5 Technologies That Changed/Or Will Change The World
1. Fibre Optics
Fibre optic technology was first demonstrated in the 1840’s
by Colladon and Babinet. Fibre optic tubes refract light within glass tubes
with little loss of light over the length of the tube.
In 1880 Alexander Graham Bell developed the technology to
transmit voice signals over an optical beam. Bundled together, fibre optic
cables are immune to electrical interference making them good for use in
computer networking. Fibre optic transmissions are also much harder to snoop
and are therefore considered more secure.
2. Graphene
Graphene will completely revolutionise technology. Created
at the University of Manchester, UK, graphene is a layer of graphite one atom
thick. It is very strong, an excellent conductor of heat and electricity and is
predicted to transform mobile devices. Imagine a flexible cellphone or tablet.
3. Cellphone Technology
The technology to enable cellphones to communicate from a
base station was proposed in 1947, however the technology did not allow the
phone to move out of range of the base station.
A car phone call, using a rotary dial to make the call was
first used in Sweden in 1956. The first mobile phone call was made from a
Motorola phone in 1973.
4. Personal Computing
Microcomputers started to be mass marketed in 1977 and the
name “Personal Computer” appeared six years later when Hewlett Packard
announced its 9100A personal computer. Microchip technology has significantly
reduced the cost — and size — of the processor as its power increased and form
factors became much more compact.
Although there are well over a billion PC’s in existence,
smartphone and tablet technology have started to become prevalent in consumer
markets around the world.
5. Solar Cells
Solar cells convert light energy to electricity. The
photovoltaic effect was first demonstrated by Becquerel in 1839. It has
recently achieved a level of almost 45 percent efficiency. About 16 solar panels could be connected to your house and meet all of your energy needs.
See you all tomorrow.
Buh-bye.
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