Thursday 28 November 2013

10 THINGS DISCOVERED BY ACCIDENT


10 Things discovered by accident

1. The Microwave Oven
During World War II, two scientists invented the magnetron, a tube that produces microwaves. It was during a radar-related research project around 1946 that Dr. Percy Spencer, a self-taught engineer with the Raytheon Corporation, was testing a new type of magnetron when he discovered that the candy bar in his pocket had melted. This intrigued Dr. Spencer, so he tried another experiment. This time he placed some popcorn kernels near the tube and the popcorn popped all over his lab. Spencer decided to put the magnetron tube near an egg, which also cooked. The scientist thought if popcorn and a egg can be cooked that quickly, why not other foods? In 1947, Raytheon built the Radarange, the first microwave oven in the world. It was almost 6 feet (1.8 m) tall, weighed 750 pounds (340 kg) and cost close to $5,000. It was water-cooled, so also required built-in plumbing.
2. Ice Cream Cones
Before 1904, ice cream was served on dishes. It wasn’t until the World’s Fair of that year, held in St Louis, Missouri, that two seemingly unrelated food items were paired. It happened that the weather during the event was very hot, and given the combination of temperature and crowds, a stall selling ice cream quickly ran out of dishes. The neighbouring stall was selling a type of wafer waffle – and since his business was lagging he offered to help out the overly busy ice cream vendor. The spontaneous innovation was to roll his Zalabia into cone shapes and place the ice cream on top, which was an instant hit. This may be legend to a certain, as it was known that edible cones were being served in England prior to the 1904 World’s Fair.
3. Champagne
Although Dom Perignon did not invent Champagne, he did develop many advances in production of the drink, including holding the cork in place with a wire collar to withstand the fermentation pressure. In France, the first sparkling Champagne was created accidentally; its pressure led it to be called “the devil’s wine” as bottles exploded or the cork jolted away.
4. Potato chips/crisps
During one summer of 1853, Chef George Crum of Moon Lake Lodge Restaurant, in Saratoga Springs, New York, prepared the regular French-fried potatoes for a fastidious dinner guest who promptly rejected them for being too thick. Chef Crum served that diner with a thinner batch which was also rejected. Annoyed and exasperated, the chef decided to get back at the tough diner by making the potatoes so thin and crisp that even the fork could not skewer them. Instead of riling that diner, the paper-thin and crispy potato slices appealed to that diner so much he requested for more. Soon, all the other diners began to request for the paper-thin and crispy potato chips and they became a regular, house specialty item called Saratoga Chips on the menu. The popularity of the paper-thin potato chips grew quickly and soon it was packaged and sold as a portable convenience food. Eventually, Chef Crum opened his own chips restaurant.
5. The Slinky
Like Silly Putty, the Slinky was an accidental by-product of World War II research and development transformed into a hugely successful children’s toy. In 1943, engineer Richard James of greater Philadelphia was working in his home laboratory to invent a set of springs that could be used to support sensitive instruments on board ships and stabilize them even in rough seas. When he once accidentally knocked one of his springs off a shelf, James saw that, rather than flopping in a heap onto the floor, the spring “stepped” in a series of arcs from the shelf, to a stack of books, to a tabletop, to the floor, where it re-coiled itself and stood upright. He and his wife, who is credited with coming up with the name “Slinky”, founded James Industries, in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, to market their product. Richard invented machines that could coil 80 feet of steel wire into a Slinky in about 10 seconds. By the time of its 50th anniversary (1995), that same company, using those same machines, had sold over a quarter of a billion Slinkys, all over the world. While the toy is cool, it can be argued that the real invention was the machine that can take 80 feet of steel wire and coil it into a Slinky in 10 seconds. Now that’s an invention.
6. The Pacemaker
Canadian, John Hopps invented the first cardiac pacemaker. Hopps was trained as an electrical engineer at the University of Manitoba and joined the National Research Council in 1941, where he conducted research on hypothermia. While experimenting with radio frequency heating to restore body temperature, Hopps made an unexpected discovery: if a heart stopped beating due to cooling, it could be started again by artificial stimulation using mechanical or electric means. This lead to Hopps’ invention of the world’s first cardiac pacemaker in 1950. His device was far too large to be implanted inside of the human body. It was an external pacemaker.

7. The Popsicle
In 1905, the Popsicle was invented by an 11 year-old Frank Epperson. He had left his fruit flavoured soda outside on the porch with a stir stick in it. The drink froze overnight, and the next morning he discovered the frozen treat. He originally called it the “Epsicle” (no relation to the Epilady), which his children later re-named to the more palatable “Popsicle.” [Image credit: John Coulter]
8. Brandy
Medieval wine merchants used to boil the H20 out of wine so the cargo would keep better and take up less space at sea. Removing the water also made the load less expensive to ship, since tax was assessed by volume. Legend has it that the intent was to add the water removed by distillation back to the brandy before consumption, essentially to turn it back into wine, but after having been stored in wooden casks, the resulting product had improved over the original distilled spirit.
9. LSD
Wow man. The unintentional discovery of d-lysergic acid diethylamide tartrate-LSD-25 took place in 1938 by Swiss scientist Albert Hoffman. The actual discovery of LSD as a hallucinogen occurred when Dr Hoffman was involved in pharmaceutical research in Basel, Switzerland, hoping to produce drugs that would help ease the pain of childbirth. Having synthesized what would later become known as LSD; Hoffman catalogued the untested substance and placed it in storage, after finding nothing particularly interesting about it during the initial analysis. Five years later Hoffman discovered the true properties of the compound after inadvertently absorbing a dose of it when handling the chemical at work without wearing gloves. On his bicycle ride back home he observed “an uninterrupted stream of fantastic pictures, extraordinary shapes with intense, kaleidoscopic play of colours”. Early researcher Dr Richard Alpert claimed to have administered LSD to 200 test subjects by 1961, and reported that 85% of his test subjects said that the experience was the “most educational” of their lives. Francis Crick, the Nobel Prize-winning father of modern genetics, was under the influence of LSD when he first deduced the double-helix structure of DNA nearly 50 years ago.
10. X-Rays
Wilhelm Roentgen, Professor of Physics in Worzburg, Bavaria, was the first person to discover the possibility of using electromagnetic radiation to create what we now know as the x-ray. Roentgen was exploring the path of electrical rays passing from an induction coil through a partially evacuated glass tube. Although the tube was covered in black paper and the room was completely dark, he noticed that a screen covered in fluorescent material was illuminated by the rays. He later realised that a number of objects could be penetrated by these rays, and that the projected image of his own hand showed a contrast between the opaque bones and the translucent flesh. He later used a photographic plate instead of a screen, and an image was captured. For the first time ever the internal structures of the body could be made visible without the necessity of surgery. The first image created by his x-ray Roentgen was an image of his wife’s hand, noted by the wedding ring




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Saturday 9 November 2013

Leadership Lessons from M.S. Dhoni

Leadership Lessons from M.S. Dhoni
The story of Mahendra Singh Dhoni is nothing short of a fairy-tale. It's about an ordinary man who went on to do extraordinary things owing to his sheer grit and “intelligent” daredevilry. And, as they say that fortune favours the brave, luck, too has been on his side. You don't need to be a cricket fan to take stock of his leadership skills. True, that Team India lost humiliatingly in the test and one-day series against England but this does not place his leadership skills under scrutiny. His rare quality of extracting benefits from criticism had made India win matches and he himself won the hearts of millions of people. Managers and entrepreneurs can learn so much from him and then apply it to their real life situations.
Here's a rundown of MS Dhoni's leadership style:

On Leading from the Front
Dhoni is one those few captains in sports who have always led from the front, more so, in a situation of crisis. Dhoni has proved to be a leader who leads by example. The man has depicted remarkable equilibrium in many over-heated situations. His teammates are often heard saying that he knows how to remain cool and how to inspire others to remain so. Even senior players like Sachin and Dravid are all praise for him. During Sourav Ganguly's farewell test match, he asked him to captain the team for some time. This was a great gesture which established Dhoni's leadership and humane qualities. Entrepreneurs and managers can learn a lot from the 'Captain Cool' of the Indian cricket team. It's very important for them to lead by setting examples.

On Motivation
When it comes to motivation, Dhoni is the best captain India has ever produced. This behaviour was depicted very well by him during the semi-final match against Pakistan in the recently concluded World Cup. Amidst all the frenzy and hoopla which was built around the big game and the kind of pressure the players were under, even a small mistake could have cost them the match and the Cup. Dhoni motivated them and encouraged them to play naturally but give their 100% at the same time. And, we all know the result of the game. Dhoni motivates his team well during all cricketing sessions. Entrepreneurs and managers too need to keep the morale of their employees high, not just during a crisis situation but in all their day-to-day activities.

On Seeing What Others Miss and Taking Risks
Whether it is tampering with the batting order or choosing the bowlers, many of Dhoni's decisions have been under scrutiny. But on most occasions, his spot decisions have paid-off very well. Dhoni uses his best discretion to weigh a situation real time. This is not to encourage entrepreneurs and managers to take random risks but at the same time they need to read between the lines and see what others may have missed. A manager/entrepreneur can't afford to be not daring.

On Accepting Mistakes
There have been instances when his decisions have backfired. Dhoni has always been graceful enough to accept his follies and doesn't pass the buck to his other teammates. This has helped to build him the required trust within the team and mutual trust betters the performance. Like cricket, running a business too is a team effort. Mutual trust between the team members is of paramount importance and it's the leader's responsibility to build that.


On Criticism
Overall, Dhoni has been lucky enough to have drawn considerably less flak as compared to other Indian cricket captains. But he does have a fair share of criticism. Many times, his decisions like shuffling the batting order abruptly or giving the over to someone unexpectedly. Mostly, his decisions pay off well and he is not let down by them. It's actually the critics who are made to eat the humble pie. If in case, his decisions boomerang, he is humble enough to candidly admit his mistakes. His handling of criticism is in great sync with his persona of 'Captain Cool.' Entrepreneurs and managers are bound to attract criticism throughout their endeavours. Learning from Dhoni, they should not be deterred unnecessarily and let criticism make them go off the track. Criticism, in fact, can be healthy, if taken in the right way and right spirit.

Some Inspirational Quotes by Dhoni
“I never predict what will happen in cricket. We believe in each other and we believe in the process.”
“We are not thinking about what may happen if we achieve or what may happen if we don't succeed because those two things are beyond our control.
“We take each game in the right frame of mind”
“We don't rely on one specific individual. We expect everybody to contribute.”


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Tuesday 10 September 2013