Charles Goodyear was an American inventor who revolutionized the rubber industry with his discovery of vulcanization. Before his breakthrough, natural rubber was prone to becoming sticky and brittle in hot or cold weather, making it impractical for many industrial applications. Goodyear’s innovation enabled rubber to become a versatile material that could be used for a […]
British Malaya (then Malaysia) used to be the major producer of natural rubber, gutta percha and tin. These three commodities made British Malaya an important British colony in the late 19th century and the early 20th century. Natural rubber industry is no longer important in Malaysia, as rubber has been replaced by oil palm as […]
Five LED pioneers, comprising Isamu Akasaki, Shuji Nakamura, Nick Holanyak Jr, M. George Craford and Russel Dupuis, were awarded the 2021 Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering. They joined a list of distinguished individuals for their contribution to the engineering world and humanity. The five LED pioneers shared a prize of £1.0 million. The Queen Elizabeth […]
An LED, which stands for light-emitting diode, is a semiconductor diode that glows when a voltage is applied. Devices with LEDS are everywhere in our house: televisions, mobile phones, solar flood lights, torchlights, inhouse lighting, street lightings, and cars day- indicator lights. . Many companies are producing LED lights, and there are ample choices to buy indoor […]
Aspirin is an effective and inexpensive medicine that millions take daily to prevent heart attacks and strokes. Who could improve on that? The inventor of aspirin In ancient times, salicylate-containing plants such as willow were commonly used to relieve pain and fever. A salicylate is a salt or ester of salicylic acid . Salicylates are […]
The rapid Covid-19 vaccination drive in Malaysia has highlighted that there are a big group of Malaysians who have fear of needles being injected into their arms. Many would be recipients of vaccines missed their appointments. Others have high blood pressure before receiving their vaccines. One of these needle-phobics is my wife. Fortunately, she had […]
Every day I use solar flood lights to deter wild monkeys from feasting on my ripe rambutans. Hopefully, the flood lights will also deter unwanted strangers from stealing the ripe rambutans. I recharge the solar flood lights using solar panels. Many are interested to know who invented the solar panels that let us to harvest […]
Two small companies believe that they are on the verge of a breakthrough that had eluded scientists for decades according to Clive Cookson in an article in Financial Times, dated December 29th, 2019. This fusion breakthrough would deliver clean and cheap energy by harnessing the nuclear fusion reaction that powers the sun. The two companies […]
People with kidney failure could soon be spared regular trips to hospital thanks to a new dialysis machine the size of a microwave. My late father used to visit a government dialysis centre twice a week, for almost 10 years. Fortunately, we had a friend who ferried him to the dialysis centre, which was about […]
Usually you do not expect Africa to be a hot bed for innovation. A new revolutionary healthcare technology could change this perception. Neil Munshi, writing in Financial Times on April 25th, 2019, noted this technology will be applied in Africa as well as outside Africa. The world’s largest drone delivery network, ferrying 150 different medicines […]