enjoyed both the post and the old message. Silklist gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "picking up old threads".
Deepa.
On 6/20/06, Udhay Shankar N <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Wired Magazine on the top 10 accidental discoveries. Recalls the
monster thread we had on "How are discoveries made?" [1] several years
ago.
Udhay
[1] http://groups.yahoo.com/group/silk-list/message/813?l=1
________________________________________________________
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.03/start.html?pg=3
The Best: Accidental Discoveries
1. Viagra
Men being treated for erectile dysfunction should salute the working
stiffs of Merthyr Tydfil, the Welsh hamlet where, in 1992 trials, the
gravity-defying side effects of a new angina drug first popped up.
Previously, the blue-collar town was known for producing a different
kind of iron.
2. LSD
Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann took the world's first acid hit in 1943,
when he touched a smidge of lysergic acid diethylamide, a chemical he
had researched for inducing childbirth. He later tried a bigger dose
and made another discovery: the bad trip.
3. X-rays
Several 19th-century scientists toyed with the penetrating rays emitted
when electrons strike a metal target. But the x-ray wasn't discovered
until 1895, when German egghead Wilhelm Röntgen tried sticking various
objects in front of the radiation - and saw the bones of his hand
projected on a wall.
4. Penicillin
Scottish scientist Alexander Fleming was researching the flu in 1928
when he noticed that a blue-green mold had infected one of his petri
dishes - and killed the staphylococcus bacteria growing in it. All hail
sloppy lab work!
5. Artificial sweeteners
Speaking of botched lab jobs, three leading pseudo-sugars reached human
lips only because scientists forgot to wash their hands. Cyclamate
(1937) and aspartame (1965) are byproducts of medical research, and
saccharin (1879) appeared during a project on coal tar derivatives.
Yummy.
6. Microwave ovens
Microwave emitters (or magnetrons) powered Allied radar in WWII. The
leap from detecting Nazis to nuking nachos came in 1946, after a
magnetron melted a candy bar in Raytheon engineer Percy Spencer's
pocket.
7. Brandy
Medieval wine merchants used to boil the H20 out of wine so their
delicate cargo would keep better and take up less space at sea. Before
long, some intrepid soul - our money's on a sailor - decided to bypass
the reconstitution stage, and brandy was born. Pass the Courvoisier!
8. Vulcanized rubber
Rubber rots badly and smells worse, unless it's vulcanized. Ancient
Mesoamericans had their own version of the process, but Charles
Goodyear rediscovered it in 1839 when he unintentionally (well, at
least according to most accounts) dropped a rubber-sulfur compound onto
a hot stove.
9. Silly Putty
In the early 1940s, General Electric scientist James Wright was working
on artificial rubber for the war effort when he mixed boric acid and
silicon oil. V-J Day didn't come any sooner, but comic strip
image-stretching practically became a national pastime.
10. Potato chips
Chef George Crum concocted the perfect sandwich complement in 1853 when
- to spite a customer who complained that his fries were cut too thick
- he sliced a potato paper-thin and fried it to a crisp. Needless to
say, the diner couldn't eat just one.
- Compiled by Lucas Graves
