Page 108 - (DK) How to be a GENIUS?

I
INVENTION
O
NVEN

People regularly come up with new ideas that
P eopl e r e
and
make life easier and that may even change thethe
o pr
r
acti
acti
world. Turning such inventions into practical
inv
entions int
he
technology takes hard work, but the original
idea is often the product of inspired genius.
re

Making connections
Some inventions involve luck, together
h the kno
with the knowledge to appreciate it.
w
nd
In 1928, Alexander Fleming had been
find w
trying to find ways of fighting bacterial
infections when he noticed that
inf ectio
a mold growing on an unwashed
bacterial culture plate had killed the
Known as burs, seedpods like this one have bacteria around it—just like the white
Known as burs, seedpods like this one have
hooks that cling to animal fur, carrying the
mold on the culture plate above.
seed away from the parent plant.
Stiff Velcro hooks (red in this magnified view) mimic
Stiff Velcro hooks (red in this magnified view) mimic He realized he had discovered the
the hooks on a plant bur, and catch in the soft loops first antibiotic drug, penicillin.
Bright ideas
Br of a woven pad.
Inventive people are often very
o
observant, with a talent for linking what
th
hey see to other ideas. In 1948, Swiss
e
inv ventor George de Mestral noticed a
of prickly plant seedpods clinging
lot of prickl y plant seedpods clinging
to his c t the
s clothes. He discovered that they y
were eq r osc opic Problem solving
quipped with microscopic hooks
that clung e f abric, In 1993, British inventor
ng to the fabric, and he used his
inv
o
o
ery t
discovery tt to invent the Velcro fastener. Trevor Baylis was watching a TV
show about the spread of AIDS in
DS in
t pe
Africa. He realized that people
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established
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was
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o
Nobe
N
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el
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el
The Nobel Pr i ize was es t a b l i s h ed were dying because they could
el Prize was established
T T Th Th
se th
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not pick up vital information
S
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red Nobel,
by Swedish ch emist Alf red Nobe , broadcast over the radio, simply
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chemist Alfred Nobel,
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Nobe
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Nobel
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c
mist
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cause
because they had no electricity.
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who ma d eh i i i s fortune when he He solved the problem by
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who made his fs f
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6
7
n
i i i invented dynamit e i i i i i i n1 8 6 7 . inventing a wind-up radio,
nvented
7
7
6
a
m
m
amite in 1867.
y
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it
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ite in 1867
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m
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ente
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vented
powered by a clockwork
motor linked to a small
electrical generator.
106
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