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fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too
Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can.
i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I
was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid,
aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it
dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are,
the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer
be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you
can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the
huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the
wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot
slpeling was ipmorantt! if you can raed tihs forwrad it
Unintended Technology
v.s.
Accidental Technology
• A vaccine is a preparation which is used to improve
immunity to a particular disease. The term derives
from Edward Jenner's use of cowpox ("vacca" means
cow in Latin), which, when administered to humans,
provided them protection against smallpox, the work
which Louis Pasteur and others carried on. Vaccines are
based on the concept of variolation originating in
China, in which a person is deliberately infected with a
weak form of smallpox. Jenner realized that milkmaids
who had contact with cowpox did not get smallpox.
The process of distributing and administrating vaccines
is referred to as vaccination. Since vaccination was
much safer, smallpox inoculation fell into disuse and
was eventually banned in England in 1848.
Unintended Technology
v.s.
By-Product Technology
• A by-product is a secondary or incidental product deriving
from a manufacturing process, a chemical reaction or a
biochemical pathway, and is not the primary product or
service being produced. A by-product can be useful and
marketable, or it can have severe ecological consequences.
• Like many of today's great inventions, the microwave oven
was a by-product of another technology. It was during a
radar-related research project around 1946 that Dr. Percy
Spencer, a self-taught engineer with the Raytheon
Corporation, noticed something very unusual. He was testing
a new vacuum tube called a magnetron (we are searching for
a picture of an actual 1946 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, perhaps standing a
little farther away, he watched with an inventive sparkle in his
eye as the popcorn sputtered, cracked and popped all over his
lab.
Unintended Technology
Examples
VIAGRA
• Sildenafil was synthesized by a group of
pharmaceutical chemists working at
Pfizer's Sandwich, Kent research facility
in England. It was initially studied for
use in hypertension (high blood
pressure) and angina pectoris (a
symptom of ischaemic cardiovascular
disease).
• The drug was patented in 1996,
approved for use in erectile dysfunction
by the Food and Drug Administration
on March 27, 1998. It soon became a
great success: annual sales of Viagra in
the period 1999–2001 exceeded $1
billion.
TEMPUR-PEDIC BEDS
• Tempur-Pedic was founded in
1964 by Dag Landvik, after he was
introduced to the viscoelastic
mattress concept while in Europe
scouting race horses.
• Viscoelastic TEMPUR material was
originally designed by NASA for
use in space, but after NASA
abandoned it, Fagerdala, a
Swedish technical foam firm,
picked up the idea and made it
into a mattress.
BOTOX
• Botulinum toxin is one of the most poisonous naturally
occurring substances in the world, and it is the most
toxic protein. Though it is highly toxic, it is used in
minute doses both to treat painful muscle spasms, and
as a cosmetic treatment in some parts of the world.
• In December 1989, BTX-A (BOTOX) was approved by
the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the
treatment of strabismus, blepharospasm, and
hemifacial spasm in patients over 12 years old.
BOTOX
• The cosmetic effect of BTX-A was
initially described by
ophthalmologist Jean Carruthers
and dermatologist Alastair
Carruthers, a husband-and-wife
team working in Vancouver,
Canada.
• On April 15, 2002, the FDA
announced the approval of
botulinum toxin type A (BOTOX
Cosmetic) to temporarily improve
the appearance of moderate-tosevere frown lines between the
eyebrows (glabellar lines).
Personal Computers
Web
Unintended Technologies
Today
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