POLISH INVENTIONS THAT HAVE CHANGED THE WORLD

akaczynsky (41)in #science • 7 years ago (edited)

Television, bicycles, kerosene, golf carts, airplanes... are just some of the millions of inventions that people have made. When you ask the average European citizen what nationality the creators of these inventions are, you will probably hear: "Americans!".This stereotype causes that people do not know that a large proportion of WORLDs originate from their country! Therefore, today I am going to present several inventions that originate from my country, i.e. from Poland.

The oil lamp is undoubtedly associated with Ignacy Łukasiewicz. Maybe at the moment it is an ordinary object that the young generation could not even see with their own eyes, but Łukasiewicz's invention has left a huge mark on the oil industry. The oil lamp, which was created by a Polish inventor, was in a way a side effect of much more important scientific work. Łukasiewicz was looking for a fuel that could be obtained quickly, cheaply and which would replace the heavy oils and their mixtures used at that time. Using fractionated distillation, it obtained a preparation without light fractions at temperatures up to 250°C, separated it in the apparatus from heavy hydrocarbons, then refined with a concentrated solution of sulphuric acid and obtained, at the turn of the years 1852-1853, kerosene, from which the petrochemical industry began. Without his invention, there would be no refineries and advanced petroleum products known to us today.

If you think that a bulletproof vest is another of the American inventions, you are wrong. The first bulletproof vest in the world was made by Poles, namely Jan Szczepanik and Kazimierz Żegleń. The vaccine came to the conclusion that the vest, which is to hold the bullets, should be made of the strongest material available at that time - silk. Layed in appropriate strands, it has been additionally reinforced with metal plates. This is how a theoretically bullet-proof product was made. Jan Szczepanik was so sure of its effectiveness that he tried it on himself - dressed in his invention, he allowed the gun to shoot at himself. As you can easily guess, nothing has happened to the inventor. The Polish waistcoat quickly found its practical application. In 1902, the bomb attack on King Alphonse XIII of Spain failed because the monarch sat in a cave lined with bullet-proof fabric invented by Poles. Of course, today's bulletproof waistcoat is different from the one from 1897, but it is a Pole as followsthe first came up with this idea and produced the first copy.

Imagine that the streets pass through the golf courses, just so that the players do not have to travel long distances between the holes. Such a view would probably spoil the harmony of the place. Who came up with the idea of popular golf cars? Poles! One of the main markets was the United States, where Melexy first conquered golf courses and then was used, for example, as a mobile booth for hot biscuits. Carriers are used all over the world!

In 2014, an electronic wheelchair was awarded the title of the best Polish invention. The winning wheelchair is controlled by a joystick and tablet. But true "intelligence" is added by the ability to control it with the help of devices that detect the movement of eyeballs and even ... thoughts.

The trolley is able to read and analyze brain waves and thus control the operation of the engines. However, that is not all. It can also connect to "intelligent house" systems, so that the person moving on it will be able to open windows, doors, turn on the light and much, much more. A person using such a wheelchair can also call for help automatically after pressing only one key. The authors of the project are Patryk Arłamowski and Kamila Rudnicka.