Discoveries and innovations are almost always created out of necessity. A necessity to either fulfil our needs or even to improve upon existing systems.
In this article, we shall see old inventions that we use to this date and newer ones that have just come about. Nevertheless, these are inventions from India that changed the world!
THE USB PORT
For the seamless transfer of files from a pen drive to the computer, and the ease of connecting various devices, you would have to thank Ajay V Bhatt.
The Indian-American computer architect helped define and develop not only the USB but also various other technologies like AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port), PCI Express, Platform Power Management Architecture and other numerous chipset improvements.
The USB or the Universal Serial Bus was invented in 1995 out of a necessity to have a common port that can be adapted by systems across different platforms. This adaptation led manufacturers of peripheral devices like keyboards and speakers to maintain a constant design, which would lead to lower cost production and an overall increase in compatibility.
BUTTONS AND COTTONS
Yep, from the button that holds your shirt to the shirt itself, these two useful inventions were developed during ancient India.
Way before buttons came onto fabric, Indians used cotton to make pieces of cloth. This was achieved by cotton cultivation which dates back to the 5th century BCE. The cultivation was seen in the Indus Valley Civilisation and contributed to the boom of cotton usage.
The earliest use of buttons was seen during the Mohenjodaro period where they were used for ornamental purposes. Smaller seashells were adorned on fabric for this purpose. It was only later that buttons were attached to cloth pieces and used in the form of fasteners.
And not just buttons, equipment used to weave clothes such as spinning wheels and cotton gins also originated from India!
RADIO WAVES
Although video killed the radio star, radio waves went on to take different forms from being used in telecommunications to broadcasting signals. Radio waves or microwave communications were heavily studied during the later part of the 19th century.
But it was an experiment demonstrated by Jagadish Chandra Bose in 1895 that encapsulated the potential uses of microwaves in communication.
Bose transmitted microwaves using his apparatus, showcasing that they are a form of “invisible light” that pass through solid objects with ease.
Bose’s revolutionary demonstration formed the foundation of the technology used in mobile telephony, radars, satellite communications, radio, television broadcasts, WiFi, remote controls and countless other applications that are used widely today.