The year 2017, almost gone, was a year of high-profile discoveries - space agencies began to use reusable rockets, patients can now fight cancer cells with their own blood cells, and a group of scientists discovered a lost continent called Zeeland in the Southern Hemisphere.

These and other mind-blowing discoveries and incredible scientific achievements of 2017 are described in more detail below.

Zealand

An international team of 32 scientists has discovered a lost continent in the South Pacific - Zealand. It is located under Pacific waters, on the seabed, between New Zealand and New Caledonia. Zealand has not always been under water, as scientists have been able to find fossilized remains of plants and land animals.

New life form

Scientists managed to create in the laboratory something that is closest to a new form of life. The fact is that the DNA of all living beings consists of natural pairs of amino acids: adenine-thymine and guanine-cytosine. Most of the DNA is built from these nitrogenous bases. However, the scientists were able to create an unnatural base pair that coexisted quite comfortably with the natural base pairs in E. coli DNA.

This discovery can influence the further development of medicine and may contribute to a longer retention of drugs in the body.

All the gold in the universe

Scientists have learned exactly how all the gold in the universe (as well as platinum and silver) is formed. In the process of collision of two very small, but very heavy stars, located at a distance of 130 million light years from Earth, one hundred octillion dollars worth of gold was formed.

For the first time in the history of stellar observation, astronomers have witnessed the collision of two neutron stars. Two massive space bodies were heading towards each other at a speed equal to a third of the speed of light, and their collision led to the creation of gravitational waves that are palpable on Earth.

Secrets of the Great Pyramid

Scientists have taken a fresh look at the Great Pyramid of Giza and discovered a secret hall there. Using a new scanning technology based on high-speed particles, scientists have discovered a secret room in the depths of the pyramid, which no one had even suspected before. So far, scientists can only speculate why this room was built.

A new way to fight cancer

Scientists can now use the human immune system to fight some cancer cells. For example, to fight childhood leukemia, doctors extract a child's blood cells, modify them, and inject them back into the body. So far, this process is extremely expensive, but the technology is developing and has great potential.

New indicators from the poles

Not all discoveries in 2017 were positive. For example, in July, a huge piece of ice broke off the Antarctic ice sheet, becoming the third largest iceberg on record.

In addition, scientists argue that the Arctic may never regain the title of the eternally icy pole.

New planets

NASA scientists have discovered seven more exoplanets that could theoretically support life as we know it on Earth.

In the neighboring star system TRAPPIST-1, as many as seven planets were observed, at least six of them are solid, like the Earth. All these planets are in a zone favorable for the formation of water and life. What is most remarkable about this discovery is the proximity of the star system and the possibility of further detailed study of the planets.

Farewell to Cassini

In 2017, the Cassini robotic space station, which had been studying Saturn and its many moons for 13 years, burned up in the planet's atmosphere. This was the planned end of the mission, which scientists deliberately went to in an attempt to avoid Cassini colliding with possibly habitable moons of Saturn.

Just before its death, Cassini circled Titan and flew through the icy rings of Saturn, sending unique images back to Earth.

MRI for babies

The tiniest babies being treated or examined in the hospital now have their own MRI, safe to use in the same room as the babies.

Reusable rocket booster

SpaceX has invented a new rocket booster that doesn't fall back to Earth after a rocket launch and can be used multiple times.

Boosters are one of the most expensive parts of launching a rocket into space, and usually they all end up on the ocean floor immediately after launch. A very expensive disposable device, without which it is impossible to reach orbit.

However, SpaceX's new heavy boosters can be retrofitted relatively easily and cheaply, saving $18 million per launch. In 2017, Elon Musk's company has already carried out about 20 launches, followed by a booster landing.

New advances in genetics

Scientists have become one step closer to being able to edit human DNA, saving him from birth defects, diseases and genetic abnormalities even before birth. Oregon geneticists have successfully edited the DNA of a living human embryo for the first time.

In addition, eGenesis announced that it will soon be possible to transplant large vital organs from pig donors to humans. The company has succeeded in creating a genetic virus blocker that does not transmit animal viruses to humans.

Breakthrough in quantum teleportation

The possibility of quantum information teleportation has long been studied by scientists. Previously, it was possible to teleport data over a distance of several tens of kilometers.

For the first time in the history of quantum teleportation, a Chinese scientist managed to transfer information about photons (light particles) from Earth into space using mirrors and lasers.

This discovery could dramatically change how we transmit information around the world and transport energy. Quantum teleportation could lead to an entirely new kind of quantum computers and information transfer. The Internet of the near future could be faster, more secure, and virtually unhackable.

Over the past 10 years, many amazing discoveries and achievements have taken place in the world of science. Surely many of you who read our site have heard of most of the items on today's list. However, their significance is so high that once again it would be a crime not to mention them at least briefly. They need to be remembered at least for the next decade, until new, even more amazing scientific achievements are made on the basis of these discoveries.

Stem cell reprogramming

Stem cells are amazing. They perform the same cellular functions as the rest of the cells in your body, but, unlike the latter, they have one amazing property - if necessary, they are able to change and acquire the function of absolutely any cells. This means that stem cells can be converted, for example, into erythrocytes (red blood cells) if your body lacks the latter. Or in white blood cells (leukocytes). Or muscle cells. Or neurons. Or ... in general, you get the idea - in almost all types of cells.

Despite the fact that stem cells have been known to the general public since 1981 (although they were discovered much earlier, at the beginning of the 20th century), until 2006, science had no idea that any cells of a living organism can be reprogrammed and transformed into stem cells. Moreover, the method of such transformation turned out to be relatively simple. The first person to explore this possibility was Japanese scientist Shinya Yamanaka, who turned skin cells into stem cells by adding four specific genes to them. Within two to three weeks, from the moment the skin cells turned into stem cells, they could be further transformed into any other type of cell in our body. For regenerative medicine, as you can imagine, this is one of the most important discoveries in recent history, as the field now has an almost limitless supply of the cells you need to heal your body's damage.

Largest black hole ever discovered

"blot" in the center - our solar system

In 2009, a group of astronomers decided to find out the mass of the black hole S5 0014+81, which had just been discovered at that time. Imagine their surprise when scientists learned that its mass is 10,000 times that of the supermassive black hole at the center of our Milky Way, effectively making it the largest known black hole in the known universe so far.

This ultra-massive black hole has the mass of 40 billion suns (meaning if you take the mass of the Sun and multiply it by 40 billion, you get the mass of a black hole). No less interesting is the fact that this black hole, according to scientists, formed during the earliest period in the history of the universe - just 1.6 billion years after the Big Bang. The discovery of this black hole contributed to the understanding that holes of this size and mass can increase these figures incredibly quickly.

Memory manipulation

It already sounds like a seed for some Nolan's Inception, but in 2014, scientists Steve Ramirez and Xu Liu manipulated the memory of a laboratory mouse, replacing negative memories with positive ones and vice versa. The researchers implanted special light-sensitive proteins into the mouse's brain and, as you might have guessed, simply shined a light into its eyes.

As a result of the experiment, positive memories were completely replaced by negative ones, which were firmly entrenched in her brain. This discovery opens the door to new types of treatment for those who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder or who cannot cope with the emotions of losing loved ones. In the near future, this discovery promises to lead to even more surprising results.

Computer chip that mimics how the human brain works

This was seen as something fantastic a few years ago, but in 2014, IBM introduced the world to a computer chip that works on the principle of the human brain. With 5.4 billion transistors and 10,000 times less power to operate than conventional computer chips, the SyNAPSE chip is able to simulate your brain's synapse. 256 synapses, to be exact. They can be programmed to perform any computational task, which can make them extremely useful when used in supercomputers and various types of distributed sensors.

Thanks to its unique architecture, the performance of the SyNAPSE chip is not limited to the performance that we are accustomed to assessing in conventional computers. It turns on only when it is needed, which allows you to significantly save on energy and maintain operating temperatures. This revolutionary technology could truly change the entire computer industry over time.

One step closer to robot domination

Also in 2014, 1,024 tiny "kilobots" robots were tasked to combine into a star shape. Without any further instructions, the robots independently and collectively set about the task. Slowly, uncertainly, colliding with each other several times, but they nevertheless completed the task assigned to them. If one of the robots got stuck or “lost”, not knowing how to become, the neighboring robots came to the rescue, which helped the “losers” to orient themselves.

What is the achievement? Everything is very simple. Now imagine that the same robots, only thousands of times smaller, are introduced into your circulatory system and united to fight some serious disease that has settled in your body. Larger robots, also united, are sent to some kind of search and rescue operation, and even larger ones are used to build fantastically fast new buildings. Here, of course, one can recall some scenario for a summer blockbuster, but why escalate?

Dark matter confirmation

According to scientists, this mysterious matter may contain answers to many as yet unexplained astronomical phenomena. Here's one of them as an example: let's say we have a galaxy with a mass of thousands of planets. If we compare the actual mass of these planets and the mass of the entire galaxy, the numbers don't add up. Why? Because the answer goes much deeper than simply calculating the mass of matter that we can see. There is also matter that we cannot see. It is just what is called "dark matter".

In 2009, several American laboratories announced the discovery of dark matter using sensors submerged in an iron mine to a depth of about 1 kilometer. Scientists were able to determine the presence of two particles whose characteristics match the previously proposed description of dark matter. There are many rechecks to be done, but everything points to the fact that these particles are actually particles of dark matter. This may be one of the most amazing and significant discoveries in physics in the last century.

Is there life on Mars?

Maybe. In 2015, the NASA aerospace agency published photos of the Martian mountains with dark stripes at their foot (photo above). They come and go depending on the season. The fact is that these bands are irrefutable proof of the presence of liquid water on Mars. Scientists cannot say with absolute certainty whether the planet had such features in the past, but the presence of water on the planet now opens up many prospects.

For example, the presence of water on the planet can be of great help when humanity finally puts together a manned mission to Mars (sometime after 2024, according to the most optimistic forecasts). Astronauts in this case will have to carry with them much less resources, since everything you need is already on the Martian surface.

reusable rockets

The private aerospace company SpaceX, owned by billionaire Elon Musk, was able, after several attempts, to soft-land a spent rocket on a remotely controlled floating barge in the ocean.

Everything went so smoothly that now landing spent rockets for SpaceX is considered a routine task. It also saves the company billions of dollars in missile production because they can now be simply sorted, refilled, and reused (and more than once, in theory) instead of just sinking somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. Thanks to these rockets, humanity has become several steps closer to manned flights to Mars.

Gravitational waves

Gravitational waves are ripples of space and time moving at the speed of light. They were predicted by Albert Einstein in his general theory of relativity, according to which mass is capable of bending space and time. Gravitational waves can be created by black holes, and they were detected in 2016 using the high-tech equipment of the Laser Interferometric Gravitational Wave Observatory, or simply LIGO, thus confirming Einstein's century-old theory.

This is indeed a very important discovery for astronomy, as it proves much of Einstein's general theory of relativity and allows instruments such as LIGO to detect and monitor events of vast cosmic scales in the future.

TRAPPIST system

TRAPPIST-1 is a star system located approximately 39 light years from our solar system. What makes her special? Not much, except for its star, which has 12 times less mass than our Sun, as well as at least 7 planets wrapping around it and located in the so-called Goldilocks zone, where life could potentially exist.

Around this discovery, as expected, there are now heated debates. It even goes so far as to say that the system may not be habitable at all and that its planets look more like unsightly vacant space rocks than our future interplanetary resorts. Nevertheless, the system deserves absolutely all the attention that is now riveted to it. Firstly, it is not so far from us - only some 39 light years from the solar system. On the scale of space - around the corner. Secondly, it has three Earth-like planets that are in the habitable zone and are perhaps the best targets for the search for extraterrestrial life today. Thirdly, all seven planets may have liquid water - the key to life. But the probability of its presence is highest precisely on the three planets that are closer to the star. Fourth, if there really is life there, then we can confirm this without even sending a space expedition there. Telescopes like JWST, which is set to launch next year, will help solve this problem.

For 15 years since the beginning of the new millennium, people did not even notice that they were in a different world: we live in a different solar system, we know how to repair genes and control prostheses with the power of thought. None of this happened in the 20th century.

Genetics

The human genome has been completely sequenced

Robot sorts human DNA in Petri dishes for a project The Human Genome

The Human Genome Project ( The Human Genome Project) began in 1990, a working draft of the genome structure was released in 2000, and the complete genome in 2003. However, even today additional analysis of some areas has not yet been completed. It was mainly performed at universities and research centers in the US, Canada and the UK. Genome sequencing is critical to drug development and understanding how the human body works.

Genetic engineering has reached a new level

In recent years, a revolutionary method has been developed to manipulate DNA using the so-called CRISP-mechanism. This technique allows selective editing of certain genes, which was not possible before.

Maths

Poincaré's theorem is proved

In 2002, Russian mathematician Grigory Perelman proved the Poincaré theorem, one of the seven millennium problems (important mathematical problems that have not been solved for decades). Perelman showed that the original three-dimensional surface (if there are no discontinuities in it) will necessarily evolve into a three-dimensional sphere. For this work, he received the prestigious Fields Medal, equivalent to the Nobel Prize in mathematics.

Astronomy

Dwarf planet Eris discovered

Eridu was first photographed on October 21, 2003, but was only noticed in the pictures at the beginning of 2005. Its discovery was the last straw in the debate about the fate of Pluto (whether to continue to consider it a planet or not), which changed the usual image of the solar system (see pp. 142–143).

Water found on Mars

In 2005, the European Space Agency's Mars Express discovered large deposits of water ice close to the surface - this is very important for the subsequent colonization of the Red Planet.

Physics

Global warming - faster than expected

In 2015, scientists from the World Glacier Monitoring Center at the University of Zurich (Switzerland), led by Dr. Michael Zemp, working together with colleagues from 30 countries, found that the rate of melting of glaciers on Earth to date, compared with the average rates for the 20th century, grew two or three times.

Quantum teleportation discovered

Such teleportation is different from teleportation, which science fiction writers like to talk about - with it, matter or energy is not transmitted over a distance. Experiments on the transfer of quantum states over long distances have been successfully carried out over the past 15 years by at least a dozen scientific groups. Quantum teleportation is very important for creating ultra-secure ciphers and quantum computers.

Existence of graphene experimentally confirmed

Its two-dimensional (one atom thick) crystal lattice exhibits unusual electrophysical properties. Graphene was first obtained by Andrey Geim and Konstantin Novoselov in 2004 (Nobel Prize for 2010). It is planned to be used in electronics (in ultra-thin and ultra-fast transistors), composites, electrodes, etc. In addition, graphene is the second most durable material in the world (carbine is in the first place).

The existence of a quark-gluon plasma has been proven

In 2012, the experiments of physicists working with the RHIC accelerator at the Brookhaven National Laboratory (USA) were included in the Guinness Book of Records with the wording "for the highest temperature obtained in the laboratory." By colliding gold ions at the accelerator, scientists have achieved the emergence of quark-gluon plasma with a temperature of 4 trillion ° C (250 thousand times hotter than in the center of the Sun). About a microsecond after the Big Bang, the universe was filled with just such a plasma.

Higgs boson found

The existence of this elementary particle, which is responsible for the mass of all other particles, was theoretically predicted by Peter Higgs back in the 1960s. And it was found during experiments at the Large Hadron Collider in 2012 (for which Higgs, together with Francois Engler, received the 2013 Nobel Prize).

Biology

People were divided into three enterotypes

In 2011, scientists from Germany, France and several other research centers proved that, according to the genetics of the bacteria inhabiting us, people are divided into three categories, or enterotypes. The human enterotype manifests itself in a different reaction to food, drugs and diets, and therefore it became clear that no universal recipes could exist in these areas.

Created the first synthetic bacterial cell

In 2010, scientists from the Craig Venter Institute (which was one of the leaders in the race to decipher the human genome) created the first fully synthetic chromosome with a genome. When it was built into a bacterial cell devoid of genetic material, it began to function and divide according to the laws prescribed by the new genome. In the future, a synthetic genome will make it possible to create vaccines against new viral strains in hours, not weeks, to produce efficient biofuels, new food products, etc.

Successfully recorded and re-recorded memories

Since 2010, several research groups (USA, France, Germany) have learned how to write false memories into the brains of mice, erase real ones, and also turn pleasant memories into unpleasant ones. The matter has not yet reached the human brain, but it will not be long.

'Ethical' (not from embryos) pluripotent stem cells obtained

In 2012, Shinya Yamanaka and John Gurdon were awarded the Nobel Prize in 2006 for their discovery of mouse pluripotent stem cells by epigenetic reprogramming. Over the next decade, at least a dozen scientific groups have made impressive progress in this area, including with human cells. This bodes well for breakthroughs in cancer therapy, regenerative medicine, and human (or organ) cloning.

Paleontology

Dinosaur soft tissue discovered for the first time

Mary Schweitzer led the scientific team that described the collagen isolated from the femur of Tyrannosaurus rex.

In 2005, University of North Carolina molecular paleontologist Mary Schweitzer discovered soft tissue in the fossilized limb of a 65-million-year-old tyrannosaurus rex from Montana. Previously, it was believed that any proteins would decompose in a maximum of several thousand years, so no one was looking for them in the fossils. After that, soft tissues (collagen) were found in other ancient samples.

Neanderthal and Denisovan genes found in humans

Participants of the international symposium "Transition to the Upper Paleolithic in Eurasia: cultural dynamics and development of the genus Homo» visiting the excavation site in the central hall of the Denisova Cave

From the work of two scientific groups, it became clear that from 1 to 3% of the genome of an average European or Asian goes back to Neanderthals. But each modern individual has dissimilar Neanderthal alleles (different forms of the same gene), so the total amount of "Neanderthal" genes is much higher, up to 30%. The "heirs" of the Neanderthals (crossing took place about 45 thousand years ago) are mostly Europeans; Asians in the genome contain traces of crossing with another hominid - "Denisovsky man". The most "clean" Homo sapiens- Natives of the African continent.

The medicine

Breathing early stage of lung cancer

A year ago, a team of Israeli, American and British scientists developed a device that can accurately identify lung cancer and determine what stage it is in. The basis of the device was a breath analyzer with a built-in nanochip NaNose, capable of "sniffing out" a cancerous tumor with 90 percent accuracy, even when the cancerous nodule is almost invisible. In the near future we should expect analyzers that will be able to determine other types of cancer by “smell”.

Developed the first fully autonomous artificial heart

American company specialists Abiomed developed the world's first fully autonomous permanent artificial heart for implantation ( AbioCor). An artificial heart is intended for patients who cannot treat their own heart or implant a donor one.

Bionics

Created biomechanical devices and prostheses controlled by thought

American Zack Water tested a bionic leg prosthesis by climbing the stairs to the 103rd floor of the Willis Tower skyscraper in Chicago.

In 2013, the first prototypes of “smart” prostheses with feedback (emulation of tactile sensations) appeared, which allow a person to feel what the prosthesis “feels”. In the 2010s, devices separate from humans were also created, controlled only through a mental interface (sometimes with invasive contacts, but more often it looks like a head hoop with a dry electrode) - computer games and simulators, manipulators, vehicles, etc.

Electronics

Crossed the petaflop barrier

In 2008, a new supercomputer at Los Alamos (USA) ran at a rate of more than a quadrillion (thousand trillion) operations per second. The next barrier, exascale (quintillion operations per second), will be reached in the coming years. Systems with such incredible speed are needed primarily for high-performance computing - data processing of scientific experiments, climate modeling, financial transactions, etc.

Photo: Alamy, SPL, Newscom / Legion Media, SPL / Legion Media (X2), Photo courtesy of North Carolina State University, Reuters / Pix-Stream, Alexander Kryazhev / RIA Novosti, Reuters / Pix-Stream, Michael Hoch, Maximilien Brice / © 2008 CERN, for the benefit of the CMS Collaboration, AP / East News

We offer a selection of interesting scientific discoveries of recent times.

See death. This month, British scientists made an interesting discovery: they captured on camera the spread of death. The process itself was a blue glow that, in the literal sense of the word, permeated the cells of the body while it was dying. The very goal pursued by scientists from the Research Council for Biotechnology and Biological Sciences was to deepen knowledge in the processes of death in order to further try to increase human life expectancy. (According to the Daily Mail. Photo: DailyMail)

Ancient Mayan temple. Archaeologists discovered an ancient temple in the jungles of Guatemala last year. Presumably, this temple belonged to the Mayan tribes 1600 years ago and was called the “Temple of the Night Sun”. The temple itself is adorned with gigantic masks of the Mayan solar god.

New animal species in Peru. Between 2009 and 2012, a group of biologists from Mexico and Peru traveled in search of new animal species to the northern part of Peru, the Tabaconas Namballe National Reserve. During the entire expedition, they discovered many new species of mammals. Among them is an unknown species of night monkey. Only last year, scientists managed to agree that this species of monkeys was really not known to science. Disputes over some other species of mammals are still ongoing. (according to nationalgeographic.com, photo: National Geographic)

Solar systems and planets. In April 2012, scientists discovered an interesting star in the constellation South Hydra. The Sun-like star is 127 light-years from Earth. At least 9 planets revolve around it, which makes this solar system the largest known. Our solar system has only 8 official planets. (according to nationalgeographic.com, photo: National Geographic)

Baby teeth and dictators. Scientists have made an interesting conclusion why, most likely, dictators are born. Approximately 1 in 2000 babies are born with one erupted tooth. For a mother, feeding such a child turns into real torment. The child feels a lack of attention, and with age, subconsciously tries to win it more and more. Anthropologists claim that people like Julius Caesar, Hannibal, Napoleon, Mussolini, and Hitler were born with an erupted tooth. (according to www.mentalfloss.com, photo: open sources)

Tie and vision. After many years of research, American scientists came to the conclusion that in 67% of men, visual impairment is associated with a tightly tightened collar. This is especially true for those who wear a tie. A tight tie restricts blood flow to the eyes. It also affects blood pressure. (according to Stephen Juan, "The odd body", photo: public sources)

Chimpanzee and deceit. The conclusion was made by zoologists from Sweden. They found that a chimpanzee named Santino, who constantly threw stones at zoo visitors, prepared the weapon in advance. Santino has been under surveillance for a long time. Without giving a look, he waited for the visitors to reach a certain place, and then quickly took out and threw a stone. Scientists concluded that such an action is the result of a well-thought-out plan, which means that chimpanzees are capable of deceit. (according to the journal PLoS ONE and the ScienceNOW website, a photo: open sources )

happiness and food. British scientists came to the conclusion that only food can bring true happiness to a person. Everyone knows that a hungry person often has a bad mood, but as soon as he eats, his mood improves. In the first place among the “products of happiness” were all kinds of sweets and french fries - for most people, these products are associated with relaxation. Next on the list are red and black caviar. It is associated with wealth and luxury. (according to www.geo.ru, a photo: open sources)

Mars and water NASA experts have come to the final conclusion that in the distant past there was water on the red planet suitable for living organisms. They managed to make such a conclusion with the help of the Opportunity rover. The spacecraft found a piece of ancient clay that could only form in the presence of water. (according to bbc.co.uk, photo: NASA)

The history of mankind is closely connected with constant progress, the development of technology, new discoveries and inventions. Some technologies are outdated and history, others, such as the wheel or the sail, are still in use today. Countless discoveries were lost in the whirlpool of time, others, not appreciated by contemporaries, were waiting for recognition and implementation for tens and hundreds of years.

Editorial Samogo.Net conducted her own research, designed to answer the question of what inventions are considered by our contemporaries to be the most significant.

Processing and analysis of the results of Internet surveys showed that there is simply no consensus on this matter. Nevertheless, we managed to form a general unique rating of the greatest inventions and discoveries in the history of mankind. As it turned out, despite the fact that science has long gone forward, the basic discoveries in the minds of our contemporaries remain the most significant.

First place indisputably ranked Fire

People early discovered the beneficial properties of fire - its ability to illuminate and warm, to change plant and animal food for the better.

The "wild fire" that flared up during forest fires or volcanic eruptions was terrible for a person, but by bringing fire into his cave, a person "tamed" him and "put" him at his service. Since that time, fire has become a constant companion of man and the basis of his economy. In ancient times, it was an indispensable source of heat, light, a means for cooking, a hunting tool.
However, further cultural gains (ceramics, metallurgy, steelmaking, steam engines, etc.) are due to the comprehensive use of fire.

For long millennia, people used "domestic fire", maintained it from year to year in their caves, before they learned how to get it themselves using friction. This discovery probably happened by chance, after our ancestors learned how to drill wood. During this operation, the wood was heated and, under favorable conditions, ignition could occur. Paying attention to this, people began to widely use friction to make fire.

The simplest method was to take two sticks of dry wood, in one of which a hole was made. The first stick was placed on the ground and pressed against the knee. The second was inserted into the hole, and then they began to quickly rotate between the palms. At the same time, it was necessary to press hard on the stick. The inconvenience of this method was that the palms gradually slipped down. Every now and then I had to lift them up and again continue to rotate. Although, with a certain skill, this can be done quickly, nevertheless, due to constant stops, the process was greatly delayed. It is much easier to make fire by friction, working together. At the same time, one person held the horizontal stick and pressed on top of the vertical one, and the second quickly rotated it between the palms. Later, they began to clasp the vertical stick with a strap, moving which to the right and left, you can speed up the movement, and for convenience, they began to put a bone cap on the upper end. Thus, the entire device for making fire began to consist of four parts: two sticks (fixed and rotating), a strap and a top cap. In this way, it was possible to make fire alone, if you press the lower stick with your knee to the ground, and the cap with your teeth.

And only later, with the development of mankind, other methods of obtaining an open fire became available.

Second place in the responses of the Internet community took Wheel and Wagon

It is believed that its prototype may have been skating rinks, which were placed under heavy tree trunks, boats and stones when they were dragged from place to place. Perhaps at the same time the first observations on the properties of rotating bodies were made. For example, if for some reason the log-skating rink was thinner in the center than at the edges, it moved under the load more evenly and did not drift to the side. Noticing this, people began to deliberately burn the rinks in such a way that the middle part became thinner, while the side ones remained unchanged. Thus, a device was obtained, which is now called a "slope". In the course of further improvements in this direction, only two rollers at its ends remained from a single log, and an axis appeared between them. Later, they began to be made separately, and then rigidly fastened together. So the wheel was opened in the proper sense of the word and the first wagon appeared.

In subsequent centuries, many generations of craftsmen worked to improve this invention. Initially, solid wheels were rigidly fastened to the axle and rotated with it. When moving on a flat road, such wagons were quite suitable for use. On a bend, when the wheels must turn at different speeds, this connection creates great inconvenience, since a heavily laden wagon can easily break or roll over. The wheels themselves were still very imperfect. They were made from a single piece of wood. Therefore, the wagons were heavy and clumsy. They moved slowly and were usually harnessed to slow but powerful oxen.

One of the oldest carts of the described design was found during excavations in Mohenjo-Daro. A major step forward in the development of locomotion technology was the invention of a wheel with a hub mounted on a fixed axle. In this case, the wheels rotated independently of each other. And so that the wheel would rub less against the axle, they began to lubricate it with grease or tar.

In order to reduce the weight of the wheel, cutouts were cut out in it, and for rigidity they were strengthened with transverse braces. Nothing better could have been invented in the Stone Age. But after the discovery of metals, wheels with a metal rim and spokes began to be made. Such a wheel could rotate ten times faster and was not afraid of hitting stones. Harnessing swift-footed horses to the wagon, a person significantly increased the speed of his movement. Perhaps it is difficult to find another discovery that would give such a powerful impetus to the development of technology.

Third place rightfully occupied Writing

There is no need to talk about the great significance of the invention of writing in the history of mankind. It is impossible to even imagine what path the development of civilization could have taken if, at a certain stage of their development, people had not learned to fix the information they needed with the help of certain symbols and thus transmit and store it. It is obvious that human society in the form in which it exists today simply could not have appeared.

The first forms of writing in the form of signs inscribed in a special way appeared about 4 thousand years BC. But long before that, there were various ways of transmitting and storing information: with the help of branches, arrows, smoke from fires, and similar signals, folded in a certain way. From these primitive warning systems, more sophisticated ways of capturing information later emerged. For example, the ancient Incas invented the original system of "recording" with the help of knots. For this, wool laces of different colors were used. They were tied with various knots and attached to a stick. In this form, the "letter" was sent to the addressee. There is an opinion that the Incas, with the help of such a "knot letter", fixed their laws, wrote down chronicles and poems. "Knot writing" is also noted among other nations - it was used in ancient China and Mongolia.

However, writing in the proper sense of the word appeared only after people invented special graphic signs to fix and transmit information. The most ancient type of writing is pictographic. A pictogram is a schematic drawing that directly depicts the things, events, and phenomena in question. It is assumed that pictography was widespread among various peoples at the last stage of the Stone Age. This letter is very visual, and therefore it does not need to be specially studied. It is quite suitable for transmitting small messages and for recording simple stories. But when there was a need to convey some complex abstract thought or concept, the limited possibilities of the pictogram were immediately felt, which is completely unsuitable for recording what is not amenable to a picturesque image (for example, such concepts as cheerfulness, courage, vigilance, good sleep, heavenly azure, etc.). Therefore, already at an early stage in the history of writing, pictograms began to include special conventional icons denoting certain concepts (for example, the sign of crossed arms symbolized exchange). Such icons are called ideograms. Ideographic writing also arose in pictographic writing, and one can quite clearly imagine how this happened: each pictorial sign of a pictogram began to be more and more isolated from others and associated with a certain word or concept, denoting it. Gradually, this process developed so much that primitive pictograms lost their former visibility, but gained clarity and certainty. This process took a long time, perhaps several millennia.

Hieroglyphic writing became the highest form of the ideogram. It first appeared in ancient Egypt. Later, hieroglyphic writing became widespread in the Far East - in China, Japan and Korea. With the help of ideograms, it was possible to reflect any, even the most complex and abstract thought. However, for the hieroglyphs not dedicated to the secret, the meaning of what was written was completely incomprehensible. Anyone who wanted to learn how to write had to memorize several thousand icons. In reality, it took several years of constant practice. Therefore, few people knew how to write and read in antiquity.

Only at the end of 2 thousand BC. the ancient Phoenicians invented the alphabetic sound alphabet, which served as a model for the alphabets of many other peoples. The Phoenician alphabet consisted of 22 consonants, each representing a different sound. The invention of this alphabet was a great step forward for mankind. With the help of the new letter, it was easy to convey graphically any word without resorting to ideograms. It was very easy to learn from him. The art of writing has ceased to be the privilege of the enlightened. It has become the property of the whole society, or at least most of it. This was one of the reasons for the rapid spread of the Phoenician alphabet around the world. It is believed that four-fifths of all alphabets known today originated from the Phoenician.

So, Libyan developed from a variety of Phoenician writing (Punic). The Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek writing came directly from the Phoenician. In turn, on the basis of the Aramaic script, Arabic, Nabataean, Syriac, Persian and other scripts developed. The Greeks made the last important improvement to the Phoenician alphabet - they began to designate with letters not only consonants, but also vowels. The Greek alphabet formed the basis of most European alphabets: Latin (from which, in turn, French, German, English, Italian, Spanish and other alphabets originated), Coptic, Armenian, Georgian and Slavic (Serbian, Russian, Bulgarian, etc.).

Fourth place, after writing takes Paper

Its creators were the Chinese. And this is no coincidence. Firstly, China already in ancient times was famous for book wisdom and a complex system of bureaucratic management, which required constant accountability from officials. Therefore, there has always been a need for inexpensive and compact writing material. Before the invention of paper in China, people wrote either on bamboo boards or on silk.

But silk was always very expensive, and bamboo was very bulky and heavy. (An average of 30 hieroglyphs was placed on one board. It is easy to imagine how much space such a bamboo “book” should have taken up. It is no coincidence that they write that a whole cart was required to transport some works.) Secondly, only the Chinese for a long time knew the secret of production silk, and paper business just developed from one technical operation of processing silk cocoons. This operation was as follows. Women engaged in sericulture boiled silkworm cocoons, then, spreading them on a mat, lowered them into water and ground them until a homogeneous mass was formed. When the mass was taken out and the water was strained, silk wool was obtained. However, after such mechanical and heat treatment, a thin fibrous layer remained on the mats, which, after drying, turned into a sheet of very thin paper suitable for writing. Later, women workers began to use defective silkworm cocoons for purposeful papermaking. At the same time, they repeated the process already familiar to them: they boiled the cocoons, washed and crushed them to obtain paper pulp, and finally dried the resulting sheets. Such paper was called "cotton" and was quite expensive, since the raw material itself was expensive.

Naturally, in the end, the question arose: is it possible to make paper only from silk, or can any fibrous raw material, including vegetable origin, be suitable for the preparation of paper pulp? In 105, a certain Cai Lun, an important official at the court of the Han emperor, prepared a new grade of paper from old fishing nets. It was not as good as silk, but was much cheaper. This important discovery had huge consequences not only for China, but for the whole world - for the first time in history, people received first-class and affordable writing material, an equivalent replacement for which to this day. The name of Cai Lun is therefore rightfully included among the names of the greatest inventors in the history of mankind. In the following centuries, several important improvements were made to the paper-making process, which allowed it to develop rapidly.

In the 4th century, paper completely replaced bamboo planks from use. New experiments have shown that paper can be made from cheap vegetable raw materials: tree bark, reed and bamboo. The latter was especially important, since bamboo grows in China in large numbers. Bamboo was split into thin slivers, soaked with lime, and the resulting mass was then boiled for several days. The filtered thick was kept in special pits, carefully ground with special beaters and diluted with water until a sticky, mushy mass was formed. This mass was scooped up using a special form - a bamboo sieve, mounted on a stretcher. A thin layer of the mass along with the form was placed under the press. Then the form was pulled out and only a paper sheet remained under the press. The pressed sheets were removed from the sieve, folded into a pile, dried, smoothed and cut to size.

Over time, the Chinese have achieved the highest art in paper making. For several centuries, they, as usual, carefully kept the secrets of paper production. But in 751, during a clash with the Arabs in the foothills of the Tien Shan, several Chinese masters were captured. From them, the Arabs learned to make paper themselves and for five centuries sold it very profitably to Europe. The Europeans were the last of the civilized nations to learn how to make paper themselves. The Spaniards were the first to adopt this art from the Arabs. In 1154, paper production was established in Italy, in 1228 in Germany, in 1309 in England. In subsequent centuries, paper has received the widest distribution throughout the world, gradually conquering more and more new areas of application. Its significance in our life is so great that, according to the well-known French bibliographer A. Sim, our era can rightly be called the "paper era."

Fifth place occupied Gunpowder and Firearms

The invention of gunpowder and its distribution in Europe had enormous consequences for the further history of mankind. Although the Europeans were the last of the civilized peoples to learn how to make this explosive mixture, it was they who were able to derive the greatest practical benefit from its discovery. The rapid development of firearms and the revolution in military affairs were the first consequences of the spread of gunpowder. This, in turn, led to the deepest social changes: the knights clad in armor and their impregnable castles were powerless before the fire of cannons and arquebuses. Feudal society was dealt a blow from which it could no longer recover. In a short time, many European powers overcame feudal fragmentation and turned into powerful centralized states.

There are few inventions in the history of technology that would lead to such grandiose and far-reaching changes. Before gunpowder became known in the West, it already had a long history in the East, and was invented by the Chinese. Saltpeter is the most important component of gunpowder. In some areas of China, it was found in its native form and looked like flakes of snow that powdered the ground. Later it was discovered that saltpeter is formed in areas rich in alkalis and decaying (nitrogen-supplying) substances. When kindling a fire, the Chinese could observe flashes that arose during the burning of saltpeter with coal.

For the first time, the properties of saltpeter were described by the Chinese physician Tao Hong-jing, who lived at the turn of the 5th and 6th centuries. Since that time, it has been used as an ingredient in some medicines. Alchemists often used it when conducting experiments. In the 7th century, one of them, Sun Si-miao, prepared a mixture of sulfur and saltpeter, adding to them a few shares of the locust tree. While heating this mixture in a crucible, he suddenly received a violent flash of flame. He described this experience in his treatise Dan Ching. It is believed that Sun Si-miao prepared one of the first samples of gunpowder, which, however, did not yet have a strong explosive effect.

Subsequently, the composition of gunpowder was improved by other alchemists, who experimentally established its three main components: coal, sulfur and potassium nitrate. The medieval Chinese could not scientifically explain what kind of explosive reaction occurs when gunpowder is ignited, but they soon learned to use it for military purposes. True, in their lives gunpowder did not at all have that revolutionary influence that it later had on European society. This is explained by the fact that the masters have been preparing a powder mixture from unrefined components for a long time. Meanwhile, crude saltpeter and sulfur containing foreign impurities did not give a strong explosive effect. For several centuries, gunpowder was used exclusively as an incendiary agent. Later, when its quality improved, gunpowder began to be used as an explosive in the manufacture of land mines, hand grenades and explosives.

But even after that, for a long time they did not guess to use the power of the gases that arose during the combustion of gunpowder to throw bullets and nuclei. Only in the XII-XIII centuries, the Chinese began to use weapons that very vaguely resembled firearms, but they invented firecrackers and rockets. The Arabs and Mongols learned the secret of gunpowder from the Chinese. In the first third of the 13th century, the Arabs achieved great skill in pyrotechnics. They used saltpeter in many compounds, mixing it with sulfur and coal, adding other components to them and making fireworks of amazing beauty. From the Arabs, the composition of the powder mixture became known to European alchemists. One of them, Mark the Greek, already in 1220 wrote down in his treatise a recipe for gunpowder: 6 parts of saltpeter to 1 part of sulfur and 1 part of coal. Later, Roger Bacon wrote quite accurately about the composition of gunpowder.

However, about a hundred years passed before this recipe ceased to be a secret. This second discovery of gunpowder is associated with the name of another alchemist, the Feiburg monk Berthold Schwarz. Once he began to grind a crushed mixture of saltpeter, sulfur and coal in a mortar, as a result of which an explosion occurred that scorched Berthold's beard. This or another experience gave Berthold the idea to use the power of powder gases to throw stones. It is believed that he made one of the first artillery pieces in Europe.

Gunpowder was originally a fine floury powder. It was not convenient to use it, because when charging guns and arquebuses, the powder pulp stuck to the walls of the barrel. Finally, it was noticed that powder in the form of lumps was much more convenient - it was easily charged and, when ignited, gave off more gases (2 pounds of powder in lumps gave a greater effect than 3 pounds in pulp).

In the first quarter of the 15th century, for convenience, they began to use grain gunpowder, which was obtained by rolling powder pulp (with alcohol and other impurities) into dough, which was then passed through a sieve. So that the grains do not fray during transportation, they learned how to polish them. To do this, they were placed in a special drum, during the spinning of which the grains hit and rubbed against each other and compacted. After processing, their surface became smooth and shiny.

Sixth place ranked in the polls : telegraph, telephone, internet, radio and other types of modern communication

Until the middle of the 19th century, the only means of communication between the European continent and England, between America and Europe, between Europe and the colonies, was steamship mail. Incidents and events in other countries were learned with a delay of whole weeks, and sometimes even months. For example, news from Europe to America was delivered in two weeks, and this was not the longest time yet. Therefore, the creation of the telegraph met the most urgent needs of mankind.

After this technical novelty appeared in all parts of the world and telegraph lines circled the globe, it took only hours, and sometimes even minutes, for the news on electrical wires from one hemisphere to rush to the other. Political and stock reports, personal and business messages on the same day could be delivered to interested parties. Thus, the telegraph should be attributed to one of the most important inventions in the history of civilization, because with it the human mind won the greatest victory over distance.

With the invention of the telegraph, the problem of transmitting messages over long distances was solved. However, the telegraph could only send written dispatches. Meanwhile, many inventors dreamed of a more perfect and communicative method of communication, with the help of which it would be possible to transmit the live sound of human speech or music over any distance. The first experiments in this direction were undertaken in 1837 by the American physicist Page. The essence of Page's experiments was very simple. He assembled an electrical circuit, which included a tuning fork, an electromagnet, and galvanic cells. During its oscillations, the tuning fork quickly opened and closed the circuit. This intermittent current was transmitted to an electromagnet, which just as quickly attracted and released a thin steel rod. As a result of these vibrations, the rod produced a singing sound similar to that of a tuning fork. Thus, Page showed that it is possible in principle to transmit sound using electric current, it is only necessary to create more advanced transmitting and receiving devices.

And later, as a result of long searches, discoveries and inventions, a mobile phone, television, the Internet and other means of communication of mankind appeared, without which it is impossible to imagine our modern life.

Seventh place in the top 10 according to the polls Automobile

The automobile is one of those greatest inventions, which, like the wheel, gunpowder or electric current, had a colossal influence not only on the era that gave birth to them, but also on all subsequent times. Its multifaceted impact goes far beyond the transport sector. The automobile shaped modern industry, spawned new branches of industry, arbitrarily rebuilt production itself, for the first time giving it a mass, serial and in-line character. It transformed the appearance of the planet, which was surrounded by millions of kilometers of highways, put pressure on the environment and even changed human psychology. The influence of the car is now so multifaceted that it is felt in all spheres of human life. He became, as it were, a visible and visual embodiment of technical progress in general, with all its advantages and disadvantages.

There were many amazing pages in the history of the car, but perhaps the brightest of them dates back to the first years of its existence. One cannot help but be struck by the speed with which this invention went from appearance to maturity. It took only a quarter of a century for the car to turn from a capricious and still unreliable toy into the most popular and widespread vehicle. Already at the beginning of the 20th century, it was basically identical to a modern car.

The immediate predecessor of the gasoline car was the steam car. The first practical steam car is considered to be a steam cart built by the Frenchman Cugnot in 1769. Carrying up to 3 tons of cargo, she moved at a speed of only 2-4 km / h. She also had other shortcomings. The heavy vehicle did not obey the helm very well, constantly ran into the walls of houses and fences, causing destruction and suffering considerable damage. The two horsepower that her engine developed was hard to come by. Despite the large volume of the boiler, the pressure dropped rapidly. Every quarter of an hour, to maintain pressure, it was necessary to stop and kindle the firebox. One of the trips ended in a boiler explosion. Fortunately, Kuno himself survived.

Cugno's followers were more fortunate. In 1803, Trivaitik, already known to us, built the first steam car in Great Britain. The car had huge rear wheels about 2.5 m in diameter. A cauldron was attached between the wheels and the rear of the frame, which was served by a stoker standing on the back. The steam car was equipped with a single horizontal cylinder. From the piston rod through the connecting rod-crank mechanism, the drive gear rotated, which was engaged with another gear mounted on the axis of the rear wheels. The axis of these wheels was pivotally connected to the frame and turned with a long lever by the driver, sitting on a high irradiation. The body was suspended on high C‑shaped springs. With 8-10 passengers, the car reached speeds of up to 15 km / h, which, of course, was a very good achievement for that time. The appearance of this amazing car on the streets of London attracted a lot of onlookers who did not hide their delight.

The car in the modern sense of the word appeared only after the creation of a compact and economical internal combustion engine, which made a real revolution in transport technology.
The first gasoline-powered car was built in 1864 by the Austrian inventor Siegfried Markus. Fascinated by pyrotechnics, Marcus once set fire to a mixture of gasoline and air vapors with an electric spark. Struck by the force of the ensuing explosion, he decided to create an engine that would use this effect. In the end, he managed to build a two-stroke gasoline engine with electric ignition, which he installed in an ordinary wagon. In 1875, Marcus created a more advanced car.

The official glory of the inventors of the car belongs to two German engineers - Benz and Daimler. Benz designed two-stroke gas engines and was the owner of a small plant for their production. The engines were in good demand and Benz's business flourished. He had enough funds and leisure for other developments. Benz's dream was to create a self-propelled carriage with an internal combustion engine. Benz's own engine, like Otto's four-stroke engine, was not suitable for this, since they had a low speed (about 120 revolutions per minute). With a slight decrease in the number of revolutions, they stalled. Benz understood that a car equipped with such an engine would stop in front of every bump. What was needed was a high-speed engine with a good ignition system and an apparatus for the formation of a combustible mixture.

Cars improved rapidly Back in 1891, Edouard Michelin, the owner of a rubber products factory in Clermont-Ferrand, invented a removable pneumatic tire for a bicycle (a Dunlop tube was poured into the tire and glued to the rim). In 1895, the production of removable pneumatic tires for cars began. For the first time these tires were tested in the same year at the Paris-Bordeaux-Paris race. The Peugeot equipped with them hardly reached Rouen, and then was forced to retire, as the tires were constantly punctured. Nevertheless, experts and motorists were amazed at the smoothness of the car and the comfort of driving it. Since that time, pneumatic tires have gradually come into life, and all cars began to be equipped with them. The winner of these races was again Levassor. When he stopped the car at the finish line and stepped on the ground, he said: “It was crazy. I was doing 30 kilometers per hour!” Now at the finish line there is a monument in honor of this significant victory.

Eighth place - Light bulb

In the last decades of the 19th century, electric lighting entered the life of many European cities. Appearing first on the streets and squares, it very soon penetrated into every house, into every apartment and became an integral part of the life of every civilized person. It was one of the most important events in the history of technology, with enormous and manifold consequences. The rapid development of electric lighting led to mass electrification, a revolution in energy and major shifts in industry. However, all this might not have happened if the efforts of many inventors had not created such a common and familiar device for us as an electric light bulb. Among the greatest discoveries of human history, she undoubtedly belongs to one of the most honorable places.

In the 19th century, two types of electric lamps became widespread: incandescent and arc lamps. Arc light bulbs appeared a little earlier. Their glow is based on such an interesting phenomenon as the voltaic arc. If you take two wires, connect them to a sufficiently strong current source, connect them, and then push them apart at a distance of several millimeters, then something like a flame with a bright light is formed between the ends of the conductors. The phenomenon will be more beautiful and brighter if two pointed carbon rods are used instead of metal wires. With a sufficiently large voltage between them, a light of dazzling power is formed.

For the first time, the phenomenon of a voltaic arc was observed in 1803 by the Russian scientist Vasily Petrov. In 1810, the English physicist Devi made the same discovery. Both of them obtained a voltaic arc, using a large battery of cells, between the ends of charcoal rods. Both of them wrote that the voltaic arc can be used for lighting purposes. But first it was necessary to find a more suitable material for the electrodes, since the charcoal rods burned out in a few minutes and were of little use for practical use. Arc lamps had another inconvenience - as the electrodes burned out, it was necessary to constantly move them towards each other. As soon as the distance between them exceeded a certain permissible minimum, the light of the lamp became uneven, it began to flicker and went out.

Foucault, a French physicist, designed the first manually adjustable arc lamp in 1844. He replaced charcoal with hard coke sticks. In 1848, he first used an arc lamp to illuminate one of the Parisian squares. It was a short and very expensive experience, since a powerful battery served as a source of electricity. Then various devices were invented, controlled by a clockwork, which automatically shifted the electrodes as they burned.
It is clear that from the point of view of practical use, it was desirable to have a lamp that was not complicated by additional mechanisms. But was it possible to do without them? It turned out that yes. If two coals are placed not against each other, but in parallel, moreover, so that an arc can form only between their two ends, then with this device the distance between the ends of the coals is always kept unchanged. The design of such a lamp seems very simple, but its creation required great ingenuity. It was invented in 1876 by the Russian electrical engineer Yablochkov, who worked in Paris in the workshop of Academician Breguet.

In 1879, the famous American inventor Edison took up the improvement of the electric light bulb. He understood that in order for the light bulb to shine brightly and for a long time and have an even, unblinking light, it is necessary, firstly, to find a suitable material for the thread, and, secondly, to learn how to create a very rarefied space in the balloon. A lot of experiments were done with various materials, which were set up with Edison's characteristic scope. It is estimated that his assistants tested at least 6,000 different substances and compounds, while over 100 thousand dollars were spent on experiments. At first, Edison replaced the brittle paper charcoal with a more durable one made from coal, then he began to experiment with various metals, and finally settled on a thread of charred bamboo fibers. In the same year, in the presence of three thousand people, Edison publicly demonstrated his electric light bulbs, illuminating his house, laboratory and several adjacent streets with them. It was the first long life light bulb suitable for mass production.

penultimate, ninth place in our top 10 are antibiotics, and in particular - penicillin

Antibiotics are one of the most remarkable inventions of the 20th century in the field of medicine. Modern people are far from always aware of how much they owe to these medicinal preparations. Mankind in general very quickly gets used to the amazing achievements of its science, and sometimes it takes some effort to imagine life as it was, for example, before the invention of television, radio or steam locomotive. Just as quickly, a huge family of various antibiotics entered our lives, the first of which was penicillin.

Today it seems surprising to us that back in the 30s of the 20th century, tens of thousands of people died every year from dysentery, that pneumonia in many cases ended in death, that sepsis was a real scourge of all surgical patients, who died in large numbers from blood poisoning, that typhus was considered the most dangerous and incurable disease, and pneumonic plague inevitably led the patient to death. All these terrible diseases (and many others, previously incurable, such as tuberculosis) were defeated by antibiotics.

Even more striking is the effect of these drugs on military medicine. It is hard to believe, but in previous wars, most soldiers died not from bullets and shrapnel, but from purulent infections caused by wounds. It is known that in the space around us there are myriads of microscopic organisms of microbes, among which there are many dangerous pathogens.

Under normal conditions, our skin prevents their penetration into the body. But during the injury, dirt entered the open wounds along with millions of putrefactive bacteria (cocci). They began to multiply with tremendous speed, penetrated deep into the tissues, and after a few hours no surgeon could save a person: the wound festered, the temperature rose, sepsis or gangrene began. A person died not so much from the wound itself, but from wound complications. Medicine was powerless before them. At best, the doctor managed to amputate the affected organ and thus stopped the spread of the disease.

To deal with wound complications, it was necessary to learn how to paralyze the microbes that cause these complications, to learn how to neutralize the cocci that got into the wound. But how can this be achieved? It turned out that it is possible to fight against microorganisms directly with their help, since some microorganisms in the course of their life activity emit substances capable of destroying other microorganisms. The idea of ​​using microbes to fight germs dates back to the 19th century. Thus, Louis Pasteur discovered that anthrax bacilli die under the action of some other microbes. But it is clear that the solution of this problem required a lot of work.

Over time, after a series of experiments and discoveries, penicillin was created. Penicillin seemed like a real miracle to seasoned field surgeons. He cured even the most seriously ill patients who were already ill with blood poisoning or pneumonia. The creation of penicillin turned out to be one of the most important discoveries in the history of medicine and gave a huge impetus to its further development.

Well, the last tenth place in the survey results took Sail and ship

It is believed that the prototype of the sail appeared in ancient times, when a person just started building boats and dared to go to sea. In the beginning, the sail was simply a stretched animal skin. The person standing in the boat had to hold it with both hands and orient it relative to the wind. When people came up with the idea to strengthen the sail with the help of a mast and yards, it is not known, but already on the oldest images of the ships of the Egyptian Queen Hatshepsut that have come down to us, you can see wooden masts and yards, as well as stays (cables that keep the mast from falling back), halyards (tackle for lifting and lowering sails) and other rigging.

Therefore, the appearance of a sailing ship must be attributed to prehistoric times.

There is much evidence that the first large sailing ships appeared in Egypt, and the Nile was the first deep river on which river navigation began to develop. Every year from July to November, the mighty river overflowed its banks, flooding the entire country with its waters. Villages and cities were cut off from each other like islands. Therefore, ships were a vital necessity for the Egyptians. In the economic life of the country and in communication between people, they played a much greater role than wheeled carts.

One of the earliest types of Egyptian ships, which appeared about 5 thousand years BC, was the barge. It is known to modern scientists from several models installed in ancient temples. Since Egypt is very poor in forests, papyrus was widely used to build the first ships. The features of this material determined the design and shape of ancient Egyptian ships. It was a sickle-shaped boat, bound from bundles of papyrus, with a bow and stern curved upward. To give the ship strength, the hull was pulled together with cables. Later, when regular trade with the Phoenicians was established and Lebanese cedar began to arrive in Egypt in large quantities, the tree began to be widely used in shipbuilding.

An idea of ​​what types of ships were built at that time is given by the wall reliefs of the necropolis near Saqqara, dating back to the middle of the 3rd millennium BC. These compositions realistically depict individual stages in the construction of a plank ship. The hulls of the ships, which had neither a keel (in ancient times it was a beam lying at the base of the bottom of the vessel), nor frames (transverse curved beams that ensure the strength of the sides and bottom), were recruited from simple dies and caulked with papyrus. The hull was strengthened by means of ropes that fitted the vessel along the perimeter of the upper plating belt. Such vessels hardly had good seaworthiness. However, they were quite suitable for swimming on the river. The straight sail used by the Egyptians allowed them to sail only with the wind. The rigging was attached to a bipedal mast, both legs of which were set perpendicular to the ship's midline. At the top, they were tightly bound. The beam device in the ship's hull served as a step (nest) for the mast. In the working position, this mast was held by stays - thick cables that went from the stern and bow, and legs supported it towards the sides. The rectangular sail was attached to two yards. With a side wind, the mast was hastily removed.

Later, by about 2600 BC, the bipedal mast was replaced by the one-legged one that is still used today. The one-legged mast made sailing easier and for the first time gave a ship the ability to maneuver. However, a rectangular sail was an unreliable means that could only be used with a fair wind.

The main engine of the ship was the muscular strength of the rowers. Apparently, the Egyptians own an important improvement of the oar - the invention of oarlocks. They did not yet exist in the Old Kingdom, but then the oar began to be fastened with rope loops. This immediately allowed to increase the power of the stroke and the speed of the vessel. It is known that the elite rowers on the ships of the pharaohs did 26 strokes per minute, which allowed them to reach a speed of 12 km / h. They controlled such ships with the help of two steering oars located at the stern. Later, they began to be attached to a beam on the deck, by rotating which it was possible to choose the desired direction (this principle of steering the ship by turning the rudder blade remains unchanged to this day). The ancient Egyptians were not good sailors. On their ships, they did not dare to go to the open sea. However, along the coast, their merchant ships made long journeys. So, in the temple of Queen Hatshepsut there is an inscription reporting on a sea voyage made by the Egyptians around 1490 BC. to the mysterious country of incense Punt, located in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bmodern Somalia.

The next step in the development of shipbuilding was taken by the Phoenicians. Unlike the Egyptians, the Phoenicians had an abundance of excellent building material for their ships. Their country stretched in a narrow strip along the eastern shores of the Mediterranean. Extensive cedar forests grew here almost at the very shore. Already in ancient times, the Phoenicians learned how to make high-quality dugout single-deck boats from their trunks and boldly went out to sea on them.

At the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC, when maritime trade began to develop, the Phoenicians began to build ships. A marine vessel is significantly different from a boat; its construction requires its own design solutions. The most important discoveries along this path, which determined the entire subsequent history of shipbuilding, belong to the Phoenicians. Perhaps the skeletons of animals led them to the idea of ​​installing stiffening ribs on one-poles, which were covered with boards on top. So for the first time in the history of shipbuilding, frames were used, which are still widely used.

In the same way, the Phoenicians first built a keel ship (originally, two trunks connected at an angle served as a keel). The keel immediately gave the hull stability and made it possible to establish longitudinal and transverse bracing. Sheathing boards were attached to them. All these innovations were the decisive basis for the rapid development of shipbuilding and determined the appearance of all subsequent ships.

Other inventions in various fields of science, such as: chemistry, physics, medicine, education and others, were also recalled.
After all, as we said earlier, this is not surprising. After all, any discovery or invention is another step into the future, which improves our life, and often prolongs it. And if not every, then very, very many discoveries deserve to be called great and are extremely necessary in our life.

Alexander Ozerov, based on the book by Ryzhkov K.V. "One Hundred Great Inventions"

The greatest discoveries and inventions of mankind © 2011