never fly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
p1t1o

p1t1o

Posted
Posted (edited)

I can tell you that the explosive charge in car airbags is inspired by a pack of biscuits. The explosive is a stack of discs, this helps modulate the speed of the reaction.

Edited by p1t1o
Link to comment
Share on other sites
p1t1o

p1t1o

Posted
Posted
On 4/8/2018 at 2:43 AM, TheMadKraken2297 said:

I bet guns were made when the feudal Chinese clogged their gunpowder flamethrowers with rocks or lead balls.

Pictured: the invention of the first firearm (colourised)

kirk-gorn-cannon.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites
p1t1o

p1t1o

Posted
Posted
5 minutes ago, 5thHorseman said:

The one that always got me was, what person - presumably a tartar - said "you know what would go good with this fried fish? Mayo and pickles." ?

I think there are a lot of foods whose origin began with a dare...blue cheese springs to mind. Or cheese for that matter. Or milk.

I read something funny that went something like "People think drinking [human] breast milk is icky except for infants, but offer them some milk extracted from a random 1500lb ruminant mammal and they chug it down like nobody's business."

Link to comment
Share on other sites
YNM

YNM

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, 5thHorseman said:

you know what would go good with this fried fish? Mayo and pickles

Well, mayo is as good as "milk" of egg, so...

 

Although, pickles ??!?!! I thought chips !

Link to comment
Share on other sites
NSEP

NSEP

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)

I wonder why people domesticated the cat. Dogs can hunt down small pesticides like rats and mice too, dogs can be cute too, and most importantly, dogs aren't as lazy as cats are.

Cats are nothing more than a cute little accessory (im not saying cats are completely useless, they are living creatures, like us, but its not that practical as a living tool) and not that practical compared to dogs. You'd think people back in the day would choose practicality over cuteness, but nah.

Edited by NSEP
Link to comment
Share on other sites
This thread is quite old. Please consider starting a new thread rather than reviving this one.

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...