New Fabric From Orange Fibre

Producing orange fibre to safe cost of disposal orange's waste. photo by: orangefiber.it

Most of modern fabrics are produce by synthetic materials and rarely new materials came from organic materials (as we already stick with few of the traditional materials as we known such as cotton, silk, linen, wool, jute, pineapple leaves, lotus silk and etc.). It shows that many other organic materials consist potential fibre to be use in producing fabric – perhaps need to go through different process.

At least that’s what student Adriana Santanocito and her friend Enrica Arena tried to do and successfully produced what they called Orange Fibre. Adriana was studying textiles at Politecnico of Milan, when she first thought about to produce the fabric from orange fibre. This idea came when she thought about how scientist can produced fabric out of milk and rice. Then she also thought about the problem of the citrus waste back at her home Sicily.

Orange waste. photo by: orangefiber.it 

The sample of Orange Fabric. photo by: orangefiber.it

We can produce fabric with cellulose produced by plants that generally known as rayon. The fabric that made of bamboo is actually rayon. Still there’s nothing bad about it. In fact rayon can be produced at cheaper price, safe lots of energy and farmland to grow fibre plants such as cotton, flax, hemp, jute, nettles, yucca and many others.

By producing orange fabric, Adriana helps to make sure the orange waste used for something more useful rather than to left it rotten and safe the huge amount of money with the disposal cost. Instead of using new trees to produce pulp, why not using the cellulose from other waste product such as in this case – she did a very good job.

Bamboo fibre, another example of fibre produce by plant. photo by: materia

Rayon allows fabrics price become cheaper as the plants fibre produced by few types of plants are harder to produce. It also allow wider range usage of fabrics for applications from tea bags, to fabrics for high quality dress. The only things that we concern about rayon production is the usage of harmful chemicals and their effects to the workers and environmental effects (when the waste management not been carried properly).

Orange fabric is another example of creative idea on how we can safe resources that before treat as waste. As we know that in ancient times, clothes are afforded only by the riches and they are very hard to produce. With new materials engineering will allow us to explore more possibilities to get better materials that are not just cheaper but also good for the nature.

Complicated Machines With Lego

Fully functional machine - replicate the Antikythera Mechanism.

Lego already known as one of the most important toys to inspires kids to develop their creativity. By building easy structures such as home, car, building, and many other objects they will begin to develop something more complicated such as machine prototype. Perhaps Lego not only important with kids for creativity but adult too. This is true for Andrew Carol.

Andrew Carol has passion for mechanical devices and re-invented it using Lego pieces. One of the most popular machine he constructed was Antikythera Mechanism based on the real machine found by divers in 1908 off the coast of Antikythera. It took us almost 100 years to know what exactly it is, until examination using X-Rays and CAT scans revealing the internal components inside it.

The original piece of Antikythera Mechanism.

The gears on Lego version created by Andrew Carol.

Gears functions on the machines explained in the video.

Back to Andrew Carol and his Lego hobbies; he also invented few more complicated machines using Lego pieces includes the 3^rd generation of Charles Babbage Difference Engine. More of his work and hobbies can be found here on this website. From the website he also shared more details about how those machines works complete with videos.

Well it tells us that it is still not too late for everyone to play with this wonderful toy. Maybe we can come out with more brilliant ideas if we work together with the whole family.

Mechanical Calculator Another Marvelous Invention

Curta mechanical calculator, one of the marvelous mechanical calculators ever invented.

Why we need to take a look at mechanical calculator when today the digital calculator can works better? Well, the invention of mechanical calculator itself is the result of complicated calculation and mechanical precision, so you can think how useful it was before the digital edge.

Before we go to more complicated mechanical calculator we might want to know more about the simple calculation apparatus such as abacus that had been used in ancient China. This device has been used until today in order to teach kid to know the concept of additional and subtraction.

The advancement of mathematical knowledge requires human to do more repetitive calculation, in large numbers and more complicated task. To safe time on calculations instead of the ideas itself such as in astrology and geometries, the calculation apparatus are very important.

The Napier's bones.

Page from a 1619 book of mathematical tables by Matthias Bernegger, showing values for the sine, tangent and secant trigonometric functions.

A typical ten-inch student slide rule.

There were many types of mechanical calculation apparatus since ancient times. Some of them showing of the result of the calculation rather than input numbers such as the Antikythera mechanism or simplification such as for the astrolabes.

Back to mechanical calculator machine that use specifically to calculate numbers, few of them being invented since as early as 17^th century. One of the best inventions was Pascal's calculator, invented by Blaise Pascal in 1642. On the same century there were few other tools invented like Napier's bones, logarithmic tables and the slide rule. We are all wondering what are those things are!

In 18^th century more complicated mechanical calculator was invented by Giovanni Poleni in 1709. In fact there were many others trying to invent calculation machines such as German Johann Helfrich Müller, French Lépine, German Antonius Braun, French Hillerin de Boistissandeau, German Philipp Matthäus Hahn, and English Lord Stanhope. Maybe there were few others that not documented.

Perhaps the best mechanical calculator ever invented was "Difference Engine No. 1," the invention of Charles Babbage in 1822. The machine has more capabilities of calculating up to seven numbers up to 31 decimal digits each. It also the first calculating machine that comes with printer. The project was abandoned in 1842. Anyway the working replica was built in 2005 by London’s Science Museum.

The working difference engine, built a century and a half based on Charles Babbage's design on display at London Science Museum.

Four of Pascal's calculators and one machine built by Lépine in 1725, display at Musée des Arts et Métiers.

Curta Type I, on display at the Musée des Arts et Métiers, Paris.

Yes, there were many other working mechanical calculators invented before the digital edge provides us with cheaper pocket calculator. The pocket version of mechanical calculator knows as Curta was invented by Curt Herzstark in the 1930s in Vienna, Austria. Until today this mechanical calculator still become one of the favorite for mechanical calculator’s fan to be part of their collection. Some fan even rebuilt this calculator using 3D printer such as the one bought by Adam Savage in his video and we all so envy with it.

The Earliest Electric Cars

Porsche P1, the first car designed by Ferdinand Porsche.

Not all of us realized that the electric cars were among the earliest cars invented before petrol cars became popular in the early of 20^th century. For various reasons the electric cars had been abandoned (perhaps suppressed) to allow petrol engine cars to take over.

The electric cars were pricier, with lower speed limits and shorter range, while petrol cars become more available to the public. Perhaps its demand by the market that make electric cars became less popular in the early 40’s until late 50’s. Still the production of electric cars only in the small quantities – the must be many other factors that caused the situation.

Anyway here we are just want to look at the earliest electric cars produced back then for us to have better understanding why they should become popular again. Some in the list here were the cars produced in large quantities and many others produced in small numbers.

Baker Electric

Was the earliest electric cars produced in large quantities. The first card was a two seater and sold to Thomas Edison as his first car. The nickel-iron batteries used in this car also was invented by Thomas Edison and some of them still can be use until today. By 1907, Baker had seventeen models and the price was getting higher. Baker’s cars also became part of the White House fleet of cars. Anyway by 1913 the company was overtaken in sale by Detroit Electric and, in 1914, merged with fellow Cleveland automaker Rauch and Lang to become Baker, Rauch & Lang.

Studebaker Electric

Studebaker Omnibus one of the electric vehicle produced by Studebaker Brothers.

Studebaker Electric was produced by Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company of South Bend, Indiana. This company produced electric vehicles from 1902 to 1912. Studebaker Electrics was produced in wide variety of body styles included the Stanhope, Victoria, and Surrey. A four-passenger model was introduced in 1904. The production of Studebakers was ended by 1912 as the demand on gasoline engines had increased.

Detroit Electric

An electric car produced by the Anderson Electric Car Company in Detroit, Michigan. The cars were produced from 1907 – 1939 and revived in 2008 to produce modern electric cars by Detroit Electric Holding Ltd. of the Netherlands. There were 13,000 electric cars were produced within 1907 – 1939 by the Anderson Electric Car Company. The sales were increased by increasing price of gasoline during the World War 1. Detroit Electrics were owned by few notable people included Thomas Edison, Lizzie Borden, Charles Proteus Steinmetz, Mamie Eisenhower, and John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Henry Ford bought Model C coupe for her wife Clara Ford.

Porsche P1

Porsche P1 on restoration after 112 years.

The series of gears for Porsche P1.

Porsche P1 was the first car designed by Ferdinand Porsche before he and his son created the company, Porsche. The car was produced in 1898 and resembles a wooden crate or an old horse-drawn carriage even though it is actually an electric powered vehicle. It was equipped with 3 hp electric motors and 5 hp by overcharging it. The car could be driven for three to five hours with the range up to approximately 49 miles. What make Porsche P1 so different was the series of gears with 12-speed controller: six for forward gears, two for reverse and four to brake the car. It was found after 112 years in warehouse in Austria and now on display at the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart, Germany.

The Earliest Cars

The earliest steam car know as Cugnot Steam Car.

This will be a very simple post just to have a glance of earliest cars produce before the modern cars were invented. Surprisingly, the earliest cars after the usage of animals such as horse, cow, buffalo, donkey and camel – or if there were many other animals that I missed, was start with power of water; that is steam engine.

Few other surprising things that we never thought are the hydrogen engine that was invented earlier and also the electric cars emerged in the early stage when the modern gasoline engine was invented. So here today, we are more on looking on some of those cars before we are able to come out with full article about it.

If you have something in mind to share so we can focus on it in the next articles.

There are still few working Baker's Electric cars in the world.

The advertising.

Basic steam car.

The bigger size steam car.

The steam car that still survive until today.

Steam car can be flashy too. 1903 White Model C steam car Demi-limousine.