Westwood on the Cutting Edge

The 3-D printer is one of the best ways to teach kids about technology. Its also the best invention ever because it can help a lot of people such as army retirees, people with physical problems like missing body parts and lastly it can help society in general.






















Other possible projects:

• 3D printing human parts.
• Printing robots
• Printing DNA for future researche.
• Print

Innovation: Computer Mouse

The computer mouse as we know it today was invented and developed by Douglas EnglebartDouglas during the 60's and was patented on November 17, 1970. While creating the mouse, Douglas was working at the Stanford Research Institute, a think tank sponsored by Stanford University, and originally referred to the mouse as a "X-Y Position Indicator for a Display System." This mouse was first used with the Xerox  Alto computer system in 1973. However, because of its lack of success the first widely used mouse is credited to being the mouse found on the Apple Lisa computer. Today, the mouse is now found and used on every computer.

 

Today, the mouse is an essential input device for all modern computers but it wasnt so long ago that computers had no mouse and no graphical user interface. Data was entered by typing commands on a keyboard.

Invention: The Telegraph

In 1830, an American, Joseph Henry(1797-1878), demonstrated the potential of William Sturgeon's electromagnet for long distance communication by sending an electronic current over one mile of wire to activate an electromagnet which caused a bell to strike.
 
          It was Samuel Morse (1791-1872) that successfully exploited the electromagnet and bettered Joseph Henry's invention. Morse made sketches of a "magnetized magnet" based on Henry's work. Morse invented a telegraph system that was a practical and commercial success.

         While a professor of arts and design at New York University in 1835, Samuel Morse proved that signals could be transmitted by wire. He used pulses of current to deflect an electromagnet, which moved a marker to produce written codes on a strip of paper - the invention of Morse Code. The following year, the device was modified to emboss the paper with dots and dashes. He gave a public demonstration in 1838, but it was not until five years later that Congress (reflecting public apathy) funded $30,000 to construct an experimental telegraph line from Washington to Baltimore, a distance of 40 miles.

          Six years later, members of Congress witnessed the sending and receiving of messages over part of the telegraph line. Before the line had reached Baltimore, the Whig party held its national convention there, and on May 1, 1844, nominated Henry Clay. This news was hand-carried to Annapolis Junction (between Washington and Baltimore) where Morse's partner, Alfred Vail, wired it to the Capitol. This was the first news dispatched by electric telegraph.
         This invation changed the world because people could send messeges to other menbers of their families on other states. Also it changed because later on this invation would innovate the creation of the first Telephone. The Telegraph also helped in wars such as World war II and Vietnam, etc.